The Projects

Project #4 - The LiveWell Colorado Challenge

Name:              The LiveWell Colorado Challenge
Partners:         The Colorado Health Foundation & Kaiser Permanente
Timeline:         April 10– May 1, 2009

The Overview

The student participants worked with LiveWell Colorado, a statewide organization aimed at inspiring and advancing policy, environmental and lifestyle changes that promote health through the prevention and reduction of obesity.  

Their goal was to assist LiveWell Colorado-Westwood with increasing parent and child participation in "Walking Wednesdays" and "Trotting Thursdays" at three elementary schools: Munroe, Castro and Knapp. These schools are located in the Westwood neighborhood of southwest Denver.

Currently, one-fourth of children in Colorado are overweight or obese. There are many contributing factors to the increase in childhood obesity, such as lack of nutrition and exercise. One way to increase a child’s daily physical activity is through walking to and from school, but there are obstacles in the Westwood neighborhood. The majority of students live within one-half mile from their school, but due to unsafe streets, graffiti, stray dogs and incomplete sidewalks, parents don’t let their children walk or bike to school. 

The Outcome

The team substantially increased elementary school student and parent participation on "Walking Wednesday" and "Trotting Thursday" on April 29 and 30. They provided a fun space to exercise, educated the children about healthy living and gave out healthy snacks to the participants. The class with the most students who walked to school on those days won a special trophy.

The Reward

The team was rewarded on May 2 with a trip to visit the U.S. Olympic Training Center-National Headquarters in Colorado Springs. They were given a VIP tour of the facilities by Eli Bremer, an Olympic hopeful in the Modern Pentathlon, and afforded the opportunity to watch future Olympians practice.