YMCAOC "Earn a Bike" Program Highlighted on Discovery Channel-Exploring Childhood Obesity Prevention

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - Nov. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- In a school where 48% of their students are considered overweight to obese and state budget cuts have reduced their physical education classes to 1 hour of instruction every other week, the YMCA Earn a Bike Program was started to increase the amount of physical activity performed by the students and improve the nutritional content of their diets and the diets of their families in order to lower the rate of childhood obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in the community. This is a free YMCAOC program which hosts forty-two (42) third and fifth grade students per session along with their parents in a health and wellness program consisting of 8 weeks of exercise classes taught by YMCA instructors and a weekly nutrition class taught by a Children's Hospital of Orange County Children's Endocrine and Diabetes Services instructor. Once the program is complete and the students and parents have satisfied their participation requirements, students are awarded with a new bicycle, helmet and lock at a graduation ceremony hosted by the YMCA.

Prompted by the Festival of Children’s Carousel of Possible Dream’s Project and the success of the Earn a Bike graduates, 7 Whittier Elementary School third graders in Costa Mesa, California, chose to give back to their peers. In a span of 6 weeks, these students raised $1,235 to send 12 of their peers through the YMCA Earn a Bike program.

The YMCA "Earn a Bike" Program will be highlighted on the Discovery Channel Profile Series exploring childhood obesity prevention, Tues. November 19th, 2013 at 7:00a.m., EST & PST.