YMCA, groups create partnership on program for youth
The YMCA of San Benito County has created a Healthy Youth
Partnership with a grant from the Health Trust in hopes of
gathering information on what community organizations can do to
make kids healthier.
”
Many months ago we pulled together a small group to talk about
applying for a grant,
”
said Rochelle Callis, the regional vice president of the Central
Coast YMCA.
YMCA, groups create partnership on program for youth
The YMCA of San Benito County has created a Healthy Youth Partnership with a grant from the Health Trust in hopes of gathering information on what community organizations can do to make kids healthier.
“Many months ago we pulled together a small group to talk about applying for a grant,” said Rochelle Callis, the regional vice president of the Central Coast YMCA.
The group included representatives from San Benito Bounty, the Hollister School District, the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA and Community Foundation for San Benito County.
“We ended up getting a grant to allow us to start the planning process,” Callis said. “We will get a road map.”
From the initial group, more agencies and organizations that have a stake in the issue have been added such as parents’ groups, moms’ clubs, transportation representatives, libraries and others. The group met twice, and on the second meeting compiled a survey for 300 children, from kindergarten to eighth grade.
“That survey had questions like ‘How do you get to School? How much do you watch TV?” Callis said.
The questions gather information about activity level and eating habits. Consultant Kathy Johnson is compiling the results, which will be shared at a May meeting.
Callis said the survey results will inform what issues are hotspots in terms of getting kids healthier in the community.
The local survey comes on the heels of a national YMCA survey that was conducted earlier this year, with the results released in USA Today on April 13. The survey found that although nine out of 10 parents said they were providing a healthy home environment for their children, further questions showed that they were not. More than 1,630 parents were surveyed about the eating habits of children ages 5 to 10.
While 89 percent of parents rated themselves as good or excellent at providing a healthy home environment, more than 62 percent said their children ate junk food one to four days a week. Only 14 percent said their children ate at least five fruits and vegetables a day.
Only 16 percent of parents reported that their children play outside daily, and 74 percent said their children do not get the federally recommended hour or more of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity a day. In addition, 46 percent said their children watch TV at least two hours on five or more days a week.
Callis said she was not surprised by the findings.
“Even as a parent, if someone asked if we are healthy, I would say, ‘Yeah,” she said. “But when you start breaking it down we probably don’t eat as many fruits and vegetables as we should. We probably don’t take the dog out for a walk as often as we should.”
She added that the statistics on childhood diabetes and obesity also made the results less surprising. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years. In 2008, 19.6 percent of children 6-11 were obese, while 18.1 percent of children 12-19 fit the category.
“We need to find a way to turn the tide so that is not the case,” Callis said. “If we all work together in the county, we are going to make huge changes for our youth and that is something important that for-profits and nonprofits really have a chance to do that so kids are healthier and can live longer.”
Healthy Kids Day
One of the ongoing ways the YMCA of San Benito County has been encouraging eating right and exercise for local families is through participation in the national Healthy Kids Day. The local chapter held the event April 16, in the parking lot of their YMCA facility on Tres Pinos Road.
“It went really well at our new location,” said Rochelle Callis, the regional vice president of the Central Coast YMCA. “We had a little preschool alley, the sheriff’s department and the bookmobile. There were all kinds of different vendors.”
Callis estimated that more than 500 people attended, especially families.
“They learned anything from staying healthy as a family through exercise to growing tomatoes from the Farm Bureau to eating healthy from cookbooks,” Callis said. “It was just a fun time to promote family togetherness and looking at different options.”
The event was sponsored by San Juan Oaks Golf Club and Teknova.
Some of the vendors included Headstart, the San Benito Health Foundation, the Community Food Bank, Community Solutions and the Child Abuse Prevention Coalition, among others.
“A lot of us think healthy, but the reality is we are not getting our five fruits and vegetables, or our 60 minutes of exercise – whether it’s riding a bike or playing soccer or walking the dog,” Callis said.
