Thursday, December 11, 2008
Holiday health
Children can pause among the candy canes and holiday train at Valley View to learn healthy habits.
Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times
New Horizons Healthcare physician Dr. Maria Soriano (left) sees Akbar Muhamad, 10. New Horizons Healthcare will hold a health care clinic at Valley View Mall on Saturday.
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Many people will visit Valley View Mall this weekend to shop for the holidays. And the line to see Santa Claus will likely be a long one. But children of all ages can also expect to find healthy fun there Saturday, thanks to members of the Education and Access to Community Health Network, as well as local volunteers.
Eileen Lepro, executive director of New Horizons Healthcare, is a member of EACH and has helped plan the group's first Holiday Health Fest for Kids.
Four stations will be set up near the Belk entrance on the lower level of the mall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children can get free dental screenings, play games that promote physical activity, learn to prepare healthy snacks and get information about blood pressure and body mass index. Fantasy Face Painting also will offer free face art.
Because this is the first year for the event, organizers aren't sure how many children will attend, but they have planned for 300. Lepro said the event will cost about $4,000, covered by a grant from the Virginia Community Healthcare Association.
Malora Horn, project coordinator from the Belmont Community Health Center, and Brenda Allen, the health center's board secretary, will help children make trail mix at the healthy snack station.
"When Eileen approached me about BCHC helping out with this event, I thought this is a wonderful opportunity for kids and their parents to learn more about nutrition and health for youth," Horn said. "The earlier youth learn about healthy habits and healthy living, the more likely they are to be healthy adults."
Parachute games, bean bag tosses and jumping rope are a few of the games planned by Deb Chappell, extension agent in Family and Consumer Sciences for the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.
Chappell said she hopes to inspire children to engage in healthy eating and fun physical activity.
The most rewarding experience this weekend may be for the second-year dental hygiene students from Virginia Western Community College.
Three of the students have volunteered to perform limited oral exams on the children and provide information about how to properly brush and floss, said Marty Roberson, head of the dental hygiene program at VWCC. The basic exams shouldn't be considered a regular dental visit, he said.
Every child also will walk away with a bag of gifts including toothbrushes and coloring pages.
Door prizes will include sports equipment, pedometers and fitness mats. To be eligible, children must visit at least three stations and get punches on cards that can be turned in for a 2 p.m. drawing.
Lepro said that members of the EACH Network began planning the event two months ago. "If this goes well on Saturday, we'll probably start talking about next year's event six months out," she said.
