UMass Amherst Football Players Support Holyoke’s Block Party

 

 

DATE:           Saturday, Oct. 13

TIME:            4 to 6 p.m.

WHAT:          Story Walk with UMass Amherst football players

WHERE:        Holyoke’s Depot Square, Dwight and Main Streets

 

Poster-sized pages of the new bilingual children’s book, “Henry Gets Moving,” published this week by University of Massachusetts Amherst athletic team physician Dr. Pierre Rouzier, will be presented at a “Story Walk” for parents and children as part of Holyoke’s Envision Depot Square block party beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13.

 

Rouzier will be joined by several current UMass Amherst football players on the Story Walk, which features the entire book in large format for easy reading. The athletes will talk to kids and parents about the importance of eating healthy foods, keeping weight down and the benefits of participating in regular exercise and sports.

 

Rouzier says the idea for the book came from his son Anthony, a former UMass Amherst football linebacker, who wanted to create a loveable character to entertainingly show children and parents that they can be successful in fighting childhood obesity.

 

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

 

With text in both Spanish and English, the book tells the story of Henry, a hamster who moves to a new school where he doesn’t know the other kids, so he begins to spend too much time watching TV, playing video games and snacking on junk food. When school starts, he is picked last for kickball and gets stuck in playground equipment because he’s overweight. But with the help of friends and the family doctor, Henry learns to change his habits and to get healthier and stronger.