Developing healthy habits starts young. A University of Houston summer camp teaches middle-school girls and their parents how to stay active, make healthy food choices and enhance a positive body image.
For the past eight years BOUNCE—Behavior
Opportunities Uniting Nutrition, Counseling and Exercise—has been bringing
together low-income, minority girls, 9-14-years old, and their parents to learn
good habits for good living. This year’s camp runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., July
16 – August 10. To register email bouncelite@yahoo.com or call 832-842-5921.
“It is incredibly satisfying to see how much girls and their mothers change their eating habits and become more active while losing weight and inches,” said Norma Olvera, professor of health education in the UH College of Education and director of BOUNCE. “BOUNCE is about empowering families to develop a healthy way of life that becomes a lifetime lifestyle.”
The four-week camp includes activities to learn about healthy food choices, positive body image and fun ways to be active, such as salsa dancing, Zumba, yoga and step aerobic classes. Registered dieticians, fitness experts and child psychologists lead the sessions.
The goal is to have participants incorporate what they learn into their lives at home and school.
“After the summer camp (my daughter) has been eating more fruit, watching her portions and has stopped drinking soda,” said one mother after last year’s BOUNCE summer camp. “She came home showing me all the exercises she learned and has been dancing around the house!”
For more information on BOUNCE, including registration and agenda, visit http://bounce.uh.edu/default.cfm.
WHAT: University of Houston’s ‘BOUNCE’ Summer Program
WHEN: 9 a.m.- 3 p.m., July 16 – August 10
WHERE: Various locations around the University of Houston
For more information about UH visit the university’s Newsroom at www.uh.edu/newsroom
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