Kids in Motion 2004, Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Photos: Stan Oldak. Click on any picture for a larger view.

In the United States childhood obesity is a real and growing problem. Nationwide nearly 20% of children is overweight. In the five boroughs of New York City that number escalates to 43% of elementary public school students considered obese (24%) or overweight (19%). Alarmingly, doctors are diagnosing more children with health problems generally associated with overweight adults including type II diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Obesity also may have a psychological impact on children, often resulting in low self-esteem and depression, and it puts children at a higher risk of developing heart disease and cancer as they mature into adulthood.

To stop this epidemic children need to learn the basics of nutrition and physical activity and be given opportunities to put this knowledge into practice. The American Cancer Society, the New York City Department of Education and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation are at the forefront of this critical issue.

The NYC Kids in Motion event has brought together New York City youth and their schools to learn about healthy nutrition and participate in physical activity, providing new and different ways to become active and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Highlighting many different sports and athletic activities, as well as healthy nutrition, this event will demonstrate to youth the importance and fun of physical activity and illustrate how it can be incorporated into their lives.

NYCC’s participation involved children competing on bicycles attached to trainers. We awarded prizes to all the children that took part in the activity. The day turned out to be very successful and a load of fun for all of us as I’m sure you can see by the accompanying photos. We would like to thank one of our members, June Robins for coordinating our participation in this very worthy event. We would also like to thank Recycle A Bicycle for providing the bikes.

—Stan Oldak, NYCC President

Who says it was only for “kids?” Our “Kids In Motion” volunteers (L to R) Denise West, Kimi Mittleman, Karin Fantus, and Maggie Schwarz.

The “crew!” Our “Kids In Motion” table setup with volunteeers (L to R) Kimi Mittleman, Denise West, Stan Oldak, Karin Fantus and Maggie Schwarz. We were located next to the Recreation Center in North Meadow, Central Park.

Maggie gets into it! Maggie Schwarz urges on one of the kids from IS 174 as he races against fellow classmates.

And the winner is . . . ! Denise West checks the odometers to see who is the winner for that bike race. The winner received an NYCC water bottle. The other competitors received Power Bars. But today, we were all winners!!