NOV. 17, 2004 | Students at Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic School hopped, skipped and jumped toward a healthy lifestyle Nov. 5 as they took to heart the messages from members of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) during National Primary Care Week.

“What does it mean to be healthy?” Lyndsey McKay of Little Rock, a second-year student in the UAMS College of Medicine, asked fifth-grade students as they called out positive behaviors. Thad Hardin of Arkansas City, also a second-year medical student, added their answers to the growing list on the chalkboard. The children shared their favorite healthy habits and learned some new ones from the medical students.

The AMSA members used the Fitness Forward program and provided the children a weekly wellness chart, a jump rope and information on living a healthy lifestyle. The program is designed to improve quality of life, reduce childhood obesity and combat youth mental illness. The primary wellness targets of the program are to be active, eat smart, sleep well, don’t be stressed and be aware. National Primary Care Week activities were coordinated with the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program at UAMS.

“The children were really excited about sharing their knowledge with the medical students, and they learned that being healthy is easy if it is part of your daily activities,” said Linda Green of Little Rock, a fourth-year medical student and event coordinator. “It was also a great experience for the medical students because we had a chance to reinforce healthy messages and work with children.”

At the end of the lesson, the children were presented with jump ropes, and one class took to the cool morning air to break them in. Even Hardin got into the action, though his jump rope ended up wrapped around him time after time. After several contests to see who could jump the longest, the children learned another lesson – jump roping is great fun and great exercise, and it also can really wear you out.

Other UAMS medical students who participated in the National Primary Care Week event are: Montianna Bingham, Jason Cobb, Jennifer Dukes, Charlotte Jackson and Elizabeth Sellars.

Links on This Page
American Medical Student Association http://www.amsa.org/

UAMS College of Medicine http://www.uams.edu/COM/

Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic School http://www.arcathsch.org/hsl/

Fitness Forward http://www.fitnessforward.org/

Duke University School of Medicine http://medschool.duke.edu/

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