
Participants from this Fall's Bodyworks pose on the last day of class
Every year for the past three years, Nuestra Comunidad Sana, a program of The Next Door, has been the lucky recipient of a grant from our Northwest Regional Office of Women’s Health to hold a class called Bodyworks. This is an evidence-based 10-week curriculum to give parents, caregivers and adolescents (primarily girls) the tools and strategies:
- To improve eating and activity
- To aid adolescents in reaching and maintaining a healthy weight
- To help prevent obesity among adolescents by increasing awareness of healthy habits in the community
- To give parents and caregivers the knowledge, tools, and empowerment to make healthy choices for themselves and their families.
In October, there were 23 people in the class, including 13 girls between the ages of 9-17. There are a great deal of questions asked of participants before and after the class series to find out if they have changed their views about eating and exercise and what they’ve learned. An example of a question was whether they thought “eating healthy and regular exercise are important.” At the beginning of class, 50% of them ‘totally agreed’ with the statement, while 33% ‘agreed’ and 16% ‘totally disagreed’. By the end of the 10 weeks, 100% ‘totally agreed’ with the statement.
Here are some of the comments people made at the end of class:
“My daughter and I now go shopping together and we read the label before buying. Never went shopping with my daughter before this class, she would go around the store and I did the shopping, now she is next to me reading the labels…we do not buy white bread any more. It is wheat and it does taste good.”
“My daughter made a goal to watch less TV after school so she would have more time for homework, and to not watch TV while eating so she would eat better. She is happy about this goal.”
“I learned that it’s possible to exercise – you don’t have to go outside.”
“My mother and I now cook together. We pick recipes from the book and try it.”

At the end of the 10 week Bodyworks class, there is a celebration where all participants receive a small gift and share their stories
The comment I liked best was, “The most useful thing about this class was the Mother-Daughter bonding.” If we can help people learn how to be healthier at the same time as helping families become stronger, than that’s the ticket!