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 >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the last session of the
 summit.  I'd like to say we can have the-- all the balls
 stop and the fun and games end although I think we'll
 have more fun and games going on here in the next hour.
 And we very much appreciate you attending this last
 session.
 We are approaching the finish line, to continue with the
 sports cliches.  My name is Christine Brennan.  As a
  sports columnist for USA Today, and over my career as
  an on-air commentator for ABC News and ESPN, I
  have had the privilege of covering many sporting events,
  including the Olympic games.  It's an honor to be here
  today.
  To start the afternoon, let's hear from Secretary
  Thompson.
  (Applause)
  >>HONORABLE TOMMY G. THOMPSON:
  Hello.  I'm Tommy Thompson, secretary of Health and
  Human Services.  Welcome to our athletes united for
  prevention session.  I'm so thrilled that we have some
  great athletes here today, who truly exemplify the value of
  physical activity.  President Bush and I strongly believe
  that the role of government is to protect the freedom of all
  people, to be able to take steps, to be able to improve
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 their own individual health.  And these wonderful athletes
 are helping us to get the message out that even small
 steps can help us achieve better health for ourselves.
 Now, here are some public service announcements of
 how athletes are playing such a valuable role in promoting
 healthy behavior for our children.
 (Music)
 >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
 As I said, it's quite an honor for me to be up here today
  with our distinguished panel, and we're thrilled that you're
  here with us.
  We thought it would be an important-- it would be
  important, as part of the prevention summit, to profile
  some people who have shown that through their personal
  responsibility of leading healthy lives, outstanding human
  performance can be achieved.  From affecting teammates
  to inspiring athletes to motivating fans to reaching out to
  individuals, these panelists before you here today have
  truly defined how leading a Healthy Lifestyle can impact
  themselves and others.
  As I said, we have six panelists here today to share a few
  thoughts on their athletic experiences.
  Our first panelist is a vicepresident of the women's united
  soccer association, and is responsible for helping to build
  the first ever professional women's soccer league.
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 Additionally, she is the first woman to serve as an
 assistant coach for any of U.S. soccer's national teams.
 Listen to this resume.
 She helped coach the U.S. team when it captured the
 1991FEFA women's World Cup championship in China,
 the 1995 women's World Cup in Sweden, and more
 recently, the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic games in
 Atlanta.  You also may remember something that
 happened in the summer of 1999, one of the most
  magical moments in the history of women's sports, the
  1999 U.S. women's World Cup soccer team's triumph in
  the rose bowl, a packed rose bowl, 100,000 people.
  Well, she was there too.  Again, assistant coach of that
  very, very famous Women's Soccer Team.  Her personal
  credentials are also impressive.  She earned a master's
  degree from Harvard, and an undergraduate degree from
  the University of NorthCarolina.  Having served on the
  President's Council of physical fitness and sports, please
  welcome Lauren Gregg.
  (Applause)
  >>LAUREN GREGG:
  Thank you very much, Christine.  Christine was a great
  supporter of ours and we go a long way back so it's
  wonderful to share the stage with her as well-- as well as
  many of my colleagues here in the effort to lead us to a
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 healthier nation.  And I want to thank you for giving us
 this opportunity to share a few thoughts with you because
 you guys are the spokes, you are the heart and beat of
 helping us ensure the next decade is a healthier one.
 I think we have a very common goal.  When I had the
 opportunity to speak today, I thought back about, you
 know, where we are common.  In 1999, as Christine
 alluded to, we won the prestigious women's World Cup
 in front of a hundred thousand people, and I'm certainly
  very proud of that moment and it's something I've spent
  decades working to as an athlete and as a coach, but I'll
  never forget looking out into the stands and seeing the
  faces of young boys and young girls and knowing at that
  moment something had changed.  And what had changed
  is, for the first time these young boys and girls were going
  to grow up in a different culture than I had grown up, and
  I was so proud to know that I played some small role in
  that.
  When I grew up, there weren't any organized sports
  teams for girls until I was in high school, and in fact, many
  of my national teammates, as well as myself, played with
  boys.  In fact, I played for two years on the men's team in
  college before I transferred to the University of
  NorthCarolina, to win the first-ever national
  championship.  And I think what's important about that
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 message is that it wasn't always that way, and when I
 began, we actually had very few events leading up to the
 first-ever World Cup.  In fact, one or two a year was
 fairly average.  And what it forced us to do was to take
 responsibility for our own development, and this is the
 beginning of the commonality of what we share, is that we
 need to try to empower people to take responsibility for
 their own health.
