Thursday, December 3, 2009

Reducing childhood obesity through online games

About one in three children and adolescents in the United States is overweight or obese. But a new online gaming is the hope of reversing this trend. Elementary Schools in West Salem and Holmen school districts jump on board with the new program and use it in their classes. $ 330,000 in federal grant money is funding the launch of a new e-training program established by the health education of the Children's Center. CHEC, in partnership with the La Crosse County Health Department to teach primary age children healthy habits. It's called Mission Health, an e-learning program that teaches kindergartners through graduate students how important it is to stay healthy.

"They will learn to make healthy lifestyle choices. Lessons will be fun and interactive for children, "said Jenni loging, Nutrition Educator with La Crosse County Health Department. The developers of the Children's Health and Education Center wanted to ensure that the game has seized Kids attention. Health mission consists of six lessons Ten minute that teachers can incorporate into their existing curricula of health. "We provide an educational guide for teachers that gives them basic information and assistance on how best to deliver. What are the classroom discussions they can do to reinforce the learning that takes place. And then these 10-15 minute modules are shown in groups so that students are able to interact with the teacher using a smart board or other technologies and reinforce the messages throughout the curriculum, " said Bridget Clementi, Executive Director of Children's Health Education Center. La Crosse County Health nutrition educators say targeting the young age, a benefit for the entire community. "They'll get the message to their families. So if we can get those messages to the children of these young children, they can carry on throughout their lives and make choices for healthy lifestyles, "said loging.

Mission health is only part of federal grant money that is spent. Some funds will inform physicians of the region through a seminar on childhood obesity. Another area called "Fit Families" focuses on the sharing of health advice to families who are part of the wick La Crosse County and Head Start programs.

The Children's Health Education Center focuses on the launch of the online program in the region of La Crosse in January. Come second semester, they plan to go statewide with the program with the goal of reaching 25,000 students.

For more detail about Health visit on:

http://ivory-white.com/

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