September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

The CENTRAL CONNECTICUT COAST YMCA wants families to know how to prevent childhood obesity and live better together—both inside and outside of the home

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month and the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA — a leading voice in youth development and healthy living—wants to help families live better and help prevent childhood obesity by incorporating regular physical activity and healthy eating into their daily routine.

“At the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA, we want families to understand the lifetime benefits of eating right and getting physically active and those behaviors begin in the home,” said Barbara Moore, CCC Y Association Membership & Healthier Communities Director. “If healthy habits are established at home they will carry over to when children are out of their parents’ care and that will dramatically help reduce obesity in our community.”

The following tips will help families live healthier together and help prevent childhood obesity:

• Eat Healthy: Make water the drink of choice (supplemented by age-appropriate portions of 100 percent fruit juices and low-fat milk) and make it easy for everyone to fill half their plates with fruits and vegetables by offering two or three colorful options. Feel free to mix and match fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables to provide variety. 
  

• Play Every Day/Go Outside: Kids should have at least an hour a day of unstructured play outside (when possible) and break a sweat at least three times a week by getting 20 minutes or more of vigorous physical activity.
  

• Get Together: Eat as a family as frequently as possible with kids involved in meal preparation and clean up. In addition, adults should take a break from electronics and spend one-on-one time each day with their kids, enjoying one another’s company.
  

• Reduce Screen Time: Time spent in front of a television, computer, tablet, cell phone or video games should be limited to two hours per day.

• Sleep Well: Kids and adults need to keep a regular sleep schedule—10-12 hours per night for kids and seven to eight hours for adults.

To learn more about the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA, please call us at 203 777 9622 or visit cccymca.org.