Thanks to a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, Aaron E. Henry Community Health Center is creating a minimum 25-seat health-related after school program that would be centered primarily around physical health and wellness.
This program targets Coahoma County students (ages 8 -14) who attend school throughout the county.
“Moving Up” is a community-wide program that will challenge elementary and middle school students to explore basic health and wellness concepts by engaging participants in group physical activities, wellness lessons, and related hands-on methods for implementing a healthy lifestyle.
“I am excited to receive and execute this grant for the benefit of the children of our community,” says Tana P. Vassel, Planning & Program Director at AEH. Vassel serves as the coordinator of the program that will have a minim of 25 students participating.
Clarksdale has been deemed a poor health community and programs aimed at helping women, infants and children have been made a high priority by both state and federal agencies.
In obtaining the grant to fund this program AEH pointed out the threat of childhood obesity has never been greater. Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled.
Today, almost one in every three children across the nation is obese or overweight. The numbers are even higher in Mississippi, rural communities and African American and Hispanic communities, where nearly 40 percent of the children are overweight or obese.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 43-percent of children in Coahoma County are obese. If this epidemic is not addressed, one third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives.
Many others may face chronic obesity-related health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and asthma.
In staying current with nationally recognized initiatives, this local program is designed to follow tenants outlined in Michelle Obama's national "Let's Move" campaign, which similarly targeted school age children. To better understand total health concepts, students will be exposed to an array of non-traditional sports activities, dietary selections, and strategies surrounding fuller emotional and mental awareness. Learning is enhanced when students experience first-hand cultural and societal concepts that are studied. Other external resources will be used as well.
This program will implement three promising practices:
• Increasing physical activity through individual and group activity.
• Practicing emotional, mental, and social wellness behaviors.
• Introduction to healthy, fresh, and local food systems and selections.
“I have always loved working with and helping young people and, through experience, I know that they are very willing to work and very grateful to know that others care about their well-being.”
Students in this age group who may benefit from this program should contact their school counselor promptly for guidance. For additional information on the program, contact Vassel at 662-624-4292 ext. 115.
