Playing for Prevention: A Goal for Health

When Gabriel’s family was throwing a party, fizzy drinks were part of the plan.

But when his mom reached for soda at the grocery store, he stopped her.

“Wait, remember what we learned about sugary drinks at soccer?”

They got carbonated water instead.

It was a small moment, but one that tells a bigger story.

Gabriel and his family were part of Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital’s unique soccer league, Goal 4 Health. Since 2010, the program has welcomed more than 15,000 children and families to address childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes in a community with significant health disparities.

Goal 4 Health not only gets kids moving but brings families together to learn and build community.

The hospital offers the prevention initiative as part of their larger strategy to think of the organization not just as a place where sick people are treated, but a place that looks after the health and well-being of the community.

“We use the soccer league as a health promotion tool and a way to expose kids and families to Loma Linda,” said Juan Carlos Belliard, PhD, assistant vice president of community partnerships. “The idea is to get kids moving and educated early on so it becomes part of their lifestyle.”

The game plan for prevention

The soccer league was developed with three goals for health: integrate communities, promote healthy choices, and offer a service-learning site for students.

Children aren’t just learning how to pass, shoot, and score; players and their families also get short, engaging lessons to start making healthier lifestyle choices, like what is put into their shopping carts.

During the one-hour practices on the Loma Linda campus, student volunteers lead interactive presentations on important health topics such as exercise, sleep, oral health, and hydration, and families are sent home with additional materials on healthy living.

“Our hospital focuses on whole-person care and healthy living activities to help kids and families take care of their bodies and minds and create those social connections to live a more holistic life,” Belliard said.

Scholarships and volunteer opportunities remove barriers to organized sports and make the program accessible to families with limited resources.

“A lot of soccer leagues and programs are segregated by socioeconomics, and we wanted to blur the lines between us and them and become one community,” Belliard said.

Since the pandemic, Loma Linda has seen dramatic increase in social isolation and kids feeling lonely and disconnected. With teams for children ages 3-12 and a league for girls and women 13 and older, Goal 4 Health is a way to address the mental health crisis and enhance community and play.

Goal 4 Health addresses Type 2 diabetes in a community with significant health disparities.

Goal 4 Health addresses Type 2 diabetes in a community with significant health disparities.

Strengthening the core

Goal 4 Health’s family-centered approach drives lifestyle interventions and encourages nutrition and physical activity.

Evidence shows that despite parents knowing their role in influencing their children’s health, they experience common barriers talking about such topics. These include low confidence in the ability to start the conversation and a lack of knowledge of the topic.

“We learned a long time ago that if you just focus on the kids, they’re going to go home to parents who are not bought into healthy choices,” Belliard said. “But kids can also be agents of change for parents, who are really at the core of those lifestyle changes.”

Fifty three percent of coaches said after the program, players showed understanding and practice of health and wellness concepts. One parent said, “I’ve enjoyed the health focus, friendly and professional staff, and the cohesive homogeneous team with their coaches.”

Participation is open to anyone, but the hospital works with community organizations and clinicians to recruit families. The league has grown in popularity, with over 300 players per year, and a waiting list at the beginning of each season.

The program also connects families to resources like food distributions and community gardens. One soccer mom is a member of the San Bernardino community garden, and her kids not only participated in Goal 4 Health, but have gone through tutoring and mentoring programs offered by medical and nursing students.

Expanding the impact

Loma Linda, California, is one of five Blue Zones worldwide, a region where people live significantly longer, healthier lives, and lower rates of chronic disease. And it is the only Blue Zone in North America.

With the Goal 4 Health program, Belliard is looking to expand that zone beyond the county.

“A healthy America to me should look like one big Blue Zone, where physical activity and healthy eating is just part of the way we do life together,” Belliard said. “All of us should have access to a health-promoting space. We can help make our communities more health oriented. We need that for everybody.”

In response to the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s report on child health, the Children’s Hospital Association highlights the ways children’s hospitals are helping children live longer and healthier lives by confronting the root causes of chronic illnesses.