Healthy habits, healthy kids

Encouraging children to take care of themselves can lead to life of well-being

Monday, April 05, 2004

Trish and Lee Tison Jr. try to teach their children healthy habits. She often takes their 7-year-old daughter, Hannah, on walks. And the couple encourage their 9-year-old son, Lee Tison III, as he plays basketball for Anchored Christian School. But the Tisons, of rural Butler County, recently were excited to learn of another way to encourage healthy habits in their children. Its The Medical Centers new Healthy Kids Club, which started enrolling children Thursday. We thought the Healthy Kids Club will be able to reinforce in them the importance of healthy eating and exercising daily, Trish Tison said. And (with) it being a club, it should be able to do that in a fun, exciting manner. According to Linda Rush, director of Community Wellness for The Medical Center, the Healthy Kids Club is a membership program, which supports kids in making healthy choices. The club, for 5- to 12-year-olds, will offer monthly and quarterly programs about health and safety for children, as well as prizes for those who regularly log at least an hour of physical activity every day. Lee Tison III is looking forward to trying to conquer the 60 Minutes A Day exercise challenge by taking part in fun activities, including riding his bike and playing basketball whenever he is able. He said hes excited about the exercise so I can get stronger for basketball. Hannah would like to get stronger, too, so shell be a better cheerleader, she said. Both children are also looking forward to the Healthy Kids Club so they can meet other children and learn new, fun ways to be active. The first exercises that new club members will learn are popular dances. The In Sync With Fitness class will be from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. May 22 in The Medical Centers Health and Wellness Center in the Sears wing of Greenwood Mall. We wanted to make it fun and interactive, and without the hum-drum of regular exercise, said Jenny Golden, who is corporate wellness manager at The Medical Center. Rush said children can enroll in the Healthy Kids Club for a lifetime fee of $5. Upon enrollment, club members will have their height, weight and body mass index checked, and theyll get introductory materials, a T-shirt, an activity log and a subscription to the club newsletter. Prizes that will be given for activity include water bottles, flying discs and jump ropes all things that can be used during active play. Its all part of an effort by The Medical Center to reduce childhood obesity, which can lead to childhood diabetes. We want to avoid these children getting diabetes, Rush said. You look at the playgrounds and movie theaters and you can see childhood obesity. While neither of the Tison children is overweight, they both hope to learn to eat better. Trish Tison is looking forward to her children learning habits that will stay with them for a lifetime. In our church, they teach (that parents should) train up a child in the way they should go, and I think this kind of thing is good, she said. For more information about The Healthy Kids Club, stop by The Health and Wellness Center at Greenwood Mall. The center is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700