Almost 70 percent of the athletes who competed at the 2007 World Games received a health screening, such as Opening Eyes, at the Healthy Athletes venue.

It took a typhoon to keep Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® from reaching the mark of 20,000 athletes screened, as the effects of Typhoon Krosa interrupted the health screenings offered during the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China. But Special Olympics had a typhoon of its own operating in Shanghai - the highly motivated 800-plus volunteers who over nine days provided nearly 19,000 free health screenings to athletes from 159 of 164 delegations at the World Games.

The Jiangwan Sports Complex in Shanghai was buzzing with activity over the course of nine days during the 2007 World Games. Approximately 4,900 Special Olympics athletes, or 69 percent of athletes participating in the World Games, were screened at the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Village, an area offering free health screenings for Special Olympics athletes. Each of those athletes received an average of 3.8 screenings, for a total of almost 19,000, the largest number of athletes screened at a Healthy Athletes venue since the program's inception in 1997. Over the course of the screenings, 110 hearing aids were provided, and more than 20 percent of those athletes who went through vision screenings received prescription eyewear.

The screenings, designed to improve training and competition by focusing on overall health and fitness, spanned across six areas - Fit Feet (podiatry), FUNfitness (physical therapy), Health Promotion (nutrition, bone health, smoking cessation, sun safety), Healthy Hearing (audiology), Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes® (vision), and Special Smiles® (dental).

Dr. Steven Perlman (center), founder of the Special Smiles discipline of Healthy Athletes, along with Dr. He of Beijing University, Special Smiles Clinical Director in China, conducts a dental screening with the help of volunteers during the 2007 World Games in Shanghai.

Healthy Athletes also offers a unique oppor-tunity for health care professionals to become engaged in the Special Olympics movement through professional development training; this hands-on training increases knowledge, comfort level and competence in working with Special Olympics athletes and enables professionals to bring these skills back to their communities.

"Together with a Chinese and global network of volunteers, Healthy Athletes has been able to provide invaluable and free health screenings to athletes from all around the world," said Dr. Mark Wagner who heads the Healthy Athletes program. "We know that these screenings and the health education provided at World Games are just the beginning in improving the health and well-being for Special Olympics athletes. More than 600 screenings took place in 2006 worldwide and the program continues to grow annually to reach athletes at local, regional and national games, as well."

More than 2,500 FUNfitness screenings were conducted during the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China.

Since 1997, Special Olympics has provided free health screenings and services to its athletes via the globally implemented Healthy Athletes program. Since the program's inception, more than 50,000 health professionals and volunteers were trained to work with patients with intellectual disabilities, while also supporting nearly 500,000 Special Olympics athletes in health screenings worldwide.

Comprised of seven core disciplines - Fit Feet, FUNfitness, Health Promotion, Healthy Hearing, MedFest, Opening Eyes, and Special Smiles - the events provide Special Olympics athletes with basic health screenings, educational information, and referrals for follow-up care as needed.

Special Olympics Healthy Athletes is supported in part by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a grant from Lions Clubs International and the generous support of corporate sponsors.