Getting children involved in sports in Bridgeport

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH) -- Kids in Bridgeport were on the move Wednesday as part of an event that's designed to keep kids active and healthy.

It wasn't the Olympics, but the goal might be more important than medals, it's getting kids healthy.

"Do you like to play outside, or do you play more videogames," News 8's Kent Pierce asked 7-year-old Jaden Ruiz.

"Both," he replied.

"Which do you like better?"

"Videogames."

The city of Bridgeport wants to change that answer, so they brought all the kids from the Parks and Rec day camp and the Lighthouse after school program down to Seaside Park for what they call Healthy Kids Day.

"We want to expose them to a whole bunch of different sports," said Tammy Papa, the Lighthouse Program Director. "The idea behind everything here today is to keep kids healthy and fit."

The statistics show how important that is. The American Heart Association says among kids 2-19, one in three is overweight or even obese. Get them playing a sport, and that number goes down.

On Healthy Kids Day, the participants get to experience everything from baseball to Zumba in the hope they like one. Then it's up to the Lighthouse program to make sure they can play it after school.
 
"And really trying to give kids the opportunity to latch on to something that they really like whether it's baseball, football, we're going to be offering a half dozen new things in schools this year," Papa said.

Last year they saw how popular lacrosse was at Healthy Kids Day and added that.