 And it begins in small steps and I think this initiative is
  fabulous, because often people stop because they see
  where they are and where they need to get as this huge
  gap, and if we focused on the four-year track to the
  World Cup and only focused on the endpoint, it would
  seem insurmountable.  We were on the road 285 days
  the year we won the World Cup, and instead, we
  focused on the process.  The process of becoming
  champions.  And it is in the small steps that large gains
  can be made.  And I think this is such an important
  message to the people of America to understand that they
  can affect their health.  When we're trying to compete to
  win a World Cup or an Olympic games, the margin of
  victory as it was in-- from '91 through the '99 World
  Cup, was so small.  We couldn't focus on worrying about
  being 20, 30% greater than the-- our components.  We
  were worrying about a half a percent, one percent, so we
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 could be one percent fitter, you know, have our nutrition
 contribute half a percent, and so on and so forth.  That
 amounted to victory.  And similarly, if we can convince
 one person at a time that making these small changes,
 whether it's improving their nutrition or decreasing their
 stress or getting out with their kids, that that's going to
 make a difference and focus on the process, I think they,
 too, will be able to accomplish their goals of a healthier
 lifestyle.
  And it is about this margin of victory and the margin of
  victory is small, but the rewards are great.  And I think
  my role with the U.S. team-- and every time I've spoken
  with young people-- is trying to empower them.  What
  I've often found is people want to get to where we want
  them to be.  They want to be healthier.  But they often
  don't know how to get there.  And I think a common
  mistake we make is to assume, as coaches, our players
  know where to go and as maybe health care providers or
  health care public assistants we assume people know
  how to get there.  So I think a key role in this is
  education, and empowerment.  The more we can
  empower people, the we are they'll be able to take
  responsibility for who they are and who they become.
  And in turn, encourage parents to be role models.  We're
  entering into a generation of kids that have more
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 opportunities than they've ever had before to participate
 in sport, yet we see our children the least healthy they've
 been in some years, and obviously technology has been a
 huge advance, but I think our kids have lost a sense of
 play.  Let's get our kids back out playing.  And I think it
 begins with our parents.  And I know I am now a parent
 and I have a 18-month-old child who watches me put my
 cookie in my mouth and wants that cookie and, you
 know, we can be great role models and don't think our
  kids don't emulate what our values are and aren't.
  And at the same time, we've come a long way.  In 1988,
  we flew to Bulgaria, and when we got on the plane, the
  stewardess gets up and after they loaded all the luggage
  down the aisles, the stewardess goes smoking,
  nonsmoking, and literally on one half of the aisle, on each
  side, was dividing smoking and nonsmoking and needless
  to say, we were pulling our shirts over our faces to
  breathe for across that flight.  So we've come a long way,
  and your work has been incredibly valuable and it needs
  to continue and just to believe that one step at a time, one
  person at a time, we can help each American and
  America become a healthier place.  Thank you very
  much.
  (Applause)
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
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 Lauren, thank you very much.  Next, we have a
 hometown athlete from a nearby football team you just
 may have heard of called the Baltimore Ravens.  Our
 panelist began his rookie year in the National Football
 League in 2002, playing safety.  Prior to professional
 football, he played at SanDiego State University, starting
 his career there as a walk-on during his freshman year.
 Originally from Palmdale, California, we are very happy
 to have him in Baltimore.  Please welcome Will Demps.
  (Applause)
  >>WILL DEMPS:
  Thank you, Christine.  How you guys doing out there
  today?  Are you doing good?  Last session and
  everything, huh?
  (Laughter)
  >>WILL DEMPS:
  But today I want to talk to you about the healthier steps
  and leading a better lifestyle.  As for me, it started at a
  young age.  You know, I wasn't the skinniest, biggest
  kids.  I was real-- you know, had fat potential.  So the
  steps I took when I was a young kid was to get involved.
  You know, I got-- ask people, ask coaches, ask parents,
  what can I do to become a better person?  For me, I
  wanted to be the athlete.  I wanted to reach out there and
  just be a better person because I was a big kid.  You
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 know, I was pretty hefty.  I was pretty big.  But that's a
 different situation.  But...
 You know, I wanted to build my self-esteem because my
 self-esteem was real low.  You know, other kids around
 me were skinnier, they were built different and I was
 wondering why.  I asked my coach one day, I was like,
 why can't I be like that kid?  It takes a lot of hard work,
 dedication and for me, I wanted to set goals to do that.
