Grant County, NM (May 3, 2016)— Eat Smart to Play Hard (ESPH) is a social marketing research project sponsored by the University of New Mexico's Prevention Research Center (UNM PRC); implemented across New Mexico and designed to encourage kids to build a lifetime of healthy eating and physical activity habits. The grand finale is Fun Day, designed to reinforce the previous six weeks of healthy eating and physical activity. WNMU's Football and Softball teams, Grant County Sheriff's Dept., Cari Lemon, Monique Reyes, Cate Bradley, The Volunteer Center and April Teague, ICAN Educator for Grant County, presented this year's Fun Day activity centers.

From "insect" veggie snacks to ladderball, Fun Day was both educational and great fun, two of the most important requirements in helping kids learn healthy habits.  Since consistency is also a critical component of developing healthy habits, the goal of Eat Smart to Play Hard is to start reaching children in the third grade and continue to reinforce what they're learning about health, nutrition and physical activity through 4th and 5th grade (6th grade if they are in the elementary schools). ESPH is also a fun way to reinforce everything else kids are learning in ME and other health education classes.  The idea is teaching them healthy habits now so that even if they lose their minds in middle school, once they are through the terrible teens, they will be on the way to a lifetime of health and happiness.

Alicia Edwards, Coordinator
Healthy Kids Healthy Communities Grant County
2610 N Silver Street, Suite 107
Silver City, NM  88061
575.313.3371
www.hkhcgrantcounty.org