When it comes to serving the community’s youth, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has plenty of programs in place within its system of 150 recreation centers. Nearly 3,000 children participate in more than 90 formally structured afterschool programs throughout the city. In the summer, that number quadruples, with close to 11,000 youth attending day camps. Program participants primarily include African-American and Hispanic youth from lower-income families, which reflects the city’s demographics.

But, despite this level of engagement, half of Philadelphia’s children are overweight or obese. How can existing programs be improved to positively engage youth in healthy behaviors?

The Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department partnered with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to improve the quality and quantity of physical activity, and increase access to healthy food, in the city’s summer and afterschool programs. The result was the development and implementation of a new set of standards and general procedures, titled “Healthy Physical Activity and Nutrition Guidelines – Philadelphia Parks and Recreation – Afterschool and Summer Programs.”  

The physical activity guidelines promote the following:

• Supporting the well-being of youth by ensuring daily moderate to vigorous physical activity 
• Supporting the well-being of youth by limiting non-work screen time
• Providing a safe environment for play and physical activity 
• Providing equitable opportunities for all youth to participate in quality play and physical activity 
• Ensuring that safe, fresh drinking water is available to youth at all times, indoors and outdoors, including trips off-site during program hours

The parks and recreation department took action by modifying the staff’s administrative roles to fit the new guidelines, including more personal engagement with kids and more structured play. These new roles required staff education and training, resulting in what the department notes as “leader skill sets that have been enhanced, and have boosted morale during a time of challenging budgets.” Charts are used to measure the hours of physical activity being conducted at program sites.

The initiatives created through the physical activity guidelines have shifted focus to outdoor, community activities and prompted unique partnerships to leverage collective resources. As noted by the Philadelphia Department of Health, “Everything is neighborhood and community driven.”

Philadelphia Parks and Recreation has identified future leaders within the staff and recruited them as “train-the-trainers” to support program sustainability and transform the culture of the department. According to the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department, “Staff are very enthusiastic about the new interaction and activities provided by the new guidelines, and the children have reacted positively because they are getting physical activity in a fun way.”