 So for me, I had to work hard.  I started jogging, started
  losing weights, taking little steps.  And asked people to
  get involved, how do I do certain things.  Because I knew
  that was the steps to helping lead to a brighter future.
  You know, for me going into a college, I was a walk-on,
  like you said.  I had to work hard because, I wasn't
  always the fastest person and I had take the steps to get
  there and for me to do that, I had to get involved and ask
  people how to get healthier because I wasn't eating right.
  You know, I was eating sugars, I'd drink a lot of sodas.
  You know, kids these days drink a lot of sodas and they
  sit around the couches and get A bees and I didn't like
  that.  And for me, I wanted to go out there and tell
  people you don't have to eat those foods.  The sugar in
  there just sits in your system and it comes into your
  system and you don't want that to happen.  And for me, I
  took that to the next level and just worked out and got
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 involved.  And with my profession, you can't do those
 things no more.  You got to be involved.  You got to be
 healthier.  I want kids, people out there to know that if it
 wasn't for the steps I took to become healthier, I
 wouldn't be here today talking to you guys.
 It-- you got to get involved and let kids know that to
 build their self-esteem, you got to let them know the key
 steps, take them baby steps.  I call them baby steps.  The
 baby steps to take.  You know, the first examples is start
  off, you got to eat out and you got to work out.  It
  doesn't have to be hard.  You know, play catch, play
  hide and go seek.  That's what I did when I was a little
  kids.  Heads up, 7-Up.  Just kind of got involved.
  Because once you kind of get involved and work with
  other kids you kind of build your self-esteem up and then
  hey, mom, can I go outside and play and then start
  evolving and you can start doing things, you can see your
  kids and other people start to get involved.  Because
  when you get to the age I'm at and get further, how is that
  going to affect my life?  It's going to affect my life big
  because I knew those steps before that I don't want to be
  that person I was when I was a small kid, and-- and I
  always want to live a Healthy Lifestyle because I look
  good, feel good, so I play good and I can meet people
  and talk to people bus I know I feel good and work out
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 good and I think that's from me living a healthier lifestyle.
 So that's the key things I have for you guys today and I
 hope you guys had a good session this week, and thank
 you.
 (Applause)
 >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
 Thank you, Will.  Our next athlete emerged as America's
 best woman distance swimmer during the early and mid-
 1980s.  She was a member of the U.S. swimming team at
  the 1984 LosAngeles Olympic games, winning a pair of
  gold medals in individual events, and setting two Olympic
  records in the process, and I might add I had the
  pleasure, as a young writer at the Miami herald, of
  covering every second of it.  It was a delight to watch on
  those beautiful sun-splashed days in LosAngeles in July of
  1984.
  Following her Olympic triumphs, they enrolled in the
  University of Texas, adding even more titles to an already
  accomplished career.  Now a member of the international
  swimming hall of fame, it's an honor to introduce to you
  Tiffany Cohen.
  (Applause)
  >>TIFFANY COHEN:
  Thank you, Christine, and good afternoon, ladies and
  gentlemen.  And might I add, even though the last time
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 we met was 19 years ago, neither one of us look any
 different, right?
 (Laughter)
 >>TIFFANY COHEN:
 All because we've taken steps to be healthier.  Anyways,
 I'm very pleased to be here today.  As far back as I can
 remember, physical fitness has been a part of my life.
 From the moment I took my first few steps to when I was
 running after my older brother so I could keep up and
  stay in his hair and keep bugging him.  Finally, I think it
  took its toll at home and in order to get some peace and
  harmony, my mom got me involved in sports.  And from
  the time I took my first dive into the pool, I can
  remember what an impact physical fitness and athleticism
  has been on my life.  It's really empowered me, has
  increased my self-esteem, and that's really what I share
  with people when I go around and speak.
  For me, I was doing what other-- willing to do whatever
  it took to be successful as an athlete.  I trained anywhere
  from 30 to 35 hours a week and that's what I needed to
  do to achieve my goals.  And in the athletic culture,
  sometimes people can take it a step too far.  We don't
  listen to our bodies, we push ourselves to extremes, and
  that's something that I have done.  In order to actually--
  actually in college after the Olympics, I had a goal weight
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 that my coach wanted me to meet and I took it a step too
 far and developed bulimia as an effort to reach my goal
 wait and there's many reasons-- I'm sure everyone can
 relate to the fact that everywhere we look today, we're
 constantly bombarded by in ideal image of thinness and
 people sometimes take it to extremes.  And I think there's
 a very big difference out there in the athletic culture or
 just when you're trying to be fit.  There's appearance
 thinness and there's also performance thinness.  So for
  me, basically my message is that I had realized that when
  I was in recovery for my eating disorder, that I wanted to
  lead an active, healthy life, and I went from one extreme
  of being active and healthy as an elite athlete to being
  very unhealthy and very weak.  And so when my
  message when I talk to people, high school and college
  students about eating-related issues is about establishing a
  balance.  And sometimes more is-- is not always better.
