The YMCA of Southern Nevada was established back in 1944 inside of a modest storage room at Society cleaners. After that the building grew dramatically into the full YMCA facility today. It houses multiple facilities through which to use for the programs available. The three main programs the YMCA focuses on are youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. For my purposes, I chose the social issue of youth development for my goal in the service learning project. Youth development is a very interesting issue in my eyes as it differs greatly from generation to generation. When I was growing up youth development mainly focused around areas such as school development and test taking skills. Going to the boy’s and girl’s club for
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After school programs inside of the YMCA are primarily sports game related and have the kids up and moving. Snacks are provided hourly, with a healthy mixture of nutria grain bars and water or juices. This kind of treatment for the children shocked me when I started volunteering, as when I was a kid in these programs I feel as though I did exactly the same things and nothing had changed. Researching into the area however, proved me wrong, as many of these after school programs had changed what they do for kids. Learning wasn’t the primary factor for these kids anymore. The biggest cause of these changes is the childhood obesity rating. According to Melanie Hingle, on her Epic Kids Study, she stated that, “nearly one third” of the children in the United States are overweight, and “1 in 5” are obese. (2) In that article, all data shown was found in 2015. This is almost double of what Rebecca S, et al found in their article on their impact of snacks and beverages found in after school programs in 2010. In Rebecca’s article, she saw that,” approximately 17% of U.S. children aged 6 to 11 are obese.” (1) These two articles both show that kids today are getting more and more overweight. After school programs like the YMCA are trying to solve the issue by providing healthier snacks and more fit activities for kids to do after school. The activities after school are key when dealing with childhood obesity. According to Sarah E., et al, in their article on the Effect of a Park-Based After-School program, she produces a changed bell curve to children aged six to ten that participated in these activities while being obese. After school activities are a necessity for students today, as school doesn’t provide enough healthy foods or activity for children. In a perfect world, every kid would be healthy enough to get through a school day without having to take a nap through class
After school programs inside of the YMCA are primarily sports game related and have the kids up and moving. Snacks are provided hourly, with a healthy mixture of nutria grain bars and water or juices. This kind of treatment for the children shocked me when I started volunteering, as when I was a kid in these programs I feel as though I did exactly the same things and nothing had changed. Researching into the area however, proved me wrong, as many of these after school programs had changed what they do for kids. Learning wasn’t the primary factor for these kids anymore. The biggest cause of these changes is the childhood obesity rating. According to Melanie Hingle, on her Epic Kids Study, she stated that, “nearly one third” of the children in the United States are overweight, and “1 in 5” are obese. (2) In that article, all data shown was found in 2015. This is almost double of what Rebecca S, et al found in their article on their impact of snacks and beverages found in after school programs in 2010. In Rebecca’s article, she saw that,” approximately 17% of U.S. children aged 6 to 11 are obese.” (1) These two articles both show that kids today are getting more and more overweight. After school programs like the YMCA are trying to solve the issue by providing healthier snacks and more fit activities for kids to do after school. The activities after school are key when dealing with childhood obesity. According to Sarah E., et al, in their article on the Effect of a Park-Based After-School program, she produces a changed bell curve to children aged six to ten that participated in these activities while being obese. After school activities are a necessity for students today, as school doesn’t provide enough healthy foods or activity for children. In a perfect world, every kid would be healthy enough to get through a school day without having to take a nap through class