YMCA Event Gives Tips to Help Keep Kids Healthy
By Phyllis Coulter, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.
Apr. 15–BLOOMINGTON — Zach Nielsen’s mother expected the 3-year-old to have a good nap Saturday afternoon after his avid participation in the YMCA Healthy Kids Day.
The Bloomington boy jumped up and down in the inflated “bounce house” after playing basketball in the YMCA’s peewee activity day. He made himself a healthy snack of trail mix while his mother checked out some of the other displays about safety, fitness and healthy food.
“It’s a good introduction,” Barb Nielsen said of the event at the YMCA. It was among her first visits to the center, and she got a good taste of what it has to offer for children and families.
“It’s a good way for the community to know about some of the stuff here,” she said.
The local event was part of the YMCA’s nationwide 16th annual Healthy Kids Day. It provided an opportunity for children and families to “put play in their day” with free, fun activities, said Carrie Muterspaugh, the YMCA’s child-care director.
Last year’s event attracted about 75 kids, she said. Attendance was closer to 50 this year; a variety of other activities in the Twin Cities, such as the Illinois Sustainable Living and Wellness Expo at Illinois Wesleyan University competed for attention.
“The need is as strong today as ever before,” Muterspaugh said. “Families are under increased stress and struggle to balance work, family and health.”
More physical activity through play helps children better manage stress, succeed in school, reduce frustration and build energy, she said.
Participants included a Bloomington Police Drug Abuse and Resistance Education officer who talked about safety; several health associations that gave out nutritional information; and volunteers who encouraged fitness.
Susan Zeiger, a junior at Illinois State University who hopes to teach middle school in Chicago, found the perfect place to volunteer — at the healthy foods table. She helped kids make fresh fruit kabobs featuring large strawberries.
“I like healthy food,” she said, joking she might have to help the kids eat the nutritious snacks.
Zieger is a member of the Circle K Club at ISU, a service group in which volunteers participate in a variety of service events, such as the Relay for Life cancer fund-raiser, the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington-Normal and Clean up the Quad.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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