Hard Hats for Little Heads

Yesterday, Saturday the 20th, I volunteered at San Jose's partnered event with the Texas Medical Association: Hard Hats for Little Heads. Certain patients with ages ranging from 4-13 were mailed letters informing them that they were selected to recieve a free helmet from the TMA as well as a helmet sizing. Pediatricians from Texas Children's Childhood Injury Prevention Program were there to size the children with the appropriate size helmet and to offer safety tips when riding bikes, roller blading, skate boarding, or riding a scooter. The children were also filling out pledge cards that stated that they promised to wear their shiny new red and white helmets. There was also an arts and crafts table where they were coloring Christmas ornaments to put on the San Jose Tree. Some kids were even playing jump rope and hula hoops with some representatives from the American Heart Association. It is so important to get kids used to living healthy and active lifestyles from such a young age, especially in a country in which the childhood obesity rate is at an all-time high. Obesity-related illnesses such as type II diabetes have been placing a significant burden on patients as well as the healthcare system in general, and it is unfortunate because obesity is definitely preventable. It was my job to check in the families according to their letters, hand out the goody bags, and "sort" the children to the proper age-group stations. It was awesome to see how excited the children were to get their helmets. A lot of proud older siblings were proclaiming that they were going to teach their younger siblings how to ride a bike now that (in certain cases) got their first helmet. But of course, some of the parents started to roll their eyes when their kids came up to them and told them that they wanted Santa to bring them a new bike for Christmas to go along with the new helmet :)