Fighting Fat
with Fun
New exhibit at the Children 's Museum promotes healthy living
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
The Children's Museum of
Winston-Salem joined the bat
tle against childhood obesity
last Saturday with the debut of
its new exhibit, "Healthier
Ever After."
The exhibit uses a fairy tale
forest and castle to teach kids
about healthy living while
encouraging physical activity.
It will be located on the muse
um's top floor through
January.
Eric Kerchner. the muse
um's executive director, said
Pond" has a boat kids can i
pedal and a magnetic fishing
rod that lets them hook toy
fish. The "Portion Patio" lets 1
kids follow instructions to ere- I
ate their own healthy meals I
using toy food. A computer -
game allows kids run and i
stomp on a mat to control an t
conveyor belt featuring items j
from the different food groups. 1
At Saturday's opening, <
kids darted atxtot, gleefully
trying each new activity. Scott
Pharr brought his daughter,
Emma. Even after a morning
of playing at Tanglewood Park
ng to the very young.
"Healthier Ever After"
vill be at the Children's
Museum, located at 390
South Liberty St., until
lanuary 4, 2009. The event
s free with the purchase of
ldmission to the museum.
For information visit
tvww.childrensmuseumofws .
irg. V
C
Phmo* fey T?ki
(Ml
Aaron
Lawrence
was among
the little
ones who
enjoyed
Saturday's
opening.
Eric Kerchner is excited about the new exhibit.
that it's very important to pro
mote youth fitness since one in
four children are obese in
North Carolina. He said that
"Healthier" being the muse
um's first ever large scale trav
eling exhibit also helps breathe
new life into the place.
"Parents told me that they
wanted more physical activity
in the building and they want
ed something new," said
Kerchner. "And so this is what
we've done."
Kerchner described the
exhibit as a "leap of faith" for
the museum, which was
designed to host exhibits that
promote fun and leisure rather
than serious subjects like obe
sity. To accommodate the
"Healthier" exhibit, which
came from a children's muse
um in Cleveland, the museum
removed its giant animal
themed alphabet letters, which
had been a fixture there .The
exhibit is sponsored by Novant
Medical Group, the Forsyth
Medical Center Sara Lee
Center for Women's Health,
BlueCross BlueShield,
Piedmont Natural Gas and
Targacept.
The new exhibit features
no shortage of fun things for
kids to do. They can climb,
crawl and slide. The "Pedal
and riding her tricycle, Emma,
still had plenty of energy for
the "Healthier" exhibit. Pharr
and Emma gave the exhibit
high marks.
"She loves it - anything
you can climb on or crawl
through or pull up on." said
Pharr. "She's very physical."
Jennifer Bridges watched
her two children give the
exhibit a rigorous workout.
She said she liked the idea of
an exhibit centering on physi
cal activity and health.
"I think it'll be good for the
kids. I've seen plenty of obese
children," said Bridges.
Bridge's seven-year-old
son, Hayden, and her five
year-old daughter, Alaila
Krevier enjoyed playing in the
castle and fishing in the imagi
nary pond together.
"It's fun and you can use
your imagination," said
Hayden.
V Opening day had several
special events, including a
Teddy Bear Clinic, where
Novant medical professionals
gave mock medical examina
tion to the stuffed animals. The
clinic's purpose was to get
children comfortable with a
doctor's office environment,
which can often be intimidat
WFU professor
will lead worldwide
probe of democracy
CHRONICLE STAFF RfePORT
An international research
group based at the Institute of
Advanced Studies of the
Hebrew University of
Jerusalem will be co-led by a
Wake Forest professor.
Luis Roniger, professor of
political science and Reynolds
Professor of Latin American
Studies at Wake, will begin co
directing the effort in the
spring of 2009.
The group will use the
Latin American political expe
rience as a springboard to
research the ways democracy
is acquiring new meanings
around the world, Roniger
says. The group will convene
to work on competing models
of citizenship and on new
debates concerning alternative
forms of democracy and state
power in Latin America.
Roniger organized the
international research group
with longtime colleague Mario
Sznajder. associate professor
of political science at the
Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. The research group
is composed of scholars of
Latin American politics and
society from the United States,
the United Kingdom. Israel,
Mexico and Singapore.
"One line of analysis will
follow the issue of citizens'
autonomy from the state as
opposed to autonomy within
the state," says Roniger. Other
areas of study will include how
state and institutional capabili
ties affect the character of citi
I.uit Roniger
/z mhip, the limits of dissent,
issue* around representation
and individual versus collec
tive rights, among other topics.
Roniger joined the Wake
Forest faculty in 2004 and has
published extensively in the
areas of democracy and human
rights. In addition to 10 books
and numerous articles, he has
two books forthcoming: "The
Politics of Exile in Latin
America" and
'Transnational ism in Central
America."
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