NHLBI, Hearts N' Parks Program - 2003 Magnet Center Sites

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2003 Magnet Center Sites

Savannah, GA—Youth Programs

Description

Summer camps for youth offered physical activities such as daily swim lessons and recreational swimming, a three-week girls’ basketball clinic that provided instruction on basketball fundamentals and the importance of fitness, and a weekly kickboxing session at one camp site. Weekly nutrition education sessions were also provided at the sites. Sessions focused on the USDA Food Guide Pyramid and portion sizes. Each session ended with a healthy snack. Campers also researched heart-healthy eating tips on the Internet during designated computer time. A special event for youth included tasting various healthy meals that were prepared at camps. The participants also tested their heart-healthy food knowledge by participating in game show questions and answers about the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. The youth summer lunch programs also learned about "Go, Slow, and Whoa" foods from the CATCH 4th grade curriculum book, “Taking Off,” and participated in related activities. The children were really enthusiastic about the CATCH material and had a lot of fun with it. All agreed to take the provided information home to show a parent/guardian. A Fun Walk and Health Fair was held in the spring and fall to increase the visibility of Hearts N’ Parks in the community. The event was promoted through newspaper calendars, radio announcements, and community flyers. Health and fitness agencies set up booths with educational materials, and the Savannah Fire Department checked participants' blood pressure. Walkers received T-shirts, sports bottles, and healthy snacks.

Program Information

Name of program	Savannah Kid's Camp	Adolescent Camp
Program start and end date	6/9/2003 to 7/3/2003	6/9/2003 to 8/1/2003
Number of times program met per week	5	5
Number of participants (total)	59	16
Number of male participants	29	7
Number of female participants	30	9
Target group	Child	Adolescent
Program focus
Physical Activity
Heart-Healthy Eating
Location of activities
Camp
After School	-	-
Other	-	-
Materials used
Information Handout
Lesson
Activity
Menus
Other	-	-

Public Visibility

Internal efforts to promote Hearts N' Parks programs:

Bulletin board or information racks
Newsletter or brochure

External efforts to promote Hearts N' Parks programs:

Media Coverage: Print, TV, Radio

Special Event(s): N/A
Number of presentations: 2

Other: Two Hearts N' Parks Fun Walks & Health Fairs

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Partners

Partners who contributed to youth programs:

Partner Name	Partner Contribution
Chatham County Health Department	Made presentations to children on healthy eating.

Performance Measures

Adolescent Camp
Comparison of pre- and post-questionnaire scores for adolescents showed improvement in heart-healthy eating knowledge, heart-healthy eating attitude, overweight/obesity attitude, heart-healthy eating behavior, heart-healthy eating intention, and physical activity level.

Savannah Kid's Camp
Children's scores showed improvement in heart-healthy eating knowledge, behavior, and intention. Scores also improved in the area of physical activity intention.