Published on Monday, April 14, 2008

Healthy Kids Day at the YMCA teaches kids how to live better

By JOHN BACHMANN

The Kishwaukee YMCA celebrated Healthy Kids Day on Friday night.

The 17th annual event focused on teaching families about eating healthier and living healthier lifestyles.

At the YMCA, families took part in several activities and vendors encouraged children to make healthier choices.

Debbie Madeley, membership development and marketing director at the YMCA, thinks this was a great opportunity for the YMCA.

“This gives us a unique position to reach out to the community in hopes of having a positive effect on them,” she said.

Madeley said that child obesity is rising at high rates right now, and there needs to be awareness to stop it.

“Childhood obesity is at an all-time high right now and we are trying to give ways of preventing that from becoming even higher,” Madeley said.

Madeley also said at Healthy Kids Day, families were given the chance to learn and have fun at the same time.

“Families can have fun and get a wealth of information on building a happier and healthier home,” she said.

Eating healthy was not the only aspect focused on.

Some vendors showed children how to take care of their teeth and wash their hands properly.

Rob Wilkinson, CEO of Kishwaukee YMCA, said it takes many resources to help kids live a healthy life.

“Our main goal is to improve the community’s health, but in order to do that, we need help from others,” he said. “And we got that help from many organizations who volunteered to help make kids healthier and happier.”

David Simone, DeKalb resident, said the event is a great opportunity for kids.

“It’s good that kids are active as much as possible and not sitting on the couch, watching TV,” he said.