News: 645 take part in race/walk
(Above) And they're off! Youngsters head out in the race portion of the Growing Healthy Children race and walk April 28 in Bidwell Park.
Health professionals in the area have pulled together under the title of the Sierra Cascade Collaborative for Movement and Motion to increase good nutrition and regular exercise among families.
The group's first event, the Growing Healthy Children Walk and Run Celebration on April 28 in Bidwell Park, drew 645 participants.
"Those were mostly children," explained event chairman, Steve Naiman on Wednesday, adding there were plenty of parents joining their youngsters in the choice of the free 1-mile, 5-k and 10-k runs and walks.
"I'm still on cloud nine in terms of overall success," he said.
Besides walks and races, race sprints were held for the very young children. "We're trying to get the message to the parents for the little ones to get active at a young age," said Naiman.
The walk and run celebration came about over the past seven months due to concerns from committee members about the increased obesity among youngsters in the north state, as well as the rest of the country.
The committee, made up of citizens who work in the health and nutrition fields, such as those with the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; California Health Collaborative, Overweight Prevention and Treatment for Fit Kids, Sierra Cascade and Activity Consortium, are motivated by the increase in diabetes, coronary diseases and cancers that come from poor nutrition and lack of exercise.
"A quote I heard is that for the first time, the children of this generation will have shorter lifespans than that of their parents," Naiman said. Naiman is a community health coordinator for Del Norte Clinics.
The collaborative, part of a bigger group working in 12 Northern California counties, has taken on the project of increasing nutrition on school menus. "Right now we're working with schools on getting good breakfasts and lunches, and getting sodas out of the schools," Naiman said.
Another change the collaborative wants to make is to curtail the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.
Growing Healthy Children Walk and Run Celebration included T-shirts for participants, information booths and a raffle that gave away four bicycles. The event was supported by Chico Rotary Club, Lassen Foundation and Chico Running Club, among others.
This originally appeared in the May 6, 2007 Chico Enterprise-Record.
