The YMCA of San Benito County is focusing on ways that families
can keep children healthy through a few changes to their daily
habits.
The YMCA of San Benito County is focusing on ways that families can keep children healthy through a few changes to their daily habits.
“With all the different things going on in communities, it’s really important to do more things as a family,” said Rochelle Callis, vice president of the Central Coast YMCA north region. “Eating out or eating on the go, we might not be making the best choices. It’s good to eat together, eat at home. We encourage better eating and going for walks…”
September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, an effort started last year when President Barack Obama signed a proclamation that noted the concerns that come along with the growing rate of children who are carrying extra weight.
In his 2011 proclamation, signed on Aug. 31, Obama noted that the rates have tripled nationwide in the last two decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 20 percent of children ages 6 to 11 were obese based on 2008 statistics. At least 18.1 percent of children 12 to 19 were obese based on 2008 statistics.
The numbers are similar in San Benito County, according to a report by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy that notes that a third of local children are overweight or obese.
“This dramatic rise threatens to have far-reaching, long-term effects on our children’s health, livelihoods, and futures,” the president’s proclamation reads. “Without major changes, a third of children born in the year 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes during their lifetimes, and many others will face obesity-related problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and asthma.”
Locally, Callis has been working with community partners on a grant from the Health Trust that has allowed the group to create a road map for making life healthier for local children.
“We came up with three areas we would like to continue to work on,” Callis said, of the six partners that will carry on the effort. “One is to improve the overall body mass index for elementary school-aged children. The other is to increase opportunities for children and families to engage in regular physical activity. It can be at home, at school, after school – anywhere in San Benito County. The other is to increase the number of children and youth that eat the recommended daily servings of vegetables and fruits.”
Callis said that there are a lot of things that local nonprofits and agencies can do to support the goals, but they will continue to look for outside sources of funding. She said one of the main things that came out of the effort is that the agencies are now planning to work together on different events, such as an upcoming Walk to School Week.
“It’s great to have someone help us organize and continue to move forward with our process,” Callis said.
See the full story in the Pinnacle.
