Fourth-Graders Get Fit
Hastings Tribune | Updated
Getting young people on the move and making healthy dietary choices was the focus Tuesday of the 2018 Nebraska Kids Fitness and Nutrition Day at the Hastings Family YMCA.
Around 500 fourth-graders from Adams, Clay, Nuckolls and Webster counties signed up to attend the event at the YMCA’s 18th Street location.
When the students arrived, they were divided into two groups, with one group on the basketball courts for physical activities and the second group on the tennis courts for nutrition education. The students switched sides after eating a nutritious sack lunch.
The 14 physical activity stations included step aerobics, soccer shots, and kick-boxing. Nutrition stations taught the students about energy balance, understanding food labels, fixing healthy snacks, MyPlate, and the importance of food safety and hand-washing.
“Fourth-graders are a good age to work with because they are beginning to develop lifelong habits that will inevitably affect their behavior in the future,” said Brooke Wolfe, who coordinated the event for the South Heartland District Health Department, in a news release detailing Tuesday’s activities. “Helping children learn to eat right and be active every day means they have a better shot at being successful both in school and in life.”
Organizers aim to offer a day full of experiences showing both students and educators how physical activity and nutrition work together to maintain health.
“We know that obesity is not only a national epidemic but also an enormous problem right here in central Nebraska,” Wolfe said. “Our goal is to give the students the tools to enable them to make healthy decisions for themselves — which will hopefully lead to a healthier generation.”
The Nebraska Kids Fitness and Nutrition Day program was developed and funded in part by the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the Nebraska Beef Council. Local agencies helping with the Hastings event include the South Heartland District Health Department, Hastings College, the Hastings Family YMCA, and the Nebraska Extension Nutrition Education Program.
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