Last Friday at the Alief Community Center, Houston DINEs and American Heart volunteers teamed up with Marathon Oil on their annual Let’s Just Play Day Carnival. The Houston DINEs staff talked to over 2,000 children about the importance of health, nutrition and physical activity. The field day was open to all children that attend the City of Houston’s Parks and Recreation Center summer camps.
Each participant was able to hula hoop or jump rope to burn calories and promote physical activity. In Texas, over two-thirds of the children recently failed the state’s physical fitness exam. The Let’s Just Play kids proved that they loved and needed physical education and that with constant exercise they would be in tip top shape. On average, a person burns about 7 calories when he/she hula hoops for 60 seconds. Collectively we burned around 2000 calories!!
Although the event was geared toward children, people of all ages participated and a variety of talents were on display. Some children were able to hula hoop with as many as eight hoops at once. Many could spin them on their arms and some even on their neck. One contestant was able to spin the hula hoop nonstop for 23 minutes. She received the informal title of Houston DINEs Super Hooper!
All in all we had an action packed day; proving that exercise can and should be fun! What type of excercise do you prefer and when was the last time you hula-hooped?
No comments:
Post a Comment