Dive Brief:
- This fall, 50 Midwestern schools will participate in Hy-Vee’s KidsFit Wellness Week as part of the grocer’s kid-focused health program. The goal of the initiative is to educate children on nutrition, exercise and healthy lifestyle, and to keep schools and homes connected.
- Wellness Week will take place in a remote format this year, and Hy-Vee has released a free, downloadable guide with in-person, virtual and hybrid options to help kids make healthy choices both at school and at home.
- To incentivize participation, Hy-Vee is offering participating schools prizes like Fitbits and KidsFit T-shirts. In addition, all schools that participate will receive KidsFit face masks, sanitizer and a $250 grant upon completion.
Dive Insight:
Hy-Vee hasn’t abandoned its popular kids wellness program during COVID-19, but instead has looked for ways to go digital so kids can stay active and healthy through the pandemic. The KidsFit program has been in place since 2015.
Through daily activities and challenges, Wellness Week is meant to bring positivity to families and offer a flexible wellness program to help support schools and build community during this time, according to a statement from Hy-Vee KidsFit director Daira Driftmier.
It’s also a good reminder to parents that Hy-Vee is a grocer committed to health and wellness during a time when families are turning to their grocers for so many services. At Hy-Vee, shoppers have access to on-staff dietitians, flu shots, healthy cooking classes and more.
In a previous interview with Grocery Dive, Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker said some of the efforts to go virtual with the KidsFit program included moving a popular field trip to a virtual format, inviting kids to participate in virtual workouts and using a KidsFit app.
Additionally, in March the grocer announced a lineup of free fitness videos through KidsFit, giving kids 15-to-20 minute workouts to help them stay active while schools are closed. The videos, which are led by a certified trainer, are still running daily.
