WHAT:
More than 100 youngsters – ages 6 to 18 – compete in their very own Olympics on San Antonio’s West Side. These Games feature more than a dozen events, including relays, obstacle courses, shot put and the long jump, and victors will be recognized in an award ceremony afterward.
It’s the culmination of a summer of training through the Healthy Choices for Kids day camp, organized by nursing students from the UT Health Science Center and held at Good Samaritan Community Services. Physical training is one aspect of the comprehensive healthy lifestyle program, which allows kids to have fun while learning to make better choices about diet, exercise, relationships and more.
WHEN:
9 to 11:30 a.m. this Friday, Aug. 3, 2012
WHERE:
Good Samaritan Community Services, 1600 Saltillo St.
WHO:
Healthy Choices for Kids is led by Adelita Cantu, RN, Ph.D., assistant professor of family and community health systems in the School of Nursing. Dr. Cantu created the program in 2008 with Ruth Berggren, M.D., director of the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at the UT Health Science Center.
Nursing students planned the eight-week curriculum, which included field trips, physical training and educational activities. The nursing students trained the youngsters for sporting events to promote physical activity and also showed them how to eat healthy and in moderation.
During training, the nursing students had the kids run with and without a 5-pound sack of potatoes to show them what it feels like to lose 5 pounds of body weight.
NOTES:
Spanish interviews available.
For on-site assistance, call Catherine Duncan at 210-560-8450 or Sheila Hotchkin at 210-621-4712.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled $231 million in fiscal year 2011. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 28,000 graduates. The $736 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit the UTHSCSA website.