Dairy holds educational health contest for teens

The Northeast’s premier dairy co-operative, Cabot Creamery Co-operative, has issued a call to enter the 2019 Power Up Your Body Challenge, the nation’s biggest health campaign for adolescents, by adolescents.
Students in grades 6-9, located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Westchester and Rockland Counties (NY), as well as Hudson, Bergen, Essex, Somerset, Sussex, Morris, Middlesex, Hunterdon, and Passaic Counties (NJ), are invited to enter the health-focused educational challenge, with cash prizes for winners! Deadline for entries is March 8, 2019.
Created by the Community & Wellness Team at Cabot, the Power Up Your Body Challenge is an opportunity for students, in grades 6-9, to design a health campaign that educates their peers on the importance of building healthy bones, brains, and habits during their middle school and early teen years.
“A child’s teenage years are a critical time for building healthy bones, healthy brains, and healthy habits for life,” says registered dietitian and Cabot Community Program Director, Sara Wing. “Unfortunately, this opportunity is often missed, leading to negative health issues during a critical phase of adolescent and teen growth. Calcium deficiencies, lower core strength and muscle reaction times, and impaired problem-solving abilities and alertness are all results of a poor diet,” Wing says. “According to the National Center of Health Statistics, more than 65 percent of American adults are overweight or obese as a result of poor nutrition. We want to get ahead of that negative curve by teaching children how to develop good eating habits during their formative years.”
The Challenge
“This is a competition of skill, insight, and the power of persuasion,” Wing says. “We challenge students to build their own health campaign to educate their peers about why a healthy future begins today. Using their own best talents, students in grades 6-9 research the answer to a question, develop a campaign, and design a project to teach their peers about the importance of a healthy diet and exercise.”
Projects include: Performance videos (song, dance, poetry, etc.); short films; interactive websites; science experiments; computer games; art projects (posters, painting, murals, sculpture, etc.); or another creative way for students to meet the Challenge.
Wing notes, “The goals of the Challenge are to promote teamwork and build self-confidence through critical thinking skills, problem solving, Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) development, health data awareness, and content learning.”
Students may work individually or in a group to create their campaign. To register, a student’s Teacher/Leader must submit student ideas through Cabot’s Power Up Your Body website, no later than March 8, 2019!
All submissions will be reviewed, and the finalists will be notified by April 8, 2019. All finalists will then create their display for the Power Up Your Body Showcase – held at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ, on May 5, 2019. Selected winners will receive cash prizes for their school or group!
The Challenge is presented by American Dairy Association North East and sponsored by ShopRite Inserra Supermarkets, Liberty Science Center, NFL Fuel Up To Play 60, Health Barn, and American Bone Health. The Power Up Your Body Challenge grew out of a previous initiative known as the Big Bones Bash Calcium Challenge, which took place from 2002 to 2012. While the Big Bones Bash focused on increasing calcium intake, the Power Up Your Body Challenge promotes overall healthy eating and exercise to support healthy bones, healthy brains, and healthy habits.