hands--community
 

September 2011

In This Issue
Fighting Childhood Obesity: Call to Action
Go Outside and Play!
What's for Lunch? Dine with Your Student
In the Dirt: School Gardens Workshop
The summer flew by, and the busy fall season is upon us. This month's newsletter is packed with information about a national day, week, and month of recognition for a particular area relating to health. The common thread:  they all represent an opportunity for you to make a change, big or small, and bring awareness to the issue by sharing this newsletter.

We hope you find this information helpful. We welcome your feedback!
Fighting Childhood Obesity: Call to Action

 

This month marks National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month across the country. Let's take a moment to consider the serious situation here in Wake County.

  • 43.2% of children ages 5-11 are overweight or obese
  • 49.5% of children ages 12-18 are overweight or obese

These numbers are according to NC-Nutrition and Physical Activity Surveillance System (NC-PASS) from 2009-the most recent available. Because of these numbers, for the first time in our country's history, our children are at risk of having a shorter lifespan than their parents.

 

AHA was born out of the need to address childhood obesity on the local level. With funding from the John Rex Endowment, Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina Foundation and WakeMed Health & Hospitals, AHA's collaborative (more than 50 partners) works in a variety of ways to increase access to healthy foods and physical activity in order to reduce childhood obesity.

A tour of AHA's web site, and its blog and news stories provides great insight into the myriad of ways the AHA collaborative is making policy changes to improve health, as well as to increase awareness throughout the community of the problem.

 

Read the rest of this article and our call to action for YOU on the AHA web site.

 

Go Outside and Play!
 

boy playing tennisThat's right, as the more pleasant fall temperatures kick in, take the kids out to play. It's great exercise disguised in the form of play! Some neat things are happening in our area this month to encourage kids to play outside. We've got lots of ideas in our Fall Family Play and Fitness Calendar to get you started, plus many special area programs.

First, Sat., September 24 is Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play, which is all about encouraging children to play outside and be active. Nickelodeon will go dark from 12-3 pm in support of this effort. Marbles Kids Museum is celebrating from 9 am-5 pm that day with zany games and old-school recess fun. Bring the kids for jump rope challenges, family groove workouts and lots of other activities. Nickelodeon provides The Playbook for lots of ideas of ways to celebrate Worldwide Day of Play on Sept. 24 and beyond.

  

Take child outside logoSept. 24 also marks the start of Take Your Child Outside Week, designed to re-connect children with the outdoors! The program is an initiative of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and is now held annually each fall in cooperation with partners nationwide to connect children to the natural world, help them focus in school and reduce childhood obesity.

 

Read the full article on AHA's web site for a listing of all the special outside events planned in our area for the week!

What's for Lunch? Dine with Your Student
 

So, what's your child having for lunch in the school cafeteria? One great way to find out is to join your student in the cafeteria on Oct. 12, National Take Your Parents to Lunch Day 

 

Take Your Parents to Lunch DayTeachers and parents are encouraged to work with their administrators and cafeteria managers to promote this special day and be sure the cafeteria is equipped to feed more people! Toolkits for parents and schools are provided online, and the idea is to open the lines of communication about school lunches to learn what's going well and how you can work together to make school food even better.

 

AHA will help Hunter Elementary host Lunch In, an Iron Chef-style competition featuring local foods in the school cafeteria in October as well. Underwood Elementary School had hosted the first Lunch In last spring to begin opening a dialog with parents about advocating for more local, healthy produce in Wake County school cafeterias. 

 

North Carolina is one of the few states in the nation that does not receive state funding for school lunches, so AHA encourages families to contact NC government representatives to urge them to support this effort.  

AHA logoAHA fosters and supports community efforts to make healthy eating and physical activity the way of life in Wake County. Simply put, we are working to make the healthy choice the easy choice!    

 

Grow Zone garden at Willow springs

Oct. 6:
In the Dirt:
School Gardens Workshop

School gardens are growing all over Wake County, and AHA can

help you and your
s
chool learn all about

how to start and maintain edible school gardens.

  

WHAT: Free Brains and Bodies Workshop
 

WHEN: October 6,
6:30-8:30 pm 

 

WHERE: Brier Creek Community Center, Raleigh
 

REGISTER:  All are welcome, but please register online so we
can accommodate everyone.
  

 

 

 

 

Quick Clicks

AHA Calendar of Events 
 

 WakeMed Scrub Run and Fun Fest      

  

Sideline Parents: Get Ready, Set, Fit!

 AHA Partner in the Spotlight:
Boys & Girls Clubs

   

The Boys & Girls

Clubs in Wake County are putting a focus
on kids' health at the Clubs. Learn about how they are using the Healthy Places, Active Spaces grant to make this happen!

 

AHA Partners:
 
Who are they?


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