Posted on: Sunday, September 9th, 2018
Healthy Weight & Your Child: New Program
The Hockomock Area YMCA is excited to announce a new program called Healthy Weight and Your Child Program which empowers 7-13 year olds, with the support of their families, to reach a healthy weight and live a healthier lifestyle.
The Healthy Weight and Your Child program emphasizes three elements: healthy eating, regular physical activity and behavior change, engages the whole family, so together they can understand how the home environment and other factors influence the choices that lead to a healthy weight.
Made up of groups of eight to 15 children and their parents/caregivers, the program creates a safe, fun, and active environment for children and their families to explore and adopt proven methods to living a healthier lifestyle. The program is an evidence-based model, developed by leading child health and weight management specialists using the best available research, as well as clinical and government guidelines. The sessions are facilitated by trained content and activity leaders who are committed to engaging the whole family.
Interested families should contact Marykate Bergen at marykateb@hockymca.org or call 508-339-4053 to register to attend the session.
The Hockomock Area YMCA has been involved with youth obesity prevention since 2007, which marked the start of their Healthy Futures Initiative designed to create healthier communities. Healthy Weight and Your Child is a 25-session program, which includes 20 sessions delivered two times per week, followed by five weekly sessions. Sessions are two hours in length with the first hour delivered in a classroom setting and the second hour focusing on physical activity. A family Y membership is provided for the duration of the program.
To be eligible for the program, each child must be between the ages of 7 and 13, have a body mass index greater than or equal to the 95th percentile, be cleared for physical activity by a health care provider or school nurse, and accompanied by a parent or caregiver at every session.
Thanks to a generous grant from CHNA 6 and the continued support of the Stop & Shop Our Family Foundation, there will be no cost for the first eight families who enroll.
The first program will begin in Franklin in October. The Franklin class will be Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Horace Mann Middle School in Franklin, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. The class in Milford is currently being planned and the goal is to launch early 2019 with interest at a Milford location. For more information, please contact Marykate Bergen at marykateb@hockymca.org or call 508-339-4053.
