Students at the Highland Park Boys & Girls Club are discovering it is \u201cFun to be Fit.\u201d As part of their work with Leadership Chattanooga, Dr. Dee Dee Anderson, associate vice chancellor of student development, and Dr. Mike Owens, assistant dean of graduate programs in the College of Business, developed the Fun to be Fit pilot program, designed to encourage physical activity among Boys & Girls Club members.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose of Fun to be Fit is to address the growing crisis of obesity and lack of exercise in children, especially those in urban neighborhoods, in a fun and motivating way,\u201d said Anderson.<\/p>\n
In partnership with three seniors in the Health and Human Performance department, they developed a six-week, sustainable fitness curriculum for B&GC members ages 6-13. The curriculum is divided into a series of 30 minutes workouts that can be led by the B&GC club peer leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to increase B&GC members\u2019 awareness of the importance of exercise to improving their health and produce a sustainable fitness curriculum that they can continue to implement,\u201d said Anderson.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Amonett, a senior exercise science major, designed activities for 6-9 year old children.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy intention was to use basic activities that the children were familiar with, but to add a new twist to make the activity more exciting. It was nice to see the enthusiasm on the children’s faces,\u201d said Amonett.<\/p>\n
The workouts are led by B&GC members designated as peer leaders four times a week for all B&GC members who would like to participate. \u201cFun to be Fit\u201d could be expanded to other Boys & Girls Clubs.
\n\u201cWe wanted to show the kids that living an active lifestyle is something they can incorporate into what they do every day. It’s not just running laps or doing pushups; playing fun games means you’re being active,\u201d said Amanda Hamilton, senior exercise science major.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Students at the Highland Park Boys & Girls Club are discovering it is \u201cFun to be Fit.\u201d As part of their work with Leadership Chattanooga, Dr. Dee Dee Anderson, associate vice chancellor of student development, and Dr. Mike Owens, assistant dean of graduate programs in the College of Business, developed the Fun to be Fit… <\/p>\n