Jump Rope for Heart

Also: Kids Heart Challenge

American Heart Association school fundraising programme that began in 1978 when Milwaukee PE teacher Jean Barkow ran a 'rope-a-thon' with 216 students. Children skip rope (later also shoot hoops) for pledges while learning about heart health; the AHA reports raising hundreds of millions of dollars.

Years: 1978–now
Country: United States
Topic: Cardiovascular Physical activity
Asks people to: Start
Strategy: Collective challenge Contest incentive
Channel: Events School
Audience: Parents Youth

Evidence

Self-reportedUnknown

Only fundraising and participation totals from the sponsor (WISN 2014: more than $700 million raised, AHA figure). No evaluation of effects on children's activity or heart health found.

Sponsor (who paid)

American Heart Association NGO, owner
SHAPE America (formerly AAHPERD) NGO, co-sponsor (partnership since ended)

Credits (who made it)

Jean Barkow Individual, 1978 source

Related campaigns

Physical Fitness (Ad Council / President's Council on Physical Fitness) 1961

Sources

Riverside names gym after Jump Rope for Heart founder (WISN 12, 2014) news · 2014
Kids Heart Challenge (AHA) sponsor

Research notes

1978 start and 216 students confirmed from WISN (fetched). heart.org returned 403, so the rename to Kids Heart Challenge and its year are unverified (seen only on a retailer blog in search results). SHAPE America co-sponsorship and its end are from search snippets only. 'contest-incentive' reflects pledge prizes: verify. Heart Foundation Australia also runs a Jump Rope for Heart programme (not researched; candidate for its own case).

Record cases/aha-jump-rope-for-heart.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign