May 03, 2012

“Taking on Summer” as Part of Healthy Kids Day

On Saturday, April 28, families across Chicago celebrated Healthy Kids Day® at their local Y with sports, contests, healthy snacks and other activities. Each of the Y’s 25 member centers across the city and suburbs offered the community a chance to come together for a day of free, fun and, most importantly, HEALTHY family activities!

At a time when nearly one in three U.S. children is overweight or obese, helping kids and families live healthier lifestyles has never been more important. For many kids, exposure to activities that stimulate the body and mind ends with the school year. In fact, research shows that kids are more prone to gain weight and fall behind academically over the summer months.

As part of this initiative, the Y – along with hundreds of thousands of parents and kids nationwide – is taking on summer by addressing critical gaps in health and education that cause kids to be at increased risk for childhood obesity and suffer summer learning loss.

Healthy Kids Day was a great reminder to families that the Y of Metro Chicago is a safe place for children to learn, play and grow at any time of year! The Y offers a number of day and overnight camps throughout the summer that offer kids the opportunity to make the most of their summer and time out of school – providing activities, healthy meals and experiential learning opportunities.

To coincide with Healthy Kids Day, last week the YMCA of the USA released its second annual Family Health Snapshot, an online parents survey gauging how physically and intellectually active children are during the school year and summertime. Research shows that without activities to keep their minds and bodies active, kids are likely to gain weight twice as fast over the summer, and show little to no academic growth. The majority of parents worried about their family’s financial security, while just 21 percent of American parents rank overall physical health as a top concern for their children and 20 percent rank education as a top concern.

A leading nonprofit committed to strengthening community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, the Y holds Healthy Kids Day to improve the health and well-being of kids.

For more information Y of Metro Chicago locations and programs – including summer camp, visit www.ymcachicago.org.