For Youth

Now is the time to build healthy food and physical activity habits. The following tips will help you take charge of your health and make smart choices. Be Mighty- Eat. Play. Learn. Little Rock!

Be Healthy- Eat 

Everything you eat and drink matters. It is important to build healthy eating habits throughout your life time. Choosing to eat healthy today will make you healthier now and in the future. Here are a few tips for eating healthy.

  • Focus on variety, amount, and nutrition.
  • Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
  • Make at least half your grains whole grains.
  • Use nutrition labels to choose foods and beverages with less saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. Learn what’s on the nutrition facts label.
  • Start with small changes to build healthier eating styles.
  • Support healthy eating for everyone.

Be Active. Be a Friend.

Youth need 60 minutes of play with moderate to vigorous activity every day to grow to a healthy weight. As an alternative, you can count your daily activity steps using a pedometer (girls’ goal: 11,000; boys’ goal: 13,000). Here are a few tips for staying active.

  • Use balls, kites, or jump ropes when you are playing.
  • Join a sports team or try a new physical activity.
  • Limit screen time.
  • If safe, walk to and from school a few times a week.
  • Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
  • Walk around the block after a meal.
  • Make a new house rule: no sitting during television commercials.
  • Find time to spend together doing a fun activity: family park day, swim day or bike day.
  • Issue a family fitness challenge and award the person who completes the challenge first.
  • Encourage schools to hold recess prior to lunch to increase physical activity before mealtime.
  • Get the sleep you need. Children age 5-10 need 10 hours of sleep or more per day, and children over age 10 need at least 9 hours per day.
  • Participate in fun outside activities fun.

Be Smart. Be You.

The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) offers fun activities and programs for youth across Little Rock. For a full list of events near you visit the CALS event website. The Little Rock School District and Central Arkansas Library System partnership means 24-7 access to Online Research and Resources. Tech cards allow students full access for all of CALS digital services. The CALS student portal website directs students to appropriate content based on their grade levels. Materials include, but are not limited to, newspaper databases; learning tools such as Lynda.com; foreign language courses; ACT, SAT, and Arkansas driver’s test prep; music, movies, audio and eBooks for students of all ages.