Helping Kids Be Healthy and Active
from April 2008
The issue of childhood obesity is being address in many ways – through improved school lunch programs, increased public awareness, community events like fun runs, etc. But, there is still a serious problem with the number of overweight and sedentary children. This training provides strategies to help youth development workers address childhood obesity. The training will focus on three healthy living curricula. Helping Kids Be Healthy and Active is sponsored by CYFERnet School Age Editorial Board. Up for the Challenge: Lifetime Fitness, Healthy Decisions was developed as part of the 4-H/Army Youth Development Project. The curriculum addresses helping children and youth shift to healthier habits, preventing eating problems and overweight in youth, and reducing sedentary time with physical activity. It includes activities for K-5th grade, 6th-8th grade and 9th grade and older. Media-Smart Youth, Eat Think and Be Active is designed for youth ages 11-13. It was developed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in partnership with the Academy for Educational Development. Media Smart Youth focuses on building media analysis and media production skills to help youth understand the connections between media and health. The program uses healthy snacking and physical actives to teach youth about the connections with media. Youth work towards creating a media message through a multi-media presentation. Jump Into Foods and Fitness (JIFF) is a research-based curriculum for adults and older teens to use with kids aged 8 to 11 (grades 3 to 5). "Jiff the Joey" sets the stage for each of the eight "Kangaroo Jumps" or sessions in JIFF. Fun nutrition, physical fitness and food safety learning activities are integrated into the program, which uses the Kid's Activity Pyramid and the MyPyramid for Kids. JIFF was developed by Michigan State University, 4-H Youth Development. This training is intended for Extension faculty and staff and community partners who want to learn about new research-based curricula that teach children and youth about healthy eating, physical activity and understanding the connections to the world around them. Participants will learn about three curricula and how they can be used in a variety of Extension 4-H programs, especially afterschool. Presenters will share activities and how to acquire the curricula.
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