Health and Fitness

Setting up healthy habits in childhood will help set your child up for success later in life. Obesity is becoming more prevalent in our youth and can lead to heart and liver disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and many other chronic illnesses. Here are some community resources available to help get your child on the right track.

Eat Smart Move More NC

A statewide collaborative program designed with the assistance of our very own Eliana Perrin, MD, MPH. It offers many resources to assist with meal planning and exercise initiatives at home to promote increased opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity wherever people live, learn, earn, play, and pray. Website >>

YMCA of the Triangle

The Triangle YMCA offers camps and fitness programs for children to help them stay active. Membership does require a fee but the YMCA has a a financial assistance program for needy families. Visit their website to find contact information for your local branch.

For families with children currently admitted at N.C. Children’s Hospital, hospital staff can refer our families for a free pass to the YMCA in Chapel Hill on the corner of MLK Blvd and Estes Drive.

Boys and Girls Club of Greater Durham

The John Avery Boys and Girls Club offers many fitness and health programs with the goal to reduce obesity in children. Membership fee is 10 dollars. Enrollment is via an on site application at 808 E Pettigrew St. in Durham. Contact: Greg Greene, unit director at 919-688-7315. Website >>

Boys and Girls Club of Eastern Piedmont

The Boys and Girls Club of the Eastern Piedmont's Chapel Hill Community Impact Program provides an after school program that includes exercise three times per week. Contact: Brittany Bowling at 919-663–6159.

Carolina Parent

Carolina Parent has compiled a list of fitness programs in the Triangle area. It has recommendations from martial arts to horseback riding to yoga. All of these programs do have an associated fee. Website

Parks and Greenways

Sometimes the most effective form of exercise is getting kids away from the TV and computer screen to play outdoors. Playgrounds for Everyone is a community-edited guide to handicap accessible playgrounds by NPR, or check out parks by location in the greater Triangle area: