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Cool Choices for Teens

Michelle Gordon, Project Director, and
Fellows of Healthy from Birth for Life - Mt. Vernon

Thanks to the energetic youth initiative, Healthy from Birth For Life, young women and men in Mt. Vernon and Peekskill are learning that a healthy lifestyle is a very "cool." The program teaches them in a teen-friendly setting how to go about making informed decisions which are pivotal to their future well-being.
Healthy From Birth for Life
• Is based in Westchester County's
Maria Fareri Children's Hospital.
• Recruits teen Fellows living in
Mt. Vernon and Peekskill
• Is part of Lower Hudson Valley
Perinatal Network
• Fellows learn healthier lifestyles
which they teach to family
and friends.

A lively discussion of Healthy from Birth For Life is the subject of the December 2009 airing of Future Choices: “Cool Choices for Teens.”

The show features four of the participating teenagers ("Fellows") and Project Director Michelle Gordon. They engage the audience as they recount the many ways the Healthy from Birth For Life program has dramatically bettered their own life and that of their families' as well.

• Project Director Michelle Gordon explains that
  • they emphasize the idea that we all need to start early in learning and adopting healthy lifestyles.
  • healthy people have healthy children.
  • healthy decision-making enables the participants to develop life plans which preclude teen parenthood if they are to achieve the educational and professional levels they yearn for.
• James joined the program because he was uncomfortable with his weight. He took many of the life skills he learned here home to his family and recruited friends to join the group.
• Michael sees the program as a career path for his dream to go into marketing. He likes learning how to help his friends adapt healthy lifestyles now while they are still young and strong.
• Chris says he uses what he gains from the program in his own life and so his family and friends tend to listen when he suggests ways they might better their lives.
• Maxwell asserts that he is now able to counsel his friends to get tested for HIV/AIDS and to avoid unsafe sex.
• The Fellows have come to understand that they all -- boys and girls alike -- have an important role to play in Perinatal health and planning for their families in the future. As Michelle explains it, they learn in their group sessions that they all will have a part in decisions about breast-feeding, child-raising, family nutrition.

Healthy From Birth For Life is a social health marketing campaign created by youth, for youth in two areas of Westchester County that have been identified as being at high risk for poor birth outcomes:  Mt. Vernon and Peekskill.  The purpose of the Healthy From Birth For Life campaign is to enable youth (ages 13-21) to develop healthy lifestyles, with a primary focus on the prevention of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. This is a first step in improving the birth outcomes in the target communities.

For the "Cool Choices for Teens" video, the Fellows were proudly wearing their Get Active tee shirts.

In this video clip Maxwell explains the cartoons on the shirt.

The campaign is designed and implemented by youth Fellows who attend weekly health education workshops, and use what they learn to construct community programs to educate their peers.  HFBFL was launched in 2006 and is funded by the Westchester County Youth Bureau.

When is Future Choices aired in your community?
See Local TV schedule for time and channel in each participating community in Westchester County.

 

View full footage of "Cool Choices for Teens:"

"Cool Choices for Teens" part 1	"Cool Choices for Teens" part 2	"Cool Choices for Teens" part 3
	"Cool Choices for Teens" Wrap up -- Most Important Points

As Project Manager for Healthy From Birth For Life, Michelle Gordon has worked for the Lower Hudson Valley Perinatal Network since September 2008. The  Lower Hudson Valley Perinatal Network is based out of the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, NY, and serves four counties (Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess and Putnam) with the goal of improving birth outcomes through provider and consumer education.     Prior to joining the Lower Hudson Valley Perinatal Network, Michelle has had the opportunity to work with youth in various capacities...|MORE

This page last updated December 13, 2009 20:52 .