Mission:

Kid Healthy’s mission is to address health and wellness by engaging school children and families from the most undeserved communities of Southern California through culturally appropriate health and wellness programs that measurably improve nutrition and fitness levels.

History:

Kid Healthy was founded in 2003, in partnership with KABC7, as an early collaboration of agencies dedicated to combating the childhood obesity health crisis, particularly among disadvantaged and low-income populations. One of our first efforts, Steps to Healthy Living, became one of the largest obesity prevention campaigns in California. Steps to Healthy Living engaged over 95,000 youth, parents and teachers in four counties through an interactive nutrition and physical activity educational toolkit. This successful integration into the school environment allowed Kid Healthy to initiate two additional core programs: Padres en Acción and Cooking Up Change®. These two programs reach approximately 35,000 low-income students in elementary and high schools in distressed communities in Orange County. The organization operates under the fiscal sponsorship of OneOC (formerly known as The Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County), a 501(C)(3) tax-exempt organization founded in 1958.

Value in the community:

Kid Healthy has been a key component in linking schools and community organizations into an effective model of health education and core physical activity. Program outcomes have established us as a valuable tool to school principals in effecting behavioral changes for students and parents in their communities. In addition, we are empowering parents with the tools to engage and become leaders in community wide efforts: participation in district parent groups, wellness committees, and becoming Champion Moms; achieving recognition as Volunteer of the Year and some having confidence enough to enter the workforce.