Stay In Shape: Kids' Bodies Feed Their Minds, featuring Ming Sun, CHES - Shrinking It Down

Stay In Shape: Kids’ Bodies Feed Their Minds, featuring Ming Sun, CHES – Shrinking It Down

Silhouetted elementary school kids running in a field

By Steven Schlozman, Contributor, Sara Rattigan, Communications Director and Matthew Carron, Research Assistant

How can we guide children to healthfully navigate food, fitness, sleep, and more (especially when Takis® taste so much better than eggs for breakfast)? These aren’t just important for physical health but mental health, as well. The MGH Stay In Shape Program for elementary and middle school students, going on 20 years strong, is one solution that’s benefited several communities in Massachusetts. In today’s episode, special guest Ming Sun, MCHES, of MGH Community Health Associates, joins host Steve Schlozman, MD to share more about Stay In Shape – including strategies to help kids set goals around activities that will benefit both their bodies and minds.

Thank you for joining in this conversation. Do you have a program like this in your community? We’d love to hear about it. Write to us!

Media List

Nutrition and Mental Health: It’s More Complicated Than You Think (MGH Clay Center)
MGH Community Health Associates
MGH Center for Community Health Improvement (CCHI)
STAY IN SHAPE Program Curriculum (MGH Community Health Associates)
Rise of the Takis (Houston Press)
Study: College Students Can Improve Depression Symptoms By Eating Healthy (WBZ / CBS Boston News)
Being Young, Active, and Physically Fit May Be Very Good for Your Brain (New York Times)
The Benson–Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine
Self-Care in Middle School (Video – MGH Clay Center)
The Importance of Sleep for Kids’ Emotional Well-Being (MGH Clay Center)

Episode research by Matt Carron

Episode produced by Sara Rattigan

Music By Gene Beresin

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Thanks for visiting the Clay Center. We are entirely funded by visitors like you. We receive no financial support from Massachusetts General Hospital or Harvard Medical School. Your support of our work helps us to continue to produce content on mental health topics that support the emotional well-being of young people everywhere.

Steven Schlozman, Contributor

Steven Schlozman, M.D. is a contributor to The MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, and a staff child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also an ...

To learn more about Steven, or to contact him directly, please see Our Team.

Sara Rattigan, Communications Director

Sara Rattigan, M.S. is the communications director for The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, and a public health communicator whose passion has always centered around innovative a...

To learn more about Sara, or to contact her directly, please see Our Team.

Matthew Carron, Research Assistant

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Stay In Shape: Kids’ Bodies Feed Their Minds, featuring Ming Sun, CHES – Shrinking It Down