In 2009 Douglas Johnson, the new principal at Mountlake Terrace Elementary School in Mountlake Terrace, Wash., realized the enormity of physical inactivity and obesity in his community. Many kids lack safe, quality opportunities for physical activity, which heightens their risk for obesity and disease. Safe biking opportunities provide one avenue to improve the situation. Johnson and other leaders at Mountlake Terrace started taking advantage of existing opportunities offered by local cycling clubs. Soon, they began creating their opportunities and helped bring new bikes, helmets, and a brand-new bike trail to the school to expand students’ ability to get the physical activity they need to stay healthy.
Kids Aren't Playing Enough
In 2009 Douglas Johnson, the new principal ...
In the past 10 years, the Thomas Kelly High School girls’ soccer team has been one of the winningest teams in Chicago. But they don’t even have their own field to practice or play on. The school is in Southwest Chicago’s Brighton Park Neighborhood (83% Latino), an area that is burdened by high rates of obesity and physical inactivity due to less options for safe, quality recreational facilities than other parts of Chicago. The Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC) organized a campaign to renovate Kelly Park, the park adjacent to Kelly High School, to build a turf football/soccer field to make the park safer for students and families.
The Issue of No Safe Places for Physical Activity
Awareness: Patrick Brosnan, Sara Reschly, and other Brighton Park residents saw how ...
In 2010, Corpus Christi, Texas, was labeled the “fattest city in the nation” by Men’s Health magazine. A group of local middle school students were not happy about this designation and wanted to do something about it. After speaking to friends and teachers, the students reached out to influential community members to develop interest and support for a health program for elementary students called “Mission FitPossible.” Three years later, the students were high school students and they would wake up an hour early to bring Mission FitPossible to nearby elementary students.
Next Generation to Inherit Fattest City in Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas (59.7% Latino), was labeled the “fattest city in the nation” in 2010. Sarita Damaraju and Doug Hagemeister, who were ...
RJ Manchester and Erica Asti, staffers at the Florida Hospital for Children, along with Dr. Angela Fals and her team, spent years working with obese children and families in their Central Florida CCFW clinic. The local childhood overweight and obesity rates ranged from 32% in Orange County (28.7% Latino population) to 64% in Osceola County (48.6% Latino). The team was growing increasingly concerned about younger and younger patients with obesity-related health complications. “We were having some of the youngest patients we’ve ever had in the weight and wellness clinic with pre-diabetes and diabetes,” Asti said. They wanted to step up in a big way.
An Underlying Issue: No P.E. Asti and Manchester and the CCFW team discovered that many parents misidentified their ...
Schools are part of a community. Schools also make a huge influence in a child’s health. How can schools help build health within their communities? Let’s use #SaludTues to tweet information, resources, and tips that help schools, teachers, families and students take charge of health in their communities. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Building Healthier Communities Through Schools”
DATE: Tuesday, September 22, 2015
TIME: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT)
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: It’s Time Texas (@ITSTIME), Shape America (@Shape_America), Healthy Kids Today (@HealthyKids2Day) and our special guest, Transformative Schools Network (@Cr8HlthySchools) Be sure to use the hashtag #SaludTues to follow the ...
Many students don’t meet daily recommendations of physical activity. They often lack access to quality activity opportunities during school and they are burdened by challenges for quality activity opportunities after school, such as safety, availability and cost. Kids that don’t meet daily recommendations of physical activity are at increased risk for obesity and other adverse health outcomes. Jennifer Hershey and Jennifer McCloughan, two PE teachers in Edmonds School District in Washington, developed a before/after school program as well as a recess program to help kids reach 60 minutes of recommended daily activity on most days of the week. They developed these programs to be implemented in schools to reduce challenges associated with safety, availability, and cost.
PE ...
There are numerous mental and physical benefits to walking. However, many Americans live in nonwalkable communities and face challenges to this most basic form of physical activity. Although walking is an individual behavior, walking can be made easier by improvements to community walkability and by programs and policies that provide opportunities and encouragement for walking. In fact, this is exactly what the Surgeon General is calling for in the Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities. Multiple sectors of society can contribute to walkability, including transportation, land use, and community design; parks, recreation, and fitness; education; business and industry; volunteer and nonprofit organizations; health care; media; and public health. Check ...
Many kids live in “recreation deserts,” which lack access to safe, affordable physical activity opportunities. Therefore, they often do not meet daily physical activity recommendations and are at increased risk for obesity. One way to reduce these challenges and increase physical activity among children is to provide free, safe recreation facilities in their neighborhood with relevant programming. Shawn Levy and Ricki Ruiz, two community-driven initiatives in Multnomah County, Ore., have crossed paths in their efforts to reduce recreation deserts in neighborhoods by building and fixing soccer fields and futsal courts.
Soccer Loving Kids Live in Recreation Desert
Oregon residents Shawn Levy and Ricki Ruiz love soccer and know it is good for kids and adults. But each found ...
Schools are an important environment to support health. Several challenges to physical activity and nutritious food still exist within many communities, both in and out of schools. It is important for parents and schools to work together to ensure that local, state, and national physical activity and nutrition standards eliminate these challenges in schools. When parents and schools work together to make the healthy the easy choice, they make health cool for their children. Join #SaludTues on September 1, 2015 to tweet about how parents and schools can create safe spaces for children to be physically active outside of regular school hours by using existing resources. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Why Health is Cool for Back to School”
DATE: Tuesday, September 1, 2015
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