Children and parents in rural areas have the opportunity to take part in a new program called Healthy Kids.
Healthy Kids, which educates and examines healthy lifestyle changes, is run by UF, Shands at UF, UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Science and local UF/IFAS county extension offices.
The free four-month program is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The 12-session program consists of a team of doctors and psychologists who will meet with families, said Crystal S. Lim, a co-director of Healthy Kids.
Starting in May, the program will be offered in Flagler, Putnam and Suwannee counties.
Lim said one problem rural areas face is a lack of access to medical care, including preventative care. Healthy Kids is the first program of its kind providing specific aid to children ages 3 to 7 in these areas.
“Recent research has come out that shows adults and children from rural areas are at an increased risk of being overweight and obese as well as having negative health conditions,” Lim said.
The goal of Healthy Kids is to take information learned through UF research and provide it to rural communities through the UF/IFAS extension offices, Lim said.
She also said parents are the primary targets of change.
“Parents have more control of the environment that kids are exposed to,” Lim said.
Virginia Horan, a 19-year-old UF biology sophomore and a Shands volunteer, said she would love to work with a program like Healthy Kids.
“Helping kids when they’re younger to try and help fight obesity is the best way to help them try and do it in the future,” she said.
