youth

Soda-Free Kids

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Youth Fighting Fat: Soda-Free Kids

Part 2

by Talia Whyte

This summer, the Boston Public Health Commission launched its Soda-Free Summer media challenge, which is an effort to call attention to the high caloric and high sugar content of soda and other artificial drinks. Sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) are closely associated with a variety of health ailments in addition to obesity, such as diabetes, liver disease and tooth decay. Bostonians are being encouraged to choose healthier drink options like water, low-fat milk and small portions of 100 percent fruit juices.

According to statistics provided by the Commission, the highest consumers of SSBs are adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old, and particularly males, blacks, Latinos, low income residents and those with a family history of obesity. About half of Boston high school students are either overweight or at-risk of being overweight.

View the video here

Song in their hearts Boston Children’s Chorus gives voice to city youth

By Talia Whyte

The Bay State Banner

On a typical afternoon at the South End offices of the Boston Children’s Chorus, the voices of children are everywhere — in the songs the kids practice with the chorus’ teaching fellows; in the boisterous peals of laughter that fill rehearsal rooms and accompany recaps of what happened in school that day; even in the heads of parents sitting in the waiting room, thinking about what to make for dinner.

For the youth and their families, the Boston Children’s Chorus is all about voices — the music they can make, the community they can create and the social healing they can provide.

Read the full article here.

A life-changing trip for Hub dance troupe

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By Talia Whyte

The Bay State Banner

When Shaumba-Yandje Dibinga first started planning to bring members of her Roxbury-based youth dance organization OrigiNation to South Africa, her goal was simply to give her students the opportunity to perform in another country.

Little did she know that the 10-day trip would be a soul-searching, life-changing experience for her and her 17 young charges.

Read the full article here.

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