  And I think I've made a commitment to myself and the
  people that I speak to and my children that when you get
  out there and you're working out, it shouldn't be,
  necessarily, about how you look or how you appear, but
  how you-- how you feel inside about how it makes you
  feel, how it increases your self-esteem, how it empowers
  you.  And this is what you can relate to your people
  when-- when you speak to them and talk to them about
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 taking steps to be a healthier U.S.
 I know it's really helped me, having competed in a
 couple of triathlons in the last couple years, two-and-a-
 half iron man's and various other Sprint triathlons.  I
 wouldn't have been able to do it if it was about how I felt
 versus how I look.  Because I think people are willing to
 go to extremes to look good today regardless of how we
 feel tomorrow.  And in my family, there is a history of
 obesity, and there's diabetes, and when I lost my dad to
  heart disease in his 50s, that's when I made my personal
  commitment.  And when I talk to my kids-- I have a 5
  and a 7-year-old-- one of the things that I do is I tell
  them that, you know, we can go out instead of driving to
  the store to pick up a few things, we can ride our bikes,
  or we can go for a walk and, you know, they don't know
  the difference when they're out there exercising, having
  fun, playing hide and go seek, running after a ball, you
  know, playing tag with their friends.  They don't know.
  And so if fitness is related to having fun, then they are
  going to go out there and participate in athletics.  And I
  think just as athletics performing and training was
  important in my success as an athlete, I think that being
  physically fit and taking steps to be healthier can really
  affect our performance in life.  Thank you.
  (Applause)
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 >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
 Tiffany, thank you very much.  Our next panelist was
 honored as the 2002 Chevy young male athlete of the
 year, one of world soccer magazine's top 100 rising stars
 in the year 2000, and ESPN, the magazine's, next 2001
 athlete for soccer.  Clearly, we have a panelist with a
 bright future.  At age 17, he became the third youngest
 player in the U.S. men's soccer national team history to
 earn a full cap when he played against Mexico.  In 2000,
  he made his rookie debut for the DC united, where he
  became the youngest player to appear in a major-league
  soccer game.  Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
  Bobby Convey.
  (Applause)
  >>BOBBY CONVEY:
  Thank you.  All those things sound pretty impressive to
  me, actually.  I mean, I'm very happy that I could-- I
  mean, I've never heard someone say all those things
  before, so--
  (Laughter)
  >>BOBBY CONVEY:
  It's-- I mean, so far, everyone up here has-- we all have
  the same thing in mind here.  We wouldn't be able to do
  the stuff we do if we weren't healthy.  We-- I-- I'm
  learning, just like every one of you and I'm sure all the
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 athletes did, Ms.Cohen I guess that's what I have to call
 you.  In those pictures, she was my age, so--
 (Laughter)
 >>BOBBY CONVEY:
 I just--
 (Laughter)
 >>BOBBY CONVEY:
 I-- I'm learning right now-- I mean she looks pretty cute
 in those pictures, though.
  (Laughter)
  >>BOBBY CONVEY:
  No.  Just it was--
  (Laughter)
  >>BOBBY CONVEY:
  They-- no, I mean, it was just-- it's just one of those
  things where for her as a swimmer, it was-- it's just
  incredibly, I guess-- I don't want to say-- not impossible,
  but it's-- she has to be so.
  (audio difficulties)
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
  In the 1993 world championships in track and field, his
  team in the 4-x-4 hundred relay set a world record with a
  time of 2 minutes 54.29 seconds.  That's pretty fast.
  Now, an associate head coach for Georgetown
  University's men's and women's track and field teams, he
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 helped lead the men's team to back to back indoor and
 outdoor ECAC championship titles.
 (audio difficulties).
 >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
 -- guy and very fast young man, Andrew Valmon.
