YMCA to begin Healthy Weight and Your Child program

The Sussex County Branch of the YMCA is starting a new pilot program next week called “Healthy Weight and Your Child,” or HWYC, in an effort to help end obesity among children.       

Suzette Chambers-Marrin, the Health Enhancement Coordinator at the YMCA says, “I can tell you it is rapidly growing every year and at a scary rate. We are looking for kids in that ninety- five percentile.”

This program is beginning in the middle of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, one in 3 children in the United States is overweight or obese.

This new program at the “Y” is completely free. It is two hours long. The first half involves education and the second is filled with movement activities. The program is specifically for children between the ages of seven and thirteen. They must attend with a guardian. 

Lauri Weeks, the Executive Director of the YMCA says, “Healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, healthy patterning, and healthy behaviors start in the home. We know how important it is to teach mom and dad how important those things are.”

The first HWYC session will be held a week from tomorrow at YMCA Sussex County Branch from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.