Family Y schedules Healthy Kids Day
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on March 25, 2004 2:03 PM
The Goldsboro Family Y wants children to be healthy and has scheduled a day of fun to help them on their way.
The 13th Annual Healthy Kids Day will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 3.
Activities will include swimming, outdoor inflatable entertainment, games and activities, health information, free food and drinks.
Wellness Director Hal Warner says several organizations will present information and have fun activities available. Outdoor games such as sumo suit wrestling will also be held.
"Television and the Internet are here to stay and bring tremendous benefits to our kids and their education," he said. "But watching too much TV or sitting at the computer for hours while playing in the virtual world has created a youth fitness crisis in the real world."
In 2000 nearly 16 percent of children aged 12 to 19 were overweight, according to research on childhood obesity from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
That number is higher among black and Hispanic adolescents, said Warner. Statistics show 27 percent of the Hispanic boys between ages 6 and 19 are overweight, and 27 percent of the black girls in the same age range are overweight.
"One of the goals of YMCA Healthy Kids Day is to show kids that it's fun to get healthy," said Warner. "We also want to introduce them to cool activities like soccer, basketball and swimming that they can find at the Y."
Also on April 3 for one day only, the Goldsboro Family Y will reduce the joining fee for new members to $20. Registration will take place for Family Y summer programs including summer camp, pre-school and swim lessons.
"The Goldsboro Family Y is dedicated year-round to helping children develop into healthy, strong, moral adults," said Warner. "When kids and parents work out together, it becomes a way for families to spend quality time together, work toward a common goal and reconnect with each other."
For information, call the Goldsboro Family Y at 778-8557.