 (Applause)
 (audio difficulties)
 >>ANDREW VALMON:
 What I believe in every day in my life, which is I'm going
  to echo what Tiffany said, which is balance and
  moderation.  I think when you go through life, if you can
  have some semblance of balance and moderation, you
  can go ahead and do anything you want to do in life.
  You know, we all want to be perfect and drink 8 glasses
  of water but really and truly to do that, you got to start
  from somebody.  We all want to run a marathon but we
  have to be able to run a mile or walk a mile.  You guys
  probably have no idea how big that is, and I think one of
  the reasons that we're all successful in life, and especially
  in our sports, is because someone took the time to say,
  "Good job," to say thank you, and they acknowledged
  that we were doing something that was right.  And
  through sports, and a healthier lifestyle, that's something
  that we can bestow upon for the rest of the world to say
  that we can be better in everything that we do.  I think
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 one of the things that this audience should take from this
 is that you guys can empower the young minds to do
 something else.  We definitely need physical fitness back
 in the schools.  It's not there just to make us faster, better
 and stronger, but it's also an opportunity to give us some
 balance.  What I see every day on the college life is when
 my athletes are injured, their grades suffer.  They're
 miserable, they have notify way for an outlet.  But when
 they come back off the injured list, the grades come
  back, their self-esteem is there, and that balance is one of
  the things that I think will take them far in life.  And I think
  one of the things that we all have in common, especially
  from hearing everyone, is that we try to have a balance.
  We try to live life.  We're not always perfect, but we try
  to do it one day at a time and I just want to say one thing,
  which is the most important thing, that if you have
  balance, you can do anything you want.  Thank you.
  (Applause)
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
  Andrew is fast.  I think that was the quickest yet,
  Andrew.
  (Laughter)
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
  Thank you.  That was terrific.  Thanks.
  Our final panelist is described as practically being born
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 on skis.  She began at 3 years old and was racing by the
 ripe old age of 7.  Her sites were set on the Olympics
 until she veered off course and crashed into a tree.
 Crushing her back and becoming a paraplegic.  But this
 didn't stop her.  Oh, no!
 After graduating as the valedictorian of her high school
 class and receiving a degree from Stanford, she returned
 to skiing.  As a member of the UnitedStates disabled ski
 team, she won three silver medals in the 2002
  Paralympics two World Cup titles in 2001 and 2002, a
  bronze medal at the Paralympic games in 1998 and the
  list goes on and on.  She is a founding member of sun
  valley adaptive sports, a program designed to provide
  recreational opportunities to individuals with disabilities.
  Ladies and gentlemen, an inspiration to all of us, Muffy
  Davis.
  (Applause)
  >>MUFFY DAVIS:
  Thank you, Christine, and thank you, everyone, for
  having me here.  It's an absolute honor to be up on stage
  with the elite and quality athletes that we have here.
  I learned at a young age how fleeting and how precious
  health and life are.  Fortunately, I survived, and I was
  able to get back out there.  And I have to thank my
  parents because they got me involved in athletics and
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 sports at a young age, where I set my lifetime goal at 8
 years old to go to the Olympics.  And I knew that it was
 out there competing, skiing racing, whatever it was that I
 was doing, it was on the athletic field, playing sports,
 where I was truly free and my spirit was free.  And so
 when I had my accident at 16, I knew I had to get back
 out there.  I knew that that's where I was going to find my
 freedom and my peace.  And fortunately I was still able
 to get back out and accomplish that lifelong dream and
  goal, and go to the Paralympics where I won my medals.
  I learned that I had to be creative and find another
  solution, that life and health are fleeting, that we have to
  take advantage of each and every day.  We only get this
  one chance to do it, so we'd better make it the best we
  can.
  And I'm very thankful that I was able to accomplish that
  dream and that goal and go on, and still every day, I
  realize how precious life is and that we have to wake up
  and do the best we can with each and every day.  Keep
  getting out there.  Stay active.  Make it the best that we
  can.
  Finally, I'd like to say what's most important is people
  with disabilities like to think and often society enables
  them to sit back and not be active, to just be complacent
  and steady.  And I think it's just as important, if not more
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 important, for people with some kind of physical ailment
 or disability to stay as active as possible.  I like to say
 that nowadays it's a great time to be disabled because
 truly, I believe if you can dream it, you can achieve it.
