Football players join team doctor to encourage kids to 'get moving'

The UMass football team’s bye week provided an opportunity for several players to venture into Holyoke in support of team physician Dr. Pierre Rouzier’s effort to get kids to eat right and exercise.

Several current athletes spent Saturday, Oct. 13 at Holyoke’s Envision Depot Square Block Party, where they participated in a “story walk” for parents and children that featured the new bilingual children’s book, “Henry Gets Moving,” written by Rouzier.

Players worked at reading stations, led group exercises and talked to kids and parents about healthy eating in an effort to spread the message of “Henry Gets Moving.” The book features a hamster, Henry, who gets fit by adopting healthy diet and lifestyle habits.

Rouzier says the idea for the book came from his son Anthony, a former UMass linebacker, who wanted to create a loveable, motivating character who could be a symbol for fighting the current childhood obesity epidemic.

“The health goal is to get kids up off the couch, off the computer and video games and out onto the playground,” Rouzier notes. “It’s a really important public health issues that no one is addressing in a fun way that appeals to children to make behavior change.”

More information can be found at henrygetsmoving.com.