ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, MD. –
Family Fest, an event created to promote healthy eating and exercise in children, was held at the Youth Center Apr. 24.
Family Fest included opportunities for children to participate in a multitude of activities from interactive games to a nature walk.
The event was also created to raise awareness about child obesity and provide alternatives to unhealthy lifestyles.
"One of the overall missions of the Family Fest and its themes this year 'FitFactor' & 'Year of the Air Force Family' is to inform the community of the growing number of obese children and how the trend continues to spike upward," said Matrice Adger, Youth Center teen director and member of the Family Fest coordination team. "Our plan was to promote FitFactor and FitFamily programs as ideas for better health and fitness."
The event promoted healthy ideas through a selection of healthy food choices and engaging fitness activities.
"Family Fest included demonstrations of exercise activities and healthy eating habits," said Ms. Adger. "We also incorporated the Air Forces' Annual Kids Run into the event. The menu was health conscious with whole wheat bread, turkey burgers, water, fresh vegetables, popcorn and fruit."
Family Fest also included awards and acknowledgments given out by the Youth Program.
"This event also gave families of Andrews the opportunity to share in the Youth Program's Youth of the Year recognition and other youth acknowledgments," said Ms. Adger.
The planning and creation of the event was a successful joint effort of Joint Team Andrews members.
"Putting on a major event such as this requires a mass effort of support, coordination and teamwork," said Ms. Adger. "This is easily executed when you have support from everyone including command and management level teams. The main goal for everyone was to focus on the families of the Andrews community. With that in mind, the mission was simple and easy."