Hungerford and Audubon Park Elementary Schools Are Governor’s Fitness Challenge Winners

Two Winter Park area schools were among the top winners in the eight-week Governor’s Fitness Challenge launched in March to inspire elementary school students and their schools to get more active.

Hungerford and Audubon Park elementary schools were among the winners and each received a $5,000 check from Gov. Charlie Crist on June 2 to spend on physical education equipment. (All eight public elementary schools in the Winter Park, Maitland and Eatonville area–Aloma, Audubon Park, Brookshire, Cheney, Dommerich, Hungerford, Lake Sybelia and Lakemont–participated in the challenge.)

Click here for more information on the Governor’s Fitness Challenge.

Love Your Veggies Competition a Big Hit at Schools: Lake Sybelia Elementary Gets First Place

Love Your Veggies, a competition to inspire healthy and creative vegetable recipes at school, proposed by Winter Park Health Foundation (WPHF) trustee Tom Holley, wrapped up just before the end of the school year with Lake Sybelia Elementary School tying for first place.

The goal was to encourage school cafeteria staff to get creative with vegetable recipes, and simultaneously interest students in them. Mr. Holley provided his quarterly discretionary grant to provide cash prizes for kitchen and cafeteria managers with winning recipes.

Winners included Lake Sybelia and Hillcrest elementary schools in first place, Audubon Park in second place and Cheney Elementary in third place.

 

 

Millions of Young Teens Home Alone in the Summer

Millions of tweens–children ages 11 to 13–will be left home alone this summer, despite their parents’ concerns they may not have the knowledge and skills they need to stay safe at home, according to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

According to the results of the hospital’s national poll on children’s health, many parents worry that their at-home tweens do not know how to safely use kitchen appliances, where to go to stay safe during a severe storm or that they should not give out personal information on line or over the phone. Yet, one in five parents polled say that they have left tweens home alone for an entire day.

Click here for more information on the survey and information on how to determine if a child can be left alone.

 

Kids Continue to Down Too Many Sugary Drinks

Kids continue to consume too many sugary drinks, a habit that can wreak havoc on weight and teeth.

According to a report from the Kidshealth.org website, a recent study shows these drinks make up 10  to 15 percent of a kid’s daily calories.

The Kidshealth report includes more information about the survey and recommendations on the healthiest beverage choices.  Click here to read the full report.

Earn Money For Your School By Taking CYI Survey by June 15

Each year, the Winter Park Health Foundation (WPHF) provides more than $1 million to support comprehensive student health services in Winter Park, Maitland and Eatonville area schools designed to help students be the healthiest and most academically productive possible. The programs are part of the Coordinated Youth Initiative (CYI).

In an effort to make the free programs the best they can be, WPHF would like your feedback. Parents are invited to complete the electronic survey posted on this website and provide thoughts and suggestions.  The deadline is June 15.

Your child’s school will receive $1 for each completed survey, to be used for healthy school activities.

Please click here to take the electronic version of the survey. Please complete no more than one survey per family per school.

Hungerford and Audubon Park Elementaries Are Governor’s Fitness Challenge Winners

Two Winter Park area schools were among the top winners in the eight-week Governor’s Fitness Challenge launched in March to inspire elementary school students and their schools to get more active.

Hungerford and Audubon Park elementary schools –two of the eight Winter Park Consortium schools participating in the Challenge–each received a $5,000 check from Gov. Charlie Crist to spend on physical education equipment.

Schools, like Audubon Park and Hungerford, were eligible to win $5,000 in new equipment because they had more than half of the student body signed up for the challenge.

Click here for more information on the Fitness challenge.

Early Birds in College Get the Good Grades

As you pass along advice to your college-bound child, you may want to share the “early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” adage.

Researchers from the University of North Texas have found students who are morning people tend to get better grades than those who are night owls.

“The finding that college students who are evening types have lower GPAs is a very important finding, sure to make its way into undergraduate psychology texts in the near future, along with the research showing that memory is improved by sleep,” said study co-author Daniel J. Taylor in a prepared statement.

Read more of the HealthDay News story by clicking here.

Bunk Bed Injuries Send Many to Emergency Room

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in its June news briefs, reports that an average of 35,790 children suffer non-fatal bunk bed-related injuries each year.

A study, “Bunk Bed-Related Injuries Among Children and Adolescents Treated in Emergency Departments in the United States, 1990-2005,” found a total of 572,580 children and adolescents 21 years and younger were treated in emergency rooms for these injuries.

Children younger than six suffered the majority of injuries, the brief said, with significant injury rates also seen among college-age students.

Click here to read the complete news brief on the AAP website.

Earn Money for Your School By Completing a CYI Survey

Each year, the Winter Park Health Foundation (WPHF) provides more than $1 million to support comprehensive student health services in Winter Park, Maitland and Eatonville area schools designed to help students be the healthiest and most academically productive possible. The programs are part of the Coordinated Youth Initiative (CYI).

In an effort to make the free programs the best they can be, WPHF would like your feedback. Parents are invited to complete the electronic survey posted on this website and provide thoughts and suggestions. Your child’s school will receive $1 for each completed survey, to be used for healthy school activities.

A paper version will be included in the elementary school edition of the Healthy Kids Today newsletter that has been delivered to your homes.

Please click here to take the electronic version of the survey by June 15. Please complete no more than one survey per family per school.

The Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social Network

The smoking, and non-smoking, habits of friends, families and co-workers impact the smoking habits of the individual, according to a study reported on by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Among the key findings–smoking cessation by a spouse decreases ones chances of smoking by 67 percent–which is significantly higher than by a sibling (25 percent) or by a friend (36 percent).

Click here to read more on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation website.