Kids' Health in the Balance: Cheetah Girl and Mission Foods Join Forces

IRVING, TX, Apr 10 (MARKET WIRE) --
There has been a dramatic increase in childhood obesity in the United
States(1)during the past 20 years and results from a National Health and
Nutrition
Examination Survey(2) indicate that an estimated 17 percent of children
andadolescents ages 2-19 years are overweight. Mission Foods, one of the
leadingtortilla manufacturers in the United States, is educating moms on how to
create easy, nutritious lunch and snack ideas and they've brought some "star
power" to their cause.

Sabrina Bryan, a member of the multi-platinum recording act The Cheetah
Girls as
well as star of the highly successful Disney movie series of the same name, is
partnering with Mission Foods in the fight against childhood obesity. With
today's busy families finding fewer free moments to prepare nutritious
home-cooked meals, Sabrina and Mission Foods have teamed up to show teenagers
and their moms how to make quick, easy and nutritious meals using one of the
most versatile items in their kitchen pantries, tortillas.

"Students these days are bombarded with lots of unhealthy choices," explains
Bryan.
"That's what attracted me to partnering with Mission Foods. We're both
committed to providing the resources and nutritional elements for a healthy
lifestyle. And at missionmenus.com there are tons of great tasting, easy
and nutritious tortillas recipes that kids of all ages can enjoy."

The pop star is also the national spokesperson for Healthy Kids Challenge
(HKC), a
non-profit organization which promotes healthy eating and lifestyle to
school-aged children all over the US. This fall, Healthy Kids Challenge
introduces its first large-scale national event, "Healthy Kids Dance for
Health,"
sponsored by Mission Foods. It's an initiative and fundraising campaign to
promote
staying fit using dance. As many as 2200 schools in 200 cities are expected
to participate. Events that raise the most money will be eligible to win great
prizes, with a grand prize that includes a personal appearance and dance
lessons from Sabrina Bryan.

"Obesity tends to persist through life," says Vickie James, a registered
dietician
and founder of the Healthy Kids Challenge. "Our mission is to help all
kids, regardless of weight, have more opportunities and develop healthy habits
with eating and physical activity."

Mission Foods will also be sponsoring HKC's Kids C.A.N. Recipe Challenge, an
annual
recipe contest for 7th & 8th grade classes across the U.S at the beginning of
each school year. It helps kids learn the fundamentals of how to make
healthy choices for themselves. You can hear firsthand why Sabrina has
joined Mission and the Healthy Kids Challenge organization in caring for our
next generation, at www.missionmenus.com.

About Mission Foods

Mission Foods, headquartered in Irving (Dallas area), Texas and Gruma S.A.B.
de
C.V., a Mexican corporation, was founded in 1949, and is one of the largest
tortilla manufacturers in the United States. Gruma S.A. de C.V. is the parent
company of Mission Foods (Gruma Corporation) and is a leading Mexican producer
of
corn masa flour and tortilla products. It has operations in Mexico, the
United States, Central and South America, Europe and Asia. For more information,
please visit www.missionmenus.com.

About Healthy Kids Challenge

Originally created in 1998 for Cooking Light Magazine by nutritionist and
registered dietician Vickie James, RD, LD, the non-profit organization began as
a
pilot program to guide schools in providing kids with simple and fun ways to
support healthy eating and physical activity lifestyle habits. For more
information, log onto
www.healthykidschallenge.org.

(1) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(2) 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

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CONTACT:
Jennifer Cameron
Stevens FKM
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Stevens FKM
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