Summer is finally here, and many people are making their annual fitness resolutions. Some want to have that “swimsuit body” while others want to look nice in that new dress or tank top.
But rather than just working on good health now, it’s more important to get healthy because you need to and maintain that healthy lifestyle throughout the year.
Many kids in metro Atlanta are affected by childhood obesity. In the past 30 years, obesity has tripled in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity in children 6 to 11 years old increased from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 19.6 percent in 2008. In adolescents 12 to 19 years old, it increased from 5 percent to 18.1 percent.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta encourages youth to be healthy and fit through our healthy lifestyle program. The program allows young people to develop fitness, positive use of leisure time, skills for stress management, and appreciation for the environment and social skills. Through this program, local kids participate in activities such as sport leagues, judo, track, swimming programs and much more.
One of our programs, “Triple Play,” stresses the importance of mind, body and soul. It shows youth how eating right, keeping fit and forming positive relations add up to a healthy lifestyle.
Along with becoming active, eating healthy is an element to overall health and lowering childhood obesity.
BGCMA partners with several organizations — the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation, the Atlanta Track Club, Moving in the Spirit, the Aetna Foundation, to list a few — that help fund and implement our healthy living programs. This year, BGCMA partnered with Good Food Gardens to help educate young people on the importance of eating healthy.
Good Food Gardens is a part of an ongoing partnership between Food Network, Share Our Strength and Comcast to educate children and their families on the importance of fruits, vegetables and other fresh, nutritious foods. It addresses a serious health problem in our community by teaching children and their families about sustainable gardening and encouraging them to adopt healthier eating habits.
One of the gardens, measuring just 256 square feet, is at the Samuel L. Jones Boys & Girls Club. It includes approximately 240 plants and offers Atlanta youth a fun, hands-on gardening experience that inspires healthy eating habits for life.
All the produce from the gardens can supplement meals for more than 500 people each year. After seeing the benefits the garden had on club members, several other metro Atlanta clubs adopted a green thumb and started gardens at their respective clubs.
Our unhealthy habits don’t just stick with us but trickle down to our family, friends and loved ones.
Fast food is convenient in the fast-paced metropolitan area we live in today. Let’s slow down and take time out to eat a little healthier and become a little more active. Adopt what we’re teaching the youth today and apply it to your everyday life.
Missy Dugan is interim president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta.
About the Author
