RAHWAY RECREATION RECEIVES GRANT

The CATCH Global Foundation and the Rahway Recreation Department will help increase physical activity and healthy eating, reduce childhood obesity and promote healthy community environments among summer camp children ages 5 to 14 years old under a charitable grant provided by the Walmart Foundation in cooperation with the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association.
The grant is providing the CATCH Ò Program, or Coordinated Approach to Child Health, a program to enhance healthy nutrition and physical activity for children in thirteen Summer Camp and After-Care Programs including Rahway’s Summer Playtime in the Park. According to the National Survey of Children’s Health nearly one out of four (24.7%) New Jersey children aged 10-17 is overweight or obese. The NJ Department of Education reports that less than half of all New Jersey high school students are physically active for at least 60 minutes per day, five times per week, the recommended level of physical activity. The CATCH program has been proven to reduce child obesity and improve children’s fitness. These factors have implications for overall health as well as academic success.
The grant will provide training, resources and support that builds each sites’ capacity to provide children with the knowledge and skills to make healthy food choices and be physically active in a format that is fun and engaging. The project will also teach children how to put the skills they learn into everyday practice. For example, one lesson teaches teens about the relationship between target heart rate and physical activity by having them calculate their heart rates before and after physical activity. In the younger children, activities include identifying healthful eating, exercising and reading nutrition labels. Other lessons touch on topics such as the importance of eating breakfast, healthy snacking and types of fun physical activity.