67 WALL STREET, New York - September 4, 2012 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Retail Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Brick-And-Mortar Versus Online Retail Sales - Cautious Consumer Spending - Specialty Hardlines and Softlines Retail - Strong Secular Growth in E-Commerce - International Retail Platforms

Companies include: Under Armour, Inc. (UA), Nike Inc. (NKE), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU), Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and many others.

In the following excerpt from the Retail Report, Piper Jaffray's Health and Wellness research analyst discusses the outlook for this unique investment category:

TWST: What is your retail coverage?

Mr. Naughton: My coverage universe is a little unique. I cover what we have termed active and healthy lifestyles. I have two relatively distinct sets of stocks that I follow. The one side focuses on organic and natural foods as well as the supplement business, which I would consider the health and wellness side, and then the second part is the active lifestyle side, which would be more focused on sporting goods as well as active apparel and active footwear. There are also some other pieces in here for fitness clubs that fit into the active side as well.

TWST: Are the active lifestyle and organic and natural foods/supplement spaces seeing the same kinds of trends right now, or are they experiencing two distinctly different situations?

Mr. Naughton: It's interesting. The active lifestyle space, in my opinion, is a category where the consumer is continuing to spend more money. I think that the fusion of fashion and function is well underway with what we've seen from apparel and footwear growth from Under Armour (UA), Nike (NKE), Lululemon (LULU) and those types of names. These are all companies that are clearly benefiting from trends within this entire lifestyle and the next leg of that growth is those brands continuing to offer the types of products that they do today with better fits, but also now introducing more technology. So whether it is chips inside of shoes or tracking on shirts to monitor heart rates inside of your body, I think those are the types of initiatives that will continue to drive innovation in that category and continue to drive share of wallet with the consumer.

TWST: What about with youth sports? Are sporting goods companies benefiting from that area as well?

For more from this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers, and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

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Real Growth Rates Accelerating for Health and Wellness Stocks: Piper Jaffray Expert Analyst Identifies Hot Investment ...

MIAMI & NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

As part of its long-standing commitment to improving the quality of life of its members, AvMed Health Plans has agreed to a two-year extension through 2014 of its current contract offering Healthways (HWAY) award-winning SilverSneakers Fitness Program to eligible members. SilverSneakers, the nations leading exercise program designed to keep older adults active and healthy, is offered to more than 31,000 AvMed Medicare Advantage members in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Our members are extremely enthusiastic about SilverSneakers, said Winston Lonsdale, AvMeds Chief Medicare Executive. We are encouraged by their many success stories about how exercise and increased activity have improved their quality of life. At the end of the day, our mission is to improve the quality of life of our members. This is a good partnership for us. We encourage our members to make use of this unique opportunity to get fit, have fun and boost their overall health.

Using proven methodologies based upon more than 16 years of science and outcomes, the SilverSneakers Fitness Program increases physical activity in older adults, resulting in higher well-being and lower healthcare costs. The program engages participants in active behavior change through access to a variety of physical activity venues and senior-specific programming that incorporates physical fitness and social experiences.

The enduring success of the program is evidenced through the SilverSneakers Fitness Program 2011 AvMed Annual Member Survey. According to the results, AvMed SilverSneakers members report a reduced incidence of chronic conditions, such as arthritis, high blood pressure and diabetes, when compared to the national averages for older adults. Participants also rate their health status significantly higher than the national averages, with 59 percent of AvMed SilverSneakers enrollees reporting their health in 2011 as either excellent or very good, compared to 30 percent of older adults in the US.

By continuing to offer SilverSneakers to Medicare Advantage enrollees, AvMed has confirmed its long-standing commitment to the health and well-being of its older adult members in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, said Ben R. Leedle, Jr., Healthways president and chief executive officer. The AvMed member survey findings clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of SilverSneakers and its unique combination of exercise and social support, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with AvMed in leading their members to optimal health.

The SilverSneakers Fitness Program was founded in 1993 and serves more than 9 million eligible members. The Healthways fitness center network offers convenient access to more than 15,000 participating fitness and wellness facilities nationwide. AvMed has provided SilverSneakers access to eligible members since 2010.

About AvMed Health Plans

AvMed has been providing health care coverage to Florida citizens and businesses for over 40 years. AvMed offers health coverage options to large and small employers in most major markets around the state; Medicare Advantage products in Broward and MiamiDade counties, and Individual coverage in Broward, MiamiDade and Palm Beach counties. For more information about AvMed, visit http://www.avmed.org.

About Healthways

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AvMed Health Plans to Offer Healthways SilverSneakers® Fitness Program Through 2014

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09-09-2012 01:57 © MMV Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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The Suite Life of Zack en Cody - Season 2 Episode 34 Part 1/3 - Health and Fitness - Video

The US obesity epidemic is pushing more Americans to pay attention to their health and leading a healthier lifestyle. Reuters pic

Employment of fitness trainers and instructors is expected to grow by a brisk 24 per cent in the decade to 2020, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, as businesses, health professionals and insurance companies take sharper aim at the sedentary lifestyle.

The obesity epidemic has produced a lot of noise and talk and chatter, said Cedric Bryant, chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise (ACE), which has certified more than 50,000 fitness professionals.

Helping individuals be more active is important and fitness professionals can be at the centre of that, he said.

Obesity rates have skyrocketed in the last 20 years. More than one third of adults in the United States are obese, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bryant said the health crisis is strongly linked to the lifestyle choices that fitness professionals, such as personal trainers and group fitness instructors, address.

Despite the shaky economy, health club membership is up more than 10 per cent over the past three years, according to IHRSA, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association.

