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Discovery Health Channel Presents Total Family Health – An Initiative to Help Families Make Healthier Lifestyle Choices

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Contact:
Amanda Denning
Public Relations Specialist
American Academy of Family Physicians
(800) 274-2237, Ext. 5223
adenning@aafp.org

(Silver Spring, Md.) – Discovery Health Channel announced today the return of TOTAL FAMILY HEALTH, a multi-platform initiative with the goal of educating families about the full range of health and wellness options available to live better lives. This is the second year for the TOTAL FAMILY HEALTH campaign and this year, it kicks off on Sunday, July 2, in San Diego with the first stop of an interactive mobile tour. Discovery Health partners with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) to bring the grassroots tour to eight communities around the United States throughout the summer.

In addition to the interactive mobile tour, TOTAL FAMILY HEALTH also consists of quarterly television specials and a wealth of online resources at www.discoveryhealth.com. Each component offers families vital, relevant and fun information about their health and well-being and gives them the resources to make healthy lifestyle decisions. Total Family Health is sponsored in part by the Smart Spot™ program from PepsiCo.

The TOTAL FAMILY HEALTH interactive mobile tour kicks off on July 2 and continues on for a total of eight stops at festivals and family destinations throughout the United States. Designed to share positive health information through hands-on experience, the centerpiece of the tour is a custom-designed, 53-foot big rig that features educational and entertaining activity kiosks with relevant health information supplied by ADA and AAFP, health advisors and taped segments with renowned Discovery Health Channel personalities, including Dr. Mehmet Oz, Discovery Health Channel’s senior medical contributor and bestselling co-author of You: The Owner’s Manual and You: The Smart Patient. Sister network FitTV has an active presence within the mobile tour, as well as the Discovery Channel Stores. More information on the TOTAL FAMILY HEALTH tour stops can be found at www.discoveryhealth.com.

Throughout the year, Discovery Health Channel will also premiere quarterly specials to allow families across America to participate in the TOTAL FAMILY HEALTH experience. The next TOTAL FAMILY HEALTH special, CLARK HOWARD: DOLLARS AND SENSE, premieres on Thursday, September 21 at 8 PM (ET/PT). While anxiously awaiting the birth of his son, consumer advocate and radio talk show host Clark Howard looks at raising a financially healthy family. Howard tackles the tough issues about financial wellness, including pre-natal health care costs, allowances for small children, credit cards for teenagers and much more.

The TOTAL FAMILY HEALTH online component leverages existing “Health Centers” and tools that enhance the television specials and complement information available on the tour. Specifically, the online site provides health quizzes, self-assessments and information tailored to men and women’s health and relationship advice. In addition, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Web site’s family health doctor, gives advice and facts about health and wellness.

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About the Sponsors

PepsiCo is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, with annual revenues of more than $27 billion. Through its Smart SpotTM choices, PepsiCo offers more than 100 products that contribute to healthier lifestyles. This includes brands like Quaker foods, Tropicana juices, Gatorade sports beverages, Propel Fitness Water, Aquarian, Baked Lays and Diet Pepsi. Smart Spot designation means PepsiCo products meet nutrition standards based on authoritative statements from the US FDA and the National Academy of Sciences. Consumers can find this designation on the front of all qualifying products through a round green emblem with the words "Smart Choices Made Easy." For more information, log on to www.smartspot.com.

About the Partners

Founded in 1947, the American Academy of Family Physicians represents more than 94,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care. Patients make 223 million office visits to family physicians each year - nearly 82 million more than to the next medical specialty. In the increasingly fragmented health care system, many specialists limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age or sex. But family physicians treat the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. They provide an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care. To learn more about the AAFP and about family medicine, please visit www.aafp.org.

The American Diabetes Association is the nation's premier voluntary health organization supporting diabetes research, information and advocacy. The Association’s mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. Founded in 1940, the Association provides services to hundreds of communities across the country. For more information, please call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit www.diabetes.org. Information from both these sources is available in English and Spanish.

Discovery Communications, Inc., is the leading global real-world media company. Discovery has grown from its core property, the Discovery Channel, first launched in the United States in 1985, to current global operations in 170 countries and territories with nearly 1.4 billion cumulative subscribers. DCI’s over 100 networks of distinctive programming represent 27 network entertainment brands including TLC, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, Discovery Times Channel, The Science Channel, Military Channel, Discovery Home Channel, Discovery en Español, Discovery Kids en Español, Discovery HD Theater, FitTV, Discovery Travel & Living (Viajar y Vivir), Discovery Home & Health and Discovery Real Time. DCI’s other properties consist of Discovery Education and Discovery Commerce, which operates more than 100 Discovery Channel Stores in the U.S. DCI also distributes BBC America and BBC World News in the United States. DCI’s ownership consists of four shareholders: Discovery Holding Company (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB), Cox Communications, Inc., Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, the Company’s Founder and Chairman.

Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents more than 94,600 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

Nearly one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 208 million office visits each year - nearly 83 million more than the next largest medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty.

In the increasingly fragmented world of health care where many medical specialties limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age or sex, family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.

To learn more about the American Academy of Family Physicians and about the specialty of family medicine, please visit aafp.org.

For more information about the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care and downloadable multi-media on family medicine and health care, visit the AAFP Media Center.

For more information about health care, health conditions, and wellness, please visit familydoctor.org.