 There are people out there that can help you accomplish
 any of your dreams.  And if you have a desire that you'd
 like to try and do, you can get out and accomplish it and
 I'm so happy to see in some of the promos,
 advertisements, kids with wheelchairs out there playing
  and participating because they need to see
  representatives and models and role models that they can
  get out and be active.  And so I urge you all to go out
  and to continue seizing the opportunity and pushing
  everyone to be the best that they can be, and don't let
  anyone have an excuse.  Make them be their best.  Make
  them get up.  It doesn't have to be reaching for the top of
  the Olympic podium.  It's each and every day, one step,
  like all the athletes mentioned today.  It's balance, it's
  moderation, but it's doing the best with what you have
  each and every day, and seizing the moment and realizing
  how precious life truly is.  Thank you so much for being
  here, and I wish you all the best and go out there and--
  we set our goal, now let's reach for it.
  (Applause)
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
.
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 Muffy, thank you.  Thanks very much.  Also terrific.
 Each message individually and collectively, obviously, of
 the entire group here has got a lot of things to tell us.
 We're lucky that we have a few extra minutes so we have
 time for questions.  That being my job.  I thought we
 would start out with those who are no longer currently
 playing, and for those of us weekend warriors in the
 audience, if you could, in a very few sentences, each of
 you talk about what you do now to stay active and
  healthy.  If we-- do we have-- well, why don't you start,
  Muffy.
  >>MUFFY DAVIS:
  Sure.  I just retired from competitive sports last year and
  I realized how challenging it is when you get into the
  business world and every day seems to eat up all your
  moments.
  What I made the effort is to make small steps and it's
  walking my dog, it's getting out there, it's maintaining that
  if I don't do it today, I may not be able to do it tomorrow.
  So keep doing it each and every day and working the
  best that I can.
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
  Andrew?
  >>ANDREW VALMON:
  I proclaim that I'm Tiger Woods.
.
Page 23
.
 (Laughter)
 >>ANDREW VALMON:
 I dressed the part.  I can't play well but I can dress and I
 can go hit some balls and I'm on the track every day with
 the kids and so that's a balance for me just to get
 automatic and do something different, you know, just to
 look at another side of life.
 (Laughter)
 >>FEMALE SPEAKER:
  Well, I'm pretty active just chasing my kids around,
  basically.  That's the deal.  But when I'm not in meetings
  and working all day, I try to squeeze in, whether it be 20
  minutes at the gym on the treadmill or just going for a
  bike ride with my kids.  I really just try to make it part of
  my recommended daily allowance of activity that I need
  to do each day, or as many days in each week, to feel
  good.  And sometimes I'm not competing in swimming
  anymore and not really competing in triathlon but I still
  truly enjoy getting out there and running and biking, so
  when I do have the time, when I can't get out there for--
  or actually when I can get out there for a couple hours, I
  take advantage of it, and just do it recreationally and push
  my body until it gets to a point where it doesn't feel good
  anymore.  That's it.
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
.
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 Lauren?
 >>LAUREN GREGG:
 I also am chasing around my little 18 month old going on
 15, I think.  But I do a lot of cross-training, actually.  I'm
 very fortunate.  I actually fractured my back about two
 years ago and spent two years in a wheelchair so I took a
 lot of steps to get back to where I am as well and I do a
 lot of cross-training which I think is very important.  I
 think the young kids today that are forced into these
  year-round programs, it's really, really important to
  cross-train them.  We really advocate it.  Even with our
  national team program, at the level we're training at, it
  prevents injuries, it helps injure longevity as an athlete,
  and I love tennis and walking and biking and I think the
  key even for all of you, just to take care of your own
  health because you're so conscious of helping everyone
  else and taking care of so many other people, is to make
  sure it's part of your day.  And I think sometimes we
  forget to take care of ourselves, and the leadership adage
  is, take care of yourself first so you can take care others.
  So make sure you're caverning out time each day for
  yourself and next.
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
  Will, we'll go to you next, will and Bobby, for the
  current-day athletes.  How do you stay in shape year-
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.
 round and how do you fight off the human tendency to
 say oh, the season's over, it's time to relax and eat
 bonbons.
 >>WILL DEMPS:
 That's funny but for me just coming back to Baltimore
 was hard because it's cold.  You know, my body just
 wanted to stay inside and sleep.  So little things for me
 just like for me, I do a 20 minute run and come back, just
 kind of burn some fat, knowing that after 20 minutes,
  your body fat is going to start burning.  And go to the
  gym, take some boxing classes.  You know, gyms these
  days have a lot of activities you can go do, yoga, boxing,
  kickboxing.  There's a lot of various activities you can do
  to become involved in the winter.  And you know, I use
  every day as a tan day, you know, go out and run, go on
  the shore or something out here.  It's not a beach like in
  California, but just do some, you know, productive things
  so I can kind much just get-- you know, get ready for the
  season because the season itself is going to come around
  soon and I've always got to be active and do my body
  right and that's the example that I always use sometimes.
