Thank you to Dr Pepper Snapple & The Motherhood for sponsoring this post on balance.
This year I’ve been trying to share with you tips and suggestions for finding balance, whether it’s through food choices, fitness, enjoying family time, or even carving out a little me time. So when the folks at the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) asked if I’d sit in on a conference call to talk about balance, I had to say yes.
DPS believes that healthy lives depend on balance, including balancing the calories you take in with the calories you expend. Through innovation, R&D, and corporate social responsibility programs, they’re making a commitment to help make that balance easier to achieve.
Dr Pepper Snapple’s Let’s Play Initiative
One of the biggest things they’ve been working on that I’m most excited about is the Let’s Play initiative. DPS did some research and found out that kids are increasingly time-crunched, with 12 fewer hours of free time per week than they used to have. Two-thirds of kids now get less than an hour of play a day, which is compounded by the fact that only 20% of kids live near a park. Mix in the 7.5 hours of screen time that kids 8-18 are racking up, and it’s really not a surprise that obesity rates are rising.
Through Let’s Play Dr Pepper Snapple is providing kids and families with the tools, places, and inspiration to make active play a daily priority. Through partnerships with nonprofits KaBOOM! and Good Sports they have already committed $28 million towards playgrounds, sports equipment and more. To give you an idea of exactly what they’ve been up to, Dr Pepper Snapple has:
- worked with KaBOOM! to build or fix up 2,188 playgrounds across the country
- partnered with Good Sports to donate $1.6 million in grants for new sports equipment to 803 organizations
- allowed more than 2,300 employees to participate in KaBOOM! playground builds, racking up more than 18,000 volunteer hours
Interested in getting a grant for a program in your own community? You can fill out a grant nomination form and get the ball rolling today. I plan to nominate the after school community program in my hometown!
On the other side of the coin, Dr Pepper Snapple is also making changes for calories in. Their TEN lineup of low calorie sodas – sodas that taste like regular soda but have only 10 calories per 12 oz. can – launched nationally in 2011. And they’re now testing naturally sweetened versions of 7UP, Dr Pepper and Canada Dry that have only 60 calories per 12 oz can and are sweetened with real sugar and Stevia.
As a Mom I’m thankful that Dr Pepper Snapple is giving me more options to choose from when I’m shopping for my family. Like their new line of 40% less sugar fruit juices that have 100% of the daily value of Vitamin C. And for hubs and I there’s diet half & half Snapple made with real sugar. Whether calories in or calories out, Dr Pepper Snapple is doing their best to have this Mama’s back.
Whom will you encourage to apply for a Let’s Play grant?
About Liza
Liza is a mom (5-year-old daughter, 20-year-old stepson, and 24-year-old stepdaughter) and wife living in Louisville. She loves spending time with her family, visiting the local zoo and parks, as well as planning travel adventures. Cooking and baking, DIY projects and crafts, and coffee - lots and lots of coffee - round out some of her other hobbies.