Local students recently participated in a fun program designed to address several areas of concern in the community.

The Healthy U Program was recently held at the Pyramid Sports Performance Center in Lehighton. Healthy U stands for hygiene, exercise, action, learning, training, heart, youth and university.Jillian Emert, Director of Student Relations, said Healthy U is a "dynamic program designed to address several areas of concern that we have identified in the local community.""Our mission is to educate the students, parents, teachers, coaches and the community on the prevalence and root causes of childhood obesity," Emert said. "We will use a multifaceted approach; enhancing our participants' base knowledge and expanding upon it."Emert said, "we believe that a solid educational foundation will provide our community with a starting point to begin making healthy living choices for positive changes. We will also be introducing the participants to a wide array of physical activities that are fun and easily accessible for any ability level. Lastly, we will focus on the role physical wellness has on one's mental state.""Our hope is to provide the community with an opportunity to gain a solid foundation about the importance of good nutrition and the vital role physical activity plays in our overall health," she said.The Healthy U volunteer staff is made up of teachers, staff and administration of Behavioral Health Associates, Emert said.She said Chris Kimmel, BHA's Director of Curriculum, puts together the lessons that they teach at their programs. In turn, Emert coordinates with the teachers and staff of the BHA schools to ensure that all paperwork is handed out and collected so that it's program can run smoothly.Emert said the program's target audience is children ages 5-12 for the first year. In subsequent years, she said the group will expand its program and provide programming for high school students, as well as educators, family members and the community at large.This month at Healthy U, the students participated is several events that worked at team building and supporting their peers, Emert said."All of our events aim at providing a fun time for the students, as well as imparting valuable lessons and skills such as cooperation, taking turns, good sportsmanship, following directions, as well as the overall positive effect," she said. "As well as the physical activity that helps to enhance one's well-being with both their physical and mental health."Emert said the students participated in activities such as Santa's Beard, Tree Decorating station, Torch Relay and Cross Country Skiing."These activities fostered team work among the participants, as well as engaged their problem-solving skills," she said. "Some of the students were able to overcome their typical tactile defensiveness and happily applied Vaseline to their face to make the cotton balls stick as a part of Santa's Beard activity."Before engaging in the scheduled fun activities, Emert said some of the staff and students put on a skit exploring good stress and bad stress. Before the program ended for the day, they reviewed the impact of stress on physical well-being and offered coping mechanisms.The first event was called Santa's beard, where the students made a beard on their face by putting cotton balls on their face like a beard. They then had to run to a bucket and drop as many cotton balls in the bucket. The team with the most cotton balls in the bucket won, Emert said.She said the second event was a Christmas tree decorating station, whereby the students were given Christmas ornaments and they had to place them on a tree. This was a relay event with their teams as well.The third event was a Torch Relay, where the groups worked together to pass the torch, Emert said.She said the fourth event was a Cross Country Skiing race, whereby each team member placed a towel under their feet and have to slid across the gym floor."The students had a blast at all of the activities that we had planned for them," Emert said.This past spring, she said Behavioral Health Associates conducted a comprehensive and thorough needs assessment of the school age children in the five Carbon County school districts.The data collected identified Childhood Obesity as a growing and pervasive problem, she said. The annual medical cost for an obese child is $2,300 to $4,200 more than a child of healthy weight, Emert said.Increase rates of depression and anxiety have also been noted in the population, said Emert, who added that recently, Behavioral Health Associates, in partnership with Pyramid Sports Performance Center, began developing programming to address some of the issues affecting our youth.In an effort to combat Childhood Obesity, Behavioral Health Associates & Pyramid Sports Performance Center has created activities that incorporate Health and Wellness Education with fun, enjoyable age-appropriate physical programs, she said.Healthy U is a monthly event. Upcoming program dates are Jan. 22, Feb. 19, March 19, April 16, and May 21.Emert said Healthy U is the culmination of BHA's continued efforts to address the mental health, education, and physical well-being of the community.She said the group provides medical and mental health outpatient treatment. Additionally, BHRS services works with the families, Emert said.Emert said BHA also has numerous programs in its three school buildings, which include their CORE, PRIDE, ISST and alternative classrooms.Each of these programs works to address the individual needs of the students and help them build the necessary skills set to be successful in their daily lives, she said.