In the month of March, we partnered with Beaumont Health System on a unique and fun challenge centered around the topic of health and wellbeing.  It was the first time we were tasked with a healthy living project that would directly impact children. In the past, we worked on food access, but we never focused directly on children. Childhood obesity is a major issue throughout the country, and especially in Michigan.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 33% of children between ages 10-17 were overweight or obese in 2012.  These health risks disproportionally affect lower income and poverty stricken homes, which are largely seen in the metro Detroit region.  Many youth in various communities pick up poor eating and physical activity habits throughout their childhood, and this carries on to their adolescent, young adult and adult years.  If youth are properly educated on eating healthy and being more physically active, they will greatly reduce their risk of disease later in life, helping them save money in the future because of the high cost of health care.

The challenge presented to the Fellows was to come up with two different 1-hour programs, one for a school assembly and the other for a community center workshop, focused on health and wellbeing with the goal of combatting obesity. We were split into teams and tasked with designing engaging, fun activities for schoolchildren that would motivate them to change the way they eat for a healthier lifestyle, increase their physical activity to ensure their bodies stay fit, and modify behavior towards healthy living.  We worked for four weeks in various settings.

We kicked off the challenge at Beaumont’s training facility in Troy.  Beaumont was gracious enough to provide us with a full day of educational panels, headed up by some of the leading healthcare professionals in the state! We were also asked to arrive in professional “fit-friendly” attire so we could participate in some light yet active physical exercises throughout our day.  In the morning we did some stretching, followed by power-walking after lunch and then an afternoon exercise break using fit-bands. Not only did we learn a ton about healthy living—from a nutrition, physical activity, and behavioral perspective—but Beaumont truly rolled out the red carpet for our team.  They provided us with many resources and fed us a truly healthy breakfast and lunch!

In the second week, we worked at Rutherford Winans Academy in Detroit.  Rutherford Winans currently partners with Beaumont; through this partnership, Rutherford Winans provides a great physical activity room for ANYONE in the neighborhood to use AND fully staffs a medical clinic for children, teachers, administrators and neighborhood residents for small medical issues.  The school trip afforded us the opportunity to interview students and parents in various grades about their healthy living habits.  We learned that kids did enjoy eating healthy and playing around, but a lot of the influence came from the parents.  We also had the opportunity to eat with some kids during their lunch period.

In our third week, we were back at another Beaumont-related facility in Grosse Pointe called the Neighborhood Club.  The objective for the third week was to compile all the information we learned as well as all ideas we brainstormed into more digestible activities for the school and community center programs we were developing.  We worked extremely hard that day, but we also had some fun.  Part of the reason we worked at the Neighborhood Club was to see how a community center operated.  We were again asked to wear “fit-friendly” attire and got a nice little afternoon sweat going from our mini boot-camp workout and basketball games. All the fellows loved taking a fun, active break from work!

Finally, our last week with Beaumont ended on a great note on an actual spring-like Friday! Fellows presented their interactive health programs, including a marketing strategy for outreach to both schools and community centers, to an audience of over 50 people from Beaumont and other guests.  Overall, it seemed everyone was very impressed with our Fit-Ready: Mind+Body+Plate school and community center programs.  Activities demoed included dancing to improve physical activity and learning how to read food labels by playing a board game with stickers.  After the final presentation finished, we ended the day celebrating with another healthy lunch meal and further dialogue about health and wellness. We look forward to seeing how Beaumont implements the programs we created into their work with children in the greater Detroit community!

 Contributed by fellows Isaac Gilman and Brittany Sanders