Orange County Insight July 2024

HCAT Continues Providing Healthy Summer Adventure for OCSACC Students

By: Orange County Communications Department

The Orange Health Community Action Team (HCAT) continued encouraging a summer of healthy fun for children participating in the Orange School Aged Child Care (OCSACC) program operated by the Orange County Office on Youth. Led by HCAT representatives from Darnell ’ s Garden Patch, students were thrilled to enjoy the opportunity to explore outdoors and float along the Robinson River! As part of their summer community outreach, the Sheriff ’ s Office was able to join in on the fun! River floats have been a staple of HCAT summer programming for the past several years. While the benefits of healthy outdoor activity are the primary focus, the floats also provide the occasion to talk about other important topics, such as proper nutrition using MyPlate.

Remember the food pyramid? The MyPlate program from the United States Department of Agriculture is the successor to that initiative. It is capable of being more personalized and uses a simple plate illustration to demonstrate approximately how much of a person ’ s diet should consist of fruits, vegetables, protein, grains, and dairy. Taking a break from floating to enjoy lunch provided the perfect opportunity to discuss ways to eat healthier and introduce students to MyPlate.

The goal of the Orange HCAT is to break barriers to healthy childhoods by establishing a visible and impactful collaboration which works together to share messages for accessible healthy opportunities and a physically active community in Orange County. By combining fun outdoor exercise with useful tips about nutritious eating, the river floats made a splash and addressed the challenge from both angles.

Page 21 | July 2024

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