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
  Thanks.  Bobby?
  >>BOBBY CONVEY:
  Right now, I-- like I said before, I play on four different
.
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.
 teams so I don't really have an off season.  I'm in the
 middle of-- when I-- well, when my professional team,
 DC United, has their off season, I travel with a national
 team.  I play on the under 20 national team, the Olympic
 team and then the full men's team, so I have been
 traveling the last five months.  I've probably been here in-
 - well, not in Baltimore but in DC for about a month for
 the last five months, so I just-- my days, I just make sure
 that I have a couple days that I can rest, actually, because
  I train so much that when I come back, I have a trainer
  that I just go to the gym and just keep in shape, just ride
  the bikes a little bit.  I just don't-- I just don't over-
  exhaust myself because I train so much throughout the
  year.
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
  All right.  Thank you.  I am getting word that we should--
  we should call it quits here.  I wanted to say on behalf of
  all of you, thank you so much.  It's-- what wonderful
  answers and what terrific role models.  Don't you agree?
  (Applause)
  >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
  So thank you.  We have role models like the athletes here
  today speaking out on the importance of physical activity.
  We may all not be world-class athletes, but as you have
  heard, throughout the summit, small healthy changes over
.
Page 27
.
 time can yield extraordinary results in achievements of all
 areas of life.  Again, we say thank you to you and thank
 you to our panel, and now I'll turn the event over to
 Dr.Carmona.
 (Applause)
 >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA:
 Good afternoon and thank you and thank you to our
 young athletes for spending some time with us and
 showing us-- well, actually, we're so proud of you.
  Thank you.  That's really what I wanted to say.  Thanks
  so much.
  You know, after this two days, I am so happy that I am a
  recovering surgeon now.  I'll tell you.  And hanging out
  with public health people after all these years.
  I want to make a couple of closing comments but before
  I do, I think it's real important that-- this has been-- in
  talking to all of you, and a lot of the people who aren't
  here now-- and I understand they had to leave-- and
  others, it's a beautiful day and they're working on
  prevention along the waterfront and such--
  (Laughter)
  >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA:
  But I-- I have just been thrilled with the remarks.  I mean,
  everybody's inspired.  I mean, gosh, Secretary
  Thompson was absolutely incredible.  I mean, I put him in
.
Page 28
.
 that category with Denise Austin.  We shouldn't give him
 caffeinated beverages anymore.  Just so enthusiastic
 about prevention.
 But in-- in just sidebar conversations with all of you,
 everybody seems to be sensing the same thing, that this is
 a very critical juncture in our administration, in our-- in
 this time, that we are embarking on this prevention.
 Now, for most of you who have been doing prevention
 for years like I have, it's not a big deal.  But finally, our
  time has come.  And as many of you know, there are
  wonderful ideas that are sometimes brought to the
  forefront prematurely and they die or fall by the wayside,
  and I think we've got the right timing now, as far as
  prevention and everybody seeing that we need to embark
  on a different path because where we are as far as
  disease burden and economic burden is unsustainable,
  and quite frankly, we have a lot of people that are not
  experiencing the quality of life that they can experience
  with the appropriate prevention, interventions.
  But all of this could not have happened if it wasn't for the
  vision of Secretary Thompson, President Bush, putting
  this on the forefront as demonstrated through much of his
  policy, as well as funding, so President Bush and
  Secretary Thompson really are the ones that have
  empowered me to get out here, but I recognize that I'm
.
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.
 the Surgeon General and get to talk about these things.  I
 know the communities that enact this and the link with
 those communities is what's so important and that is our
 Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and I
 would like Elizabeth majestic and her staff and my
 predominantly pal deputy secretary of health, to stand up
 because these are key people who made this all happen
 and their leadership you should all recognize because
 that's why things went so well.  Elizabeth, stand up.
  (Applause)
  >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA:
  Where's your staff?
  (Applause)
  >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA:
  This was really a team effort, and, you know, a few of us
  get some ideas, but these people live and breathe this all
  the time, and I venture to say after a day or two off, I'll
  get the first call from Elizabeth saying, okay, we got to
  start planning for next year.  And-- because that's the
  way they are, they are so dedicated.
