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Auburn Students to Learn About Healthy Living

By Matthew Leaf

01/19/2012

Students at Calvert Elementary School in Auburn will spend the next few weeks learning about healthy living. They’ll be participating in an initiative funded through a grant from the United Health HEROES program, and a partnership between Peru State College, Auburn Public Schools, and the Auburn Family Health Center.
The initiative, called the Children’s Health, Activity and Nutrition Community Engagement – or CHANCE – Initiative, is a pilot study that will feature 14 weeks of activities and educational lessons.
Dr. Kyle Ryan, an Assistant Professor of Education, and Sheri Grotrian-Ryan, an Assistant Professor of Business at Peru State College developed the initiative. Dr. Ryan explains that it will involve an in-depth examination of what’s called the Harvard Food Plate. (Ryan :48)
Dr. Ryan says the same information will be sent to the Auburn Family Health Center. (Ryan :25)
Several Peru State students will be involved in the study, including those Physical Education, Activity and Kinesiology students, Phi Beta Lambda, and the business promotions class.
Dr. Ryan says the goal of the CHANCE Initiative is to encourage healthy lifestyles among the Auburn elementary students and their families by creating awareness and educating them about better choices. He says obesity is increasingly a problem in rural as well as urban areas of the country, and he says there’s a misperception that a rural lifestyle is necessarily healthier than an urban lifestyle. (Ryan :42)
Dr. Ryan says it’s important for people to make activity a part of their daily routine – in addition to eating a healthy diet – even in the winter months.
In addition to helping the elementary students learn about healthy choices, Dr. Ryan says the initiative is also an opportunity for Peru State College students to put what they’ve learned in the classroom into practice while also serving the community. The CHANCE Initiative kicked off this past Tuesday, with a ceremony and activities at the Calvert Elementary Multi-purpose Room.

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