Want to take control of your health but don’t know where to start? You’re not alone. Join our health education programs and let us support you in building healthy lifestyle habits.

‍“SALSITA”:

Healthy habits can start early! Through our South Bay Community Services “Promise Neighborhood” project, Health Educators work with children from kindergarten to 3rd grade at Willow Elementary and Smythe Ave Elementary schools and provide in-person cooking classes at San Ysidro Health’s Maternal & Child Health Center. The goal of these classes is to reinforce the importance of physical activity and healthy nutrition and teach healthy habits using the MyPlate curriculum.

Classes are given in a 4-session series, covering the following topics:

o   Water intake

o   My Plate

o   Healthy snacks

o   Physical activity, including exercises for sitting, breathing, dancing, and stretching

o   Fruit and Vegetable intake

For more information on how to enroll your child in these classes, please contact Linda Rodriguez (Villareal) at linda.villareal@syhealth.org or (619) 662-4100, extension 3397.

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‍School-Based Health Education:

Our school-based health education is currently offered to students at Lincoln High School and Southwest High School.  Students interested in services need to reach out to the nurse’s office and can request to be seen by a Health Educator.

Our Health Educator provides sessions on the following topics:

• General nutrition/physical activity
• Reproductive health services: education on birth control methods, pregnancy testing, STI prevention and treatment, teen topics, and referrals as needed.

For more information, please contact Martha Valdivia, Program Supervisor at martha.valdivia@syhealth.org or (619) 662-4100, extension 2902.

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Parent Health Education Classes:

Our newest addition to the SD Promise Neighborhood program is our Parent/Health Educator, Susana Varagnolo. She provides health education sessions and court-mandated classes for parents. 

There are several topics that are covered in 3 to 4-session series, including: 

• Self-esteem 
• 5 languages of love
• 10 tools for better parenting
• Personal development 
• How to help your child succeed in school 

 The court-mandated sessions include:

• Anger management: 10-session class
• Co-parenting: 3-session class. 

For more information on how to enroll your child in these classes, please contact Linda Rodriguez (Villareal) at linda.villareal@syhealth.org or (619) 662-4100 ext. 3397.

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Reach Out and Read:

Reach Out and Read is an evidence-based early literacy program focused on developing critical reading skills in children with the help of parents and providers. 

As part of this program, children ages 6 months to 5 years, 11 months are given an age-appropriate book at each well child visit. The books are provided in multiple languages and are used as tools to encourage physical and mental development and the love of reading.

Reach Out and Read is currently operating at 16 San Ysidro Health clinic sites. The program is a part of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

For more information on this program, please contact Sarah Vaughan, Program Supervisor (sarah.vaughan@syhealth.org; (619) 852-5661) or Valeria Castorena, Program Supervisor (valeria.castorena@syhealth.org; (619) 721-2426).

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