March 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 56

C O M M I T TO H E A LT H

and preparing foods and using MyPlate to guide their eating choices. An independent evaluation of
Commit to Health sites in 2018
found that 96 percent of CTH sites
are meeting the daily physical activity recommendations, 87 percent of
sites are limiting screen time, 95 percent of sites are providing drinking
water at all times to youth and staff,
and 89 percent of sites are serving
a fruit or vegetable at every meal.
While childhood obesity continues
to impact us all, park and recreation
leaders have established themselves
as an essential component of community health.

The Next Five Years

Childhood obesity continues to impact us
all, but park and recreation leaders have
established themselves as an essential
component of community health.

ment opportunities, keeping them
engaged and learning during the
summer months.
In just five years, we've seen the
transformation of OST programs in
parks and recreation, evolving from
recreation providers to true health
and wellness professionals. Since
2016, the number of park and recreation agencies offering nutrition
education to youth has doubled
(from 32 percent to 64 percent in
2018), and we are seeing results! A
2017 Commit to Health evaluation
demonstrated that kids who are receiving nutrition education through
NRPA's Foods of the Month curriculum are consuming more fruits
and vegetables, understanding how
to read a nutrition label, cooking
54

Parks & Recreation

This generation of youth has its fair
share of challenges ahead of it, and
new threats emerge each day that
are taking a toll on our communities. What will the role of park and
recreation agencies be in fostering
healthy outcomes for youth and
families in the next five years? How
can we continue to rise to the challenge and respond to the needs of
the communities we serve?
In 2018, the NAA HEPA standards were refreshed (HEPA 2.0),
recognizing that the OST field has
an even bigger role to play in promoting healthy outcomes for youth
across multiple dimensions - physical, mental, social, emotional and
economic health. Daniel Hatcher,
director of community partnerships
at Healthier Gen, provided some
context for the HEPA standards refresh: " The refresh was in response
to feedback from educators and
leaders across the country, and it
has allowed us to update key action
planning tools and professional development resources to encourage
the integration of social-emotional
health into the implementation of
the standards, a critical step in re-

| M A R C H 2 0 1 9 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

sponding to contemporary issues
facing our communities. HEPA 2.0
encourages users to find opportunities to blend nutrition, physical activity and social-supports. "
Park and recreation agencies are
already leading in this expanded focus on health. In the city of Montrose, Colorado, the summer program staff made sure children had
an opportunity to share and express
their feelings during programming.
" If they were upset, we wanted
them to make sure our environment
empowered them to express their
feelings. Some of the children
we serve come from challenging
homes; to be heard is important
for their well-being. As leaders, we
practiced our communication skills
as well. We didn't yell, we role
modeled appropriate conversations
skills. We would see that during the
program these skills would be modeled by the children to their friends
if they had disagreements. They expressed themselves and learned to
resolve their issues on their own. "
NRPA will continue to lead
agencies to think more holistically
about health in their communities,
better preparing OST professionals to support both physical and
mental health outcomes. May says:
" NRPA's hope is that through the
strong foundation that Commit
to Health has laid, park and recreation OST programs will continue to provide physical activity
and healthy food options but will
also provide support for children's
mental and social-emotional health
through mentoring and other types
of targeted services. We know that
P&R can often provide that one
caring adult who changes a child's
life forever. "
Allison Colman (she/her/hers) is an
NRPA Senior Program Manager
(acolman@nrpa.org).

March 2019 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2019 - Parks & Recreation