A grant through the American Lung Association has helped Bayhealth’s Wellness Center at Woodbridge High School staff make exercising fun for students. Through the grant, earbuds were purchased and given to students to encourage them to do physical activity every day.
Bayhealth’s Wellness Centers provide Delaware’s teenagers with health services in cooperation with each teen’s family physician. Located in area schools, the centers work to meet the needs of today’s youth. This includes their health education, and their nutritional, mental, and emotional needs.
“Usually the grant is used to encourage students to not smoke, but this year it expanded to include physical activity, nutrition and obesity prevention,” said Wellness Center Nurse Practitioner and Coordinator Joanna White, FNP-BC, MS. “One in five children are considered obese nationwide. This is our way to try and combat that.” Roughly 600 earbuds were given out with cards that encouraged students to use the earbuds while exercising. Along with giving out earbuds, students were entered into raffles for prizes donated by local businesses.
Students are encouraged to exercise for 30 minutes a day, with a goal of working up to 60 minutes per new recommendations released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC suggests doing moderate to vigorous aerobic exercises at least three days, muscle-strengthening activities at least three days and bone-strengthening exercise at least three days. What does exercise look like for youth? Here are a few examples of youth exercises:
- Moderate-intensity aerobics – hiking, rollerblading, brisk walking, bicycle riding, housework, and throwing and catching a ball
- Vigorous-intensity aerobics – Jumping rope, martial arts, running sports, and dancing
- Muscle-strengthening – swinging, tree climbing, tug-of-war, resistance exercises, rope climbing, and sports
- Bone-strengthening – hopscotch, jumping rope, running, and sports
“We talk about living a healthy life during every visit at the Wellness Center and we have a dietitian on staff to help with this. We also encourage students to join organizations and extracurricular activities that promote healthy living,” White said. “Teaching them the importance of a balanced diet and exercise will help to set them up for success.”
Visit Bayhealth.org/High-School-Wellness-Centers for more information. To be matched with a physician who meets your needs, call 1-866-BAY-DOCS.
