Getting healthy can be a blast, a group of children learned Thursday by jumping rope and hula hooping at the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Services 4-H/Family and Consumer Sciences’ “Get Up, Get Out, Get Active” program.
“It’s good to grab the children at this age to get them to understand exercise can be fun and good for them,” said Maritza DeCosta, health services supervisor for UVI.
DeCosta was leading children in an exercise of jogging in place to increase their heart rates so they could understand the difference between a resting rate and an active heart rate. After exercising she had them take their own pulse. She said she encouraged the children to play with hula-hoops and jump ropes instead of sitting in front of the television.
Teens and adults volunteering as 4-H health ambassadors manned interactive stations in the Great Hall designed so that participants could learn about nutrition.
Michelle Greene, an adult health ambassador, said she hopes the students are absorbing what they are learning and will apply it to their daily lives. She spoke to the students about the nutrition in whole grains and how to make grains a big part of their meals. The students mixed up a cereal snack mix with raisins.
At the Rethink Your Drink station, John H. Woodson Junior High science teacher Kaaren Tyson showed the students how to read food labels. She encouraged the students to go shopping with their parents and to read labels to see the sugar content in a product. The students sampled fruit smoothies.
At the Eat a Rainbow station, youth ambassadors were making wraps with colorful vegetables. Idrees Donaie, a youth 4-H ambassador, said he knows most kids don’t eat enough vegetables so they showed the students how to make tasty wraps with red peppers, carrots, green onions and cheese.
Youth ambassador Afiya Williams scrambled eggs and peppers at the Power Up Your Day With Breakfast station, where students learned the importance of stating the day with a healthy meal.
Sarah Dahl-Smith, 4-H extension agent, said their goal is helping children and families explore healthy food choices, make healthy snacks and promote increased physical activity.
Dahl-Smith said she had 12 employees as health ambassadors and seven youth volunteers that she was particularly proud of for the work they put into the event. She said about 75 students from Reading Rainbow School and children involved in Loving Jay Women with Focus participated in the event.
Mackiesh Taylor, coach of the V.I. Women’s International Soccer team, was also on hand giving lessons on basic soccer skills.
The Walmart Foundation sponsored the event through its Walmart 4-H Youth Voice: Youth Choice program in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
