BOSTON—Out-of-school programs have been identified as a promising area for promoting healthy habits and preventing childhood obesity; however, the foods offered and physical activity opportunities for participating children varies. To address this, the alliance ChildObesity180 announced a unique partnership of leading out-of-school-time organizations to adopt consistent principles for nutrition and physical activity.
The Healthy Kids Out of School initiative is a collaboration between Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the USA, the National Council of La Raza, the National Council of Youth Sports, the National Urban League, Pop Warner, US Youth Soccer, YMCA of the USA, and the National 4-H Council. ChildObesity180 convened the leaders to develop universal nutrition and physical activity principles from a broad list of evidenced-based recommendations for combating childhood obesity.
Over the course of two meetings, leaders from these organizations identified and agreed upon three sustainable and actionable nutrition and physical activity principles which will be adopted and implemented throughout their organizations. These principles were selected from an extensive list of evidence-based recommendations that were specific enough to ignite change, yet flexible enough to be tailored for a variety of out-of-school-time programs with access to different resources, populations, cultures and environments.
The three principles are:
- Drink Right: Choose water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages.
- Move More: Boost movement and physical activity in all programs.
- Snack Smart: Fuel up on fruits and vegetables.
“Healthy Kids Out of School represents a groundbreaking collaboration of major youth-focused groups in a new and strategic effort," said Peter Dolan, chairman of ChildObesity180. “These organizations are demonstrating the essential leadership and cooperation necessary to counter the childhood obesity epidemic and to meaningfully improve the health and well-being of the tens of millions children who participate in their programs."
