Wheaties, the venerable "Breakfast of Champions," has been on the breakfast tables of athletes for more than 80 years. Now, the brand is joining together with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the nation's leading authority on sports medicine, to promote health and fitness for all Americans.

Wheaties and ACSM will reach millions of Americans with the latest fitness information, practical health and fitness tips and cutting-edge science to motivate people to be physically active. ACSM will share fitness insights and knowledge through content printed on millions of Wheaties boxes and featured on the Wheaties website, www.wheaties.com.

This is the first cereal partnership for ACSM. The first Wheaties box to feature ACSM content on the back panel will be released in June, when ACSM will be sharing the box with two of the greatest golfers in history. Another first takes place in July, when ACSM's logo will be featured prominently on the front of the Wheaties box.

"The American College of Sports Medicine is the most trusted source of fitness information in the country. As a non-profit organization, reaching a wide public audience with critical and timely health and fitness information is a challenge," said W. Larry Kenney, Ph.D., ACSM president. "By entering this first-of- its-kind partnership with Wheaties, the ACSM can funnel such information directly to the breakfast tables of millions of Americans whom the organization would not otherwise be able to reach."

The Wheaties tradition of promoting fitness goes back more than 70 years when in the 1930s Babe Ruth and coach Howard Jones advised on packages "to exercise and practice regularly" to get "a champion's energy, pep and speed," and in the 1950s when Bob Richards presided over the Wheaties Sports Federation, which encouraged physical fitness for all Americans.

"Helping Americans meet their fitness goals has been a Wheaties mission for a long, long time, and this partnership with ACSM will deliver important information in a motivating style that is designed to lead people to real results," said Brian Kittelson, Wheaties marketing manager. "We are thrilled that The Breakfast of Champions and the ACSM together will help fuel many more personal championships in the years to come."

Wheaties and ACSM will also be offering a free e-mail bulletin for subscribers that will provide additional fitness information supplementing the content on the Wheaties box. "The mission of ACSM is to develop and integrate scientific research to provide education and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine," said Kenney.

ACSM is a non-profit international membership association composed of more than 20,000 physicians, scientists, educators and fitness practitioners. Wheaties began its involvement with sports in the mid-1930s with a sign on the left field wall at Nicollet Park near downtown Minneapolis. General Mills' broadcast deal with the minor league Minneapolis Millers on WCCO Radio included the large signboard that Wheaties would use to introduce its new ad slogan: "Wheaties-The Breakfast of Champions." From that rather modest start, Wheaties has built a tradition that includes many of the greatest athletes of all time.

Wheaties(R) and The Breakfast of Champions(R) are registered trademarks of General Mills, Inc.