Celebrate Family Health & Fitness Day in your community on the second Tuesday of June each year. This day allows community members to reinforce just how important parks and recreation centers are to community health. Hospitality Health ER encourages schools, businesses, healthcare facilities, and public agencies to take part. How? By getting active at their local park or recreation center. You can also host a local fitness day where you work or at your child’s school.
Who Can Help Promote Family Health & Fitness Day in Your Community?
Hospitality Health ER is not just another emergency room in Galveston. Part of our mission is to reach beyond the walls of our ER and make an impact on our community’s health. So, if you work at a school, health agency, park, or recreation center, you’re in a good position to help promote awareness. But anyone can get involved.
How Do I Promote Family Health & Fitness Day in Your Community?
STEP 1: Ask your school, agency, or park to send out a Family Health & Fitness Day awareness email to parents and community members. Then use the “Get Fit” With Parks and Recreation logo to brand your emails and promote the activity. You can also include relevant health and wellness programs in your communication.
STEP 2: Promote awareness on social media with some branded images, and tag your posts with #NRPAFamilyFitDay leading up to and on June 8.
STEP 3: Download the official Family Health & Fitness Day poster, and hang it up in schools, doctor’s offices, recreation facilities, etc. You can also take pictures of community members next to the poster and post these images on social media.
STEP 4: Include NRPA’s Top 5 Ways to “Get Fit” With Parks and Recreation on your website, social media channels, and promotional materials:
- Take a Walk
- Go for a Swim
- Enroll in a Fitness Program
- Create Your Own Exercise Routine
- Play Outside
STEP 5: Get community members to participate in the 2019 Family Health & Fitness Day Challenge at noon on June 8. It’s actually quite simple. Visit a local park or recreation center with family, friends, coworkers, or neighbors and do one minute of jumping jacks. That’s it! If you can’t get a big group of people to join the challenge, just getting your family to the park is a great start.
STEP 6: Share your photos and videos of the challenge online using #NRPAFamilyFitDay. Then, participate in conversations on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using #NRPAFamilyFitDay. Your opinion and support matters!
Family Health & Fitness Day Fun Facts
More and more, neighborhoods are built with parks, green space, and community facilities in mind. Why? Many studies show just how important outdoor amenities are in maintaining community health. Since 2000, more than 85 studies have found that parks were correlated to better physical and mental health.
Did you know that:
- Community parks and recreation, green space, and time outdoors are critical for creating healthy, active, and sustainable communities?
- Living by a park or recreation facilities is consistently tied to higher physical activity levels for both adults and youth? In fact, about 36 percent of Americans use a trail for hiking, running or walking to relieve stress.
- Parks allow community members to connect to nature, which relieves stress according to studies?
- Parks tighten interpersonal relationships and improve mental health? About 35 percent of Americans use parks to enjoy outdoor time with family, friends, or pets.
- Children who live in greener environments generally weigh less than children who live in less green areas? (study: the National Recreation and Park Association).
Why should you replace screen time with park time? Read the reasons why here. And if you’re looking to get active in some great parks and recreation centers in Galveston, check out some of them right here.
