Every second that makes you feel better is worth spending. Every hour of a child’s day tends to be planned out from school, homework, extracurricular activities, to bedtime. One activity that is left out of most schedules for both children and adults is self-care. The Owsley County 4-H program created the 4-H Spring Self-Care Challenge in hopes of challenging kids not only to practice self-care but create healthy habits that lead to healthy lifestyle changes. The month long challenge encouraged participants to try new activities, at their own pace, that would increase and support their mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Some of the activities were to increase their physical activity, increase daily servings of fruits and vegetables, try new hobbies, and show gratitude to themselves and others. When we feel better, we do better in all aspects of our lives. “Moderate physical activity can reduce the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, stress and high blood pressure.  Physically active people live longer and better quality lives than inactive people. Physical activity levels decrease across the lifespan.  Children and youth should engage in 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, ideally every day.  There is a significant decrease in the amount of physical activity between elementary school and high school students, especially for girls.”  (Source: National 4-H Healthy Living Task Force)

Participants have been able to foster healthy habits throughout the challenge. In a post evaluation, 100% of participants reported they made healthy lifestyle choices as a result of this program. Also, 100% of participants reported they tried a new exercise or outdoor activity, with 97% reporting they increased their daily number of servings of fruit and vegetables. After the challenge ended, 98% of the participants reported they were going to continue to practice the physical, mental, and emotional self-care habits they had practiced during the challenge.