Be Fit and Healthwise is an annual summer camp, hosted by RKM Primary Care for children, ages 6-14 of East Feliciana Parish and the surrounding area. Be Fit and Healthwise Summer Camp has three main components: fitness and physical activity, nutrition, and behavioral health, which includes self-esteem, self-confidence, social skills, and character building. According to Christy Denicola, Director of Social Services Behavioral Health Department for RKM Primary Care, “Each year, our team of Licensed Clinical School-Based Social Workers invite children in the schools RKM serves, as well as other children in the area, to a fun-filled summer full of exciting activities, healthy snacks, and field trips every Friday!”

This summer, Layne Langley, LSU AgCenter Area Nutrition Agent, partnered with the camp to offer nutrition programs to the campers. She was able to conduct four programs for each of the three age groups. Her goal was to teach them about nutrition and making healthy choices while providing fun hands-on activities.

During her first session, Langley introduced the campers to the MyPlate. She discussed each food group and told the campers about the benefits of eating from each food group including reasons why they should eat from each food group daily. The younger campers were given a food or exercise card and were instructed to place the food card on the correct food group of the oversized MyPlate mat or lead the physical activity if they pulled an exercise card. The middle-aged group and older group used MyPlate dry erase cards to work in teams to brainstorm foods that were part of each food group. Those campers participated in a MyPlate Relay racing in teams to place plastic food into the corresponding food group buckets. The session ended with the campers preparing and sampling MyPlate Salad on the Go.

In the second session, youth learned that being physically active 60 minutes each day is important to their health. They also learned they should include aerobic activities, muscle-strengthening activities, and bone-strengthening activities when being physically active. The campers were taught what it means to be sedentary and that they should reduce time spent in sedentary behaviors. They participated in an exercise titled “Physical Activity VS Sedentary Behaviors” where they moved to one side of the room when they heard a physical activity behavior and then would move to the other side of the room when they heard a sedentary behavior. This continued with Langley calling out numerous behaviors and the campers moving from one side of the room to the other and back again. They also took part in Hit the Deck where they worked in teams to complete a relay race that included physical activity cards they had to select and complete. The session wrapped up with the campers making and tasting Strawberry Pizza.

To start the Snack Session off, Langley showed the campers two bags of unidentified snacks and asked them to describe how each bag looked and guess what was in them. Later it was revealed one bag contained pretzels and the other a chip that contained a lot of fat…so much fat that the bag absorbed the grease. Youth discovered “Go Snacks, Slow Snacks, and Whoa Snacks” while participating in the Snacking Session. They learned tips on identifying if snacks were go, slow, or whoa snacks. The campers shared “go” snack ideas from each of the MyPlate food groups. They also participated in Go Go Go for Go Snacks Activity where they worked in teams to race and place food cards in “go and “whoa” columns. The session ended with the campers making and tasting Magical Fruit Salad.

Langley spoke to the campers and offered them tips to make healthier choices when eating out, preparing foods at home, and when stopping at a convenience store during Take Down the Fat Session. Youth looked at a poster containing two day’s menu items. They guessed the amount of fat they thought was in each food item. Langley revealed how much fat was in the “not so healthy” menu using shortening as a visual for fat. Then she had the campers look at another day’s menu. And, after discussing each food item and how much fat each food item contained, Langley showed the youth the plate that contained a much smaller amount of shortening therefore identifying this as the healthier menu. This was a definite eye-opener for these campers. The session ended with the campers making and tasting White Chocolate Orange Pudding.

The campers enjoyed the nutrition sessions, activities and the yummy recipes! Special thanks to Arianna Smith for her help coordinating the nutrition sessions with Be Fit.

For more information about nutrition programs in East Feliciana Parish, contact Layne Langley at 225- 683-3101 or at lalangley@agcenter.lsu.edu

Emmitt Young enjoys his MyPlate Salad on the Go.

Brielle Wesley is all smiles when it came to sampling the White Chocolate Orange Pudding.

Laila Lee stirs the Magical Fruit Salad after adding the last ingredient.

Parkher McKnight whisks the pudding ingredients of the Magical Fruit Salad.

Avehry Sims and Larry Miller can’t get over how tasty the MyPlate Salad on the Go is!

Olivia Herrin loves spreading the strawberry cream cheese on her graham crackers.

These campers work in teams to decide where to place their food cards in the Go & Whoa Activity.