  But, you know, from my own vantage point, again from--
  as a clinician and understanding first hand the burden of
  things that used to come before me in an emergency
  room and a trauma center that didn't have to be there, as
  I mentioned in any remarks, whether it was injuries,
.
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.
 whether it was illness, the commonality was for almost all
 that was preventable was that that given day, somebody
 made a bad decision.  Usually, again, that was the drunk
 drivers and the violence and so on.  And then we had the
 others that would come before us after a series of bad
 decisions that could be years in the making and that might
 be a stroke or an aneurysm or a heart attack or a number
 of other diseases.  But the fact remained that I was
 making a pretty good livings caring for people by trying to
  put good science to undo bad behavior that happened on
  that day or over a long period of time.
  And finally, I think the groundswell is there.  We've come
  to the recognition that it's unsustainable, that we need to
  move forward with prevention, and shift that agenda in
  such a way that people begin to understand that it is
  within their control.  Every single day in everything they
  do to make themselves healthy, keep themselves well.
  Whether it is choosing the right foods that you eat, getting
  a little physical activity, reducing the risk, whatever that
  risk is in your life-- as I said, whether it's not wearing a
  helmet, seat belts, or anything else, as we categorize risk,
  if we look at just those three simple measures and we
  project that out over time, therein lies the simple cure for
  what is preventable.
  Because most of what we have before us today is
.
Page 31
.
 because people don't think about the consequences of
 eating poorly, said Terry behavior and accepting high risk
 in their life on a daily basis.  The so, again, I know I'm
 preaching to the choir here, but I ask all of you, I charge
 all of you to be more vocal in your communities,
 wherever you are in spreading the word of prevention.
 We are fortunate that we have a President and a
 secretary who get it.  They understand.  They understand
 that this is unsustainable.  And they want to support it not
  only in word but in deed and, in fact, legislatively, policy,
  and financial support for all of these programs.
  So in summing it up, I am thrilled that you are all as
  passionate as I am and the Secretary is about prevention.
  It will be on the forefront of all of our agendas, whatever
  those agendas happen to be.  The mantra coming from
  the office of the Surgeon General will be prevention first.
  And where I was challenged on this one day where I-- I
  also have some responsibility for preparedness now, and
  somebody says, "You can't do it for everything because
  preparedness doesn't fit."  I said, "Yes, it does, because
  preparedness, we deal with terrorism.  Counter terrorism
  is prevention.  Early warning, all of the high-tech things
  we're doing to somehow figure out what bad pathogens
  may be in the air, intelligence, all of that is actually
  prevention.  So really everything I do and everything I will
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.
 be doing will be based on prevention first.  In the
 traditional public health model, which is what you all are
 involved in, I think it's clear that we always have to ask
 the question, "How do we prevent these things from
 happening?"  One thing I'm going to make an equipment
 to you today that I several months ago began discussions
 with my staff, I says, "You know, there's never been a
 Surgeon General's report on prevention."  And I talked to
 the White House, I talked to the Secretary over the last
  few months.  Everybody thought it was wonderful.  I
  said, you know, because I've read the reports before and
  usually there's one page in 200 or 300 that says, you
  know, this could have all been prevented, and-- but the
  meat of the report is about some bad disease or illness
  that we should do something about.  So I said why don't
  we have a Surgeon General's communication that's just all
  about prevention?  So I'm here to tell you that's going to
  be done.  We're forming the committee right now and we
  will have a Surgeon General's communication on
  prevention.
  (Applause)
  >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA:
  And you guessed it.  Elizabeth and her staff will be the
  driving force behind it.
  (Laughter)
.
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.
 >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA:
 So she's saying thank you, right, Elizabeth?
 (Laughter)
 >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA:
 Another unfunded mandate, right?
 (Laughter)
 >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA:
 Well, I'm thrilled to have been here and been a small part
 of this.  I am overwhelmed at the response we have, and
  I'm certainly not happy about all the people we had to
  turn away.  We may have to do this in a stadium across
  the river next year to get everybody in, but that's a good
  thing.  Because people are catching on and they
  understand.  This is where we need to be.  We need to
  be in prevention.  Prevention has to be first.  I thank all of
  you for your commitment.  On behalf of President Bush
  and Secretary Thompson, who know that our strength is
  in our communities and each of you who is bringing the
  word to change, to leave a legacy of positive change, of
  health and wellness, thank you so much for your
  commitment.  I look forward to working with you this
  year, and see you at the next conference.  Thank you.
  (Applause)
.