Subway Restaurants, the largest submarine sandwich franchisee in the world, has a heritage of offering healthy options, such as the "7 under 6" line of sandwiches, which features 7 submarine sandwiches with 6 grams of fat or less, and the Kids' Pak(TM) meal, which was revamped last year to make it more nutritious for children.

"Educating children about the importance of healthy eating and regular exercise has always been a top priority for me," says 26 year-old Jared, who was also an overweight child. "I know what it's like to have weight problems at a young age and if sharing my story with other kids helps build their confidence, eat smarter and exercise more, I want to do as much as I can."

At the kick-off event, Jared and Lisa provided tips for the students, shared their personal experiences about food and exercise and tested the children's fitness know-how and skills. Lisa is also featured in the in- school curriculum.

"Eating smart and staying fit is critical for everyone -- athletes, kids and adults," says Lisa, who has worked with a variety of youth organizations including the Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America. "I want kids to understand that exercising does not have to be a chore, but can be fun and engaging. Getting involved in sports and recreational activities are great ways to boost self-esteem and make new friends."

"The overweight and obesity rate in children is growing everyday. It is important to do everything possible to help children eat better and stay active to fight this growing epidemic. Subway has a long history of successfully promoting healthier eating and weight loss and is in the unique position and capacity to teach and promote a healthy lifestyle to millions of children," says Lanette Kovachi, Subway Restaurants' registered dietitian.

Jared's School Tour

During the next year, Jared Fogle, who lost 245 pounds by exercising regularly and replacing his high-fat diet with one that included Subway's "7 under 6" sandwiches, will discuss his struggles as an obese child and offer suggestions to thousands of children around the country on how to eat healthier and become more active. During his visits to schools, Jared will be joined by a sport or fitness expert to talk about the importance of simple, easy physical activities.

One Body! One Life! Eat Fresh! Get Fit!

In addition to the national school tour, Subway Restaurants has developed an in-school curriculum for fourth, fifth and sixth grade students, which will be in every school across the country later this month. The curriculum developed in part with Weekly Reader, the country's largest and oldest educational magazine for students, focuses on nutrition and fitness. The Subway "One Body! One Life! Eat Fresh! Get Fit!" curriculum allows teachers to focus on fun and interactive ways to instill proper eating and fitness values with their students and lets students track their eating and exercise habits. More than 10 million children in 60,000 classrooms nationwide read Weekly Reader.

Subway Kids' Pak and subwaykids.com

This past September, Subway made changes to its Kids' Pak meal to improve its nutritional content and provided "Jared's Steps to Healthier Kids" information cards in its restaurants in efforts to educate their customers about preventing childhood obesity. In addition, the Subway chain continues to support their education efforts with the subwaykids.com web site. Featured on the site are engaging, interactive games such as "The Healthilizer," "Battle of the Burger Droids," "Wrassle-Rama" and "Build-a-Power-Meal," which focus on health and nutrition in a fun way. The web site includes a resource for parents striving to manage their children's diet and exercise levels. Parents and children can also "Ask Jared Fogle" about how he lost his weight or how they can incorporate fun exercises into their everyday life.

Subway Restaurants was founded in 1965 in Bridgeport, Conn. by then 17-year-old Fred DeLuca, with a $1,000 loan from family friend, Dr. Peter Buck. Subway Restaurants is the world's largest submarine sandwich franchise, with more than 20,000 locations in 71 countries. The chain has surpassed McDonald's in the number of restaurants open in the United States and Canada and has again been named the number one franchise opportunity by Entrepreneur magazine in its Annual Franchise 500 ranking for 2004 -for the record-breaking 12th time in 16 years!

For more information about Subway Restaurants see its Web site at www.subway.com.

Subway® and Kids' Pak(TM) are registered trademarks of Doctor's Associates Inc. (DAI)