Poland kids, parents learn value of good diet, exercise at Family Health Night

POLAND

Six-year-old Julia Clark enjoys taking tap, jazz and ballet lessons, so it’s probably safe to say that she already has one leg up on fighting obesity.

“It’s fun. I learned that it’s good for you,” the Poland Union Elementary School student said about the importance of exercise.

Julia was among the first-graders who had plenty of fun and didn’t mind breaking a bit of a sweat during Tuesday’s annual Family Health Night gathering at the school, 30 Riverside Drive.

The two-hour event, which featured three activity stations, provided a series of activities for the first-graders and their parents which focused on the importance of maintaining a good diet and engaging in regular physical fitness.

More than 75 percent of children ages 6 to 11 fail to eat adequate fruits and vegetables daily, and many have low intakes of healthful, dark-green leafy and yellow vegetables as well as nutrient-filled fruits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Compounding the problem of childhood obesity in the U.S. is that many restaurants serve much-larger portions than 30 years ago, which leads to an increase in calories, according to the CDC.

Read more about the event in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.