Help Kids Create Healthy Habits
Triple Play: A Game Plan for the Mind, Body and Soul is BGCA’s proven health and wellness program co-sponsored by the Anthem Foundation and founding partner The Coca-Cola Company. Since launching in 2005, Triple Play has made more than 14.4 million connections with kids and teens, promoting the importance of physical activity and proper nutrition through the program’s three components: mind, body and soul.
To help members make healthier choices, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) has partnered with The Coca-Cola Company to present Triple Play: A Game Plan for Mind, Body, and Soul. This national program takes a holistic approach to teaching youth about nutrition, daily physical activity, and character development.
In addition to focusing on the mind and body, Triple Play strengthens the soul of the Club experience through social recreation in the game room. While each program component—Mind, Body, and Soul—can stand alone, integrating them provides members with lifelong benefits.
Healthy Habits (Mind): Addresses the ways an individual’s health behaviors are influenced by personal beliefs and exposure to positive modeling. In addition to nutrition education, activities focus on helping youth assess, practice, identify, consider, and recognize health behaviors and messages.
Triple Play’s Healthy Habits nutrition program empowers youth to make smart food choices. It covers:
- The power of choice
- Calories, vitamins, and minerals
- Portion control
Daily Challenges (Body): Intentional focus on physical literacy: Ability – Increasing capability in basic movement skills and overall fitness; Confidence -the knowledge of the ability to play sports or enjoy other physical activities and Motivation- the intrinsic enthusiasm for physical activity for members to be physically active for life.
This component enhances traditional Club activities with inclusive sports and fitness programs for all members, regardless of skill level.
- Daily Fitness Challenges – Six challenges encourage kids to stay active with activities like jump rope, basketball, and creative game design.
- Pre/Post-Tests – Assessment tools measure participants’ health and fitness knowledge before and after the program, helping Clubs track progress and secure funding.
- Sports Clubs (Ages 13-18) – These year-round teen clubs develop leadership skills while promoting community service and mentorship for younger members.
Social Recreation (Soul): Emphasis on social and emotional development, or the social, cognitive, and behavioral skills that youth need to be healthy and productive. There is an explicit focus on emotional regulation, healthy relationships (with self and others), and responsible decision-making.
A stocked game room and social recreation program teaches members sportsmanship, rule-following, and teamwork through games such as billiards, Foosball, bumper pool, shuffleboard, and ping pong.
Whole-Child Development
Triple Play delivers on the belief that whole child health fosters young people’s ability to gain diverse knowledge, skills, and protective factors that enable them to overcome barriers and thrive in adulthood. Through fun and engaging activities, the program delivers health education and programming that promotes the importance of physical activity and proper nutrition. It also focuses on the underlying causes that negatively impact health by enabling youth to develop life-long skills that are foundational to their present and future success.
Demonstrated Outcomes
Youth who participate in Triple Play report double-digit increases in physical activity, improved eating habits and improved relationships with their peers, which have all been linked to positive long-term health outcomes. The metrics are even more significant when considered how health behaviors during adolescence can impact health in adulthood. Learn more about Boys & Girls Clubs impact kids and teens.
Social Determinants of Health
Research shows that Social Determinants of Health, or environmental factors (where you live, work, learn, play), have a profound impact on overall development and future health. Adolescents are particularity sensitive to negative social and environmental conditions. Youth who grow up in communities where there’s an abundance of negative environmental factors and social/economic barriers are at a higher risk for negative health outcomes in adulthood. As a result, it’s even more critical that youth develop the necessary skills to protect against these negative factors and create positive opportunities for themselves and future generations.