NFL Charities, the charitable arm of the National Football League, has announced a three-year, $2.2 million grant to extend the Cooper Institute's NFL PLAY 60 FITNESSGRAM program.

Launched in 2009 as part of an NFL initiative to challenge youth to be physically active for at least sixty minutes a day, the NFL PLAY 60 FITNESSGRAM uses a physical assessment tool that measures student fitness levels in six categories and provides reports to parents designed to encourage healthy behavior at home. Developed in 1982, the tool also was adopted last week as a key component of the newly launched Presidential Youth Fitness Program, a school-based program that promotes regular physical activity for America's youth.

"We're proud to collaborate with the NFL to find solutions to childhood obesity by tracking health-related fitness results and analyzing how to intervene," said Kenneth H. Cooper, founder and chairman emeritus of the Cooper Institute. "I firmly believe that before we can make improvements to our health we need a good assessment of the situation. That's what FITNESSGRAM is designed to do."