By: Stacy Chandna, MS, CIP
The evidence is clear. Engaging in healthy eating and exercise is vital to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. And there’s no better time to start creating healthy habits than in the earliest years of children’s lives.
Since launching our program two years ago, Kohl’s Start Childhood Off Right has offered family-friendly community wellness events on almost a monthly basis. The goal of these events is to connect with families who have young children to reinforce healthy eating and exercise by offering a child friendly activity, often in conjunction with a healthy meal or snack.
Some of our most popular events include fun activities to get young children and their parents moving. These activities include Mommy and Me Yoga, Hula Hooping, and Music and Movement.
We have also engaged community members in eating more fresh vegetables and fruits by planting community gardens at community and family centers around Hartford.
We hosted a puppet show focused on healthy eating as well as several Dinner and a Story events, featuring stories that reinforce healthy habits and offer guidance for challenging behaviors such as picky eating.
We will soon break new ground with our community wellness events, and plan to enter the exciting world of Zumbini! This exciting activity incorporates music and dance with educational lessons to enhance bonding and learning.
You can find out more information about our upcoming events on our website, as well as additional helpful tips to promote healthy nutrition and exercise.
We hope to see you at one of our events!
Stacy Chandna, MS, CIP is head of the Human Research Protection Program at Connecticut Children’s and co-director of Kohl’s Start Childhood Off Right.
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Categories: Preventing Childhood Obesity