Exercise physiologist and ACE spokesperson Jessica Matthews said workplace wellness campaigns also increase demand for fitness professionals.

Bryan said the average salary for a certified personal trainer is about US$53,000 (RM164,000) and rising. A high school diploma is sufficient to begin a career in fitness, he added, although more than two-thirds of professionals have college degrees.

Matthews said the industry attracts career changers driven by the downturn to reinvent their working selves.

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US obesity epidemic propels fitness as career

Feature Article of Monday, 10 September 2012

Columnist: Abugri, George Sydney

Source: Sydney Abugri Writing and Editing Services

Health experts are unanimous in their warning that whatever is not used atrophies or wastes away and dies slowly and that this is particularly the case with the human body.

If you want to keep physically fit and healthy, regular exercise is the answer. This basic law of health if broken or violated, leads to sickness emphasizes Dr. Edward Narh of the Narh-Bita Hospital in Tema.

Most members of keep fit clubs and patrons of gymnasiums confirm that they are usually clear-minded and alert after exercising. This, Dr. Narh explains, is because exercise makes the heart and brain work better as they receive adequate supplies of oxygen.

Since joining a keep fit club, I eat better, sleep better and no longer suffer frequently from colds, fever and bodily pains as I used to, concedes a female bank official in her fifties who belongs to a fitness club in Accra.

Unfortunately, informal surveys suggest that many Ghanaians in vocations and professions which do not require any physical have not engaged in physical exercise for many years.

As a result, according to the Ministry of Health, about 60 per cent of adult deaths in Ghana are attributable to heart-related and other non-communicable diseases resulting from sedentary life styles.

The good news is that a fitness craze appears to now be in vogue in many parts of Ghana and large numbers of people are joining keep fit clubs and enrolling with gymnasiums for regular exercise.

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Health: Ghana’s new era of gyms and keep fit clubs.

A QUEENSLAND obesity researcher has said adolescent girls need to improve their fitness and diet if they are to avoid health issues when they decide to start a family.

Griffith Health Institute's Professor Andrew Hills is exploring the relationship between excess fat in teenage girls and the health outcomes of mothers and babies during and after pregnancy.

In the most recent Queensland Child Health Report (2011), it was found that nearly 20% of teenage girls were overweight or obese.

"There has been a significant gap in research when it comes to obesity, with the teenage years being a crucial area," Professor Hills said.

"If young women are overweight or obese they could have significant issues when they wish to start a family in early adulthood."

Professor Hills believes there needs to be a concerted effort to change how we develop healthy children into healthy women.

"The goal needs to be to have healthy teenage girls. Unhealthy practices and patterns tend to cluster and compound on each other as we develop and obesity can be very harmful to developing babies in utero.

"What is worse is that obesity in the mother may pre-program poor health into the metabolism of the baby and then the problem snowballs," he said.

Part of the answer, Professor Hills believes, is in a return to more physical activity in daily life including comprehensive physical education and nutrition programs in high schools to help prevent the obesity problem.

"We have engineered physical activity out of daily life. Fundamental changes need to occur in a number of settings, including school at all levels."

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A need for teen girls to get physical

Posted on September 10, 2012, Monday

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: LANEIGE Brunei Darussalam yesterday embarked on its corporate and social responsibility initiative highlighting health concerns with its slogan Beauty through Healthy Lifestyle at The Mall, Gadong, Borneo Bulletin reported.

The Health Campaign was supported by the Health Promotion Centre (HPC), the Ministry of Health, Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Brunei Darussalam, JPMC Fitness Centre and Susans Fitness Studio.

The aim of organising the Health Campaign was to deliver the message that a balanced daily diet and regular exercise, together with a proper daily skincare regimen are the key to staying smart, beautiful and confident.

At the same time it also aimed to achieve a complete form of what is considered to be a healthy lifestyle, as there is never a one night miracle to stay young and beautiful without putting on the effort from inside out.

According to the Marketing Executive Pat Li, LANEIGE Brunei Darussalam realised that the importance of staying healthy is fundamental for every nation and every generation in the country, in order to have the energy to accomplish their future goals.

LANEIGE emphasised the concept of understanding how the body functions in order to deal with skin issues as skin is the largest organ in our body and it is a barometer of our overall level of health.

One of the highlights of the event was a Healthy Snack Making Contest with a Korean Fusion Food theme that was strongly supported by the Korean Embassy in Brunei Darussalam.

Talking about the contest, Pat Li said there were 34 submissions of recipes, and seven finalists have been chosen based on their recipes on overall healthiness and Korean influence.

At the same time, the Korean Embassy contributed an exquisite set of Korean traditional costume called Hanbok for the grand prize winner Susan Fong Sia Sun, for her dish rendang roast beef with kim chi, mushroom and sesame rice cake.

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LANEIGE Embarks On Health And Beauty Campaign

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08-09-2012 21:57 Overall Mechanical effects of Massage: o Affects the nervous system because vaso-motor nerves respond to massage by relaxing or constricting vessels to direct blood flow (Milady's, 1998). o Indirectly affects organs via the nervous system. o Creates a temporary increase in blood in an area which provides the opportunity for greater exchange of nutrients and waste products, which greatly support tissue health and healing.

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TVideo_00034.wmv MT is a proponent of health and fitness and impacts the body wholly. - Video

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09-09-2012 02:10 © MMV Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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The Suite Life of Zack en Cody - Season 2 Episode 34 Part 2/3 - Health and Fitness - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYht2n6D6hY

09-09-2012 02:25 © MMV Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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The Suite Life of Zack en Cody - Season 2 Episode 34 Part 3/3 - Health and Fitness - Video