November 2009 - Parks & Recreation - 54

N R PA I n A c t i o n

ur nation's youth are
at the center of a national
health crisis-childhood obesity plagues almost 19 percent of children
ages 6 to 11, and an additional 30 percent
of children are considered overweight. The
unfortunate legacy of childhood obesity is
adult obesity, as obese children have a 70
percent or greater chance of being overweight adults. Furthermore, most overweight children have at least one major risk
factor for cardiovascular disease. To combat
this national crisis, healthy lifestyles for our
nation's youth must be influenced through
efforts at home, in school, and through
community venues. Park and recreation
agencies are in a unique position to reach
children outside the school day during after-school programs and summer camps to

deliver learning in a fun environment, engage children in physical activity to apply
that learning, and also engage parents and
caregivers in building sustainable lifestyle
changes at home.
Through a grant NRPA received from
the National Recreation Foundation, 49
agencies nationwide were awarded the
NRPA Youth Wellness Resource Grant. The
grant equipped the 49 park and recreation
agencies with a solutions-oriented program
that targets and seeks to establish lifelong
healthy lifestyles in youth ages six to 11.
The programs used are the Wise Kids
and Wise Kids Outdoors, developed by
the Säjai Foundation in cooperation with
NRPA. These programs are designed to
have positive and significant impacts in
areas that will lead youth to have better

attitudes toward eating healthier foods
and engaging in physical activity, including activities that connect children with
the outdoors. Ultimately, this can reduce
the risk of gaining weight and associated
health problems.
For more information about the NRPA
Youth Wellness Grant and the Wise Kids
and Wise Kids Outdoors programs, visit
www.nrpa.org/health.
R

Expanding archery as a community activity in
recreation departments is a primary goal of the National
Alliance for the Development of Archery (NADA), and
through our partnership with NRPA we have been able
to successfully focus on that initiative for the past year.
Thanks to the dedicated facilitation of NRPA, we were
able to award 100 grants of $500 each to recreation
agencies that qualify to start archery programs such
as the After School Archery Program (ASAP). As a
result of the grant partnership, parks and recreation
agencies across the country have now been introduced
to the sport of archery and have
expressed interest in having
their staff certified as instructors
who would be qualified to lead
archery programs for local
children and families. NADA's
national partnership with NRPA
has provided the access we
needed to promote our sport and
educate parks and recreation
groups on the significance of
offering archery programs.
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52 Parks & Recreation

November 2009

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Teaming Up For Health

November 2009 - Parks & Recreation

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