SNAP-Ed promotes physical activity with sidewalk gameboards

SNAP-Ed promotes physical activity with sidewalk gameboards

SNAP-Ed promotes physical activity with sidewalk gameboards


10/20/2020

Price Elementary
A sidewalk of Captain H.B. Price Elementary School in Mangilao is now brightly painted with a gameboard encouraging children to be physically active.

Two elementary schools and one nonprofit social service organization are the recipients of new physical activity gameboards that promote active living as part of the “5-2-1-Almost None” campaign. 

Led by the Guam Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed) through the University of Guam’s Cooperative Extension and Outreach unit, the campaign recommends that individuals

• eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day;
• have less than two hours of screen time per day;
• get at least one hour of physical activity per day; and
• drink almost no sugary drinks.

“Guam SNAP-Ed continues to strive to reach residents where they live, learn, work, shop, and play. The new gameboards are changes to the built environment that will support activity while maintaining physical distancing,” said Tanisha F. Aflague, the SNAP-Ed coordinator who is also a registered dietitian with a doctorate in nutrition.

Volunteers from AmeriCorps UOG and Guam 4-H Youth Development program assisted in painting the gameboards on the sidewalks of Captain H.B. Price Elementary School, Liguan Elementary School, and Guma Serenidad.

Guma Serenidad
A “5-2-1-Almost None” physical activity gameboard brightens the sidewalk at Guma Serenidad.
Over the next 12 months, these three 5-2-1-Almost None partners will be promoting the campaign’s messages through newsletters, bulletin boards, posters, and other educational materials. In addition, they will be incorporating opportunities for healthy snacks at meetings, hosting physical activity events, encouraging “Smart Snacks” available in nearby stores, and role modeling the 5-2-1-Almost None behaviors. Merizo Martyrs’ Memorial School is next in line to receive a 5-2-1-Almost None physical activity gameboard.

“With more community partners adopting the 5-2-1-Almost None pledge, look out for the 5-2-1-Almost None messages in your community,” Aflague said

The gameboard funding and design was provided by SNAP-Ed, a separately funded educational arm of the SNAP program at the Department of Public Health and Social Services. SNAP-Ed teaches SNAP recipients in the community about nutritious food choices and how to best manage their food dollars.

For information about SNAP-Ed, visit the UOG Community Nutrition Education Program’s (CNEP) Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/UOGCNEP/