Press Release:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – AmeriHealth Caritas Partnership, the corporate foundation of AmeriHealth Caritas West Virginia, brought one if its signature programs, Healthy Hoops, to Charleston last week in collaboration with YMCA of Kanawha Valley.
The Aug. 9 program saw 55 children participate, with staff and volunteers from the AmeriHealth Caritas Partnership, the YMCA and the community leading a range of activities, including educational panels, a basketball clinic, and health screenings. Throughout the day, children learned useful health information and received hands-on basketball advice from coaches.
The event concluded with a barbeque, where members of the community came together to enjoy games and activities like bingo, Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, along with wellness activities, such as sports physicals and health screenings. Families were sent home with bags of fresh produce to help create healthy family dinners.
Healthy Hoops is an innovative asthma and obesity management program for children and their families. It was created in 2002 in part to show children living with asthma they could still participate in sports and other activities by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Basketball plays a central role in the Healthy Hoops program, as facilitators help to educate children on ways to manage asthma through nutrition, exercise and appropriate medication use. This ground-breaking approach promotes health management and positive behavioral changes that benefit the entire family. The event highlights ways children and their families can decrease childhood obesity and increase cardiovascular activity by exploring the fun sides of health and fitness.
“We’ve had great success with our Healthy Hoops program in other states, and are proud to have brought it to West Virginia,” said AmeriHealth Caritas Partnership Board Chair Christopher Drumm. “It’s vital for children to learn at an early age that health and fitness can be fun. Healthy Hoops has achieved great results during the past 17 years because of its focus on this simple yet very valuable lesson. We believe that the children and families who joined us in Charleston will reap similar benefits.”