AUBURN - In order to raise healthy children, parents are given three universal guidelines: 1) Increase physical activity; 2) Eat lots of fruits and vegetables; 3) Increase intake of low-fat and fat-free dairy products.

“Eat Well, Play Hard,” a program created by the New York State Department of Health, was created to curtail the growing problem of childhood obesity. It uses these three principles as the cornerstone of its philosophy.

The program, which receives funding through a grant from New York state, combines the talents of three agencies - the Cayuga County Department of Health, the Cayuga County Fitness Council and the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County - that collaborate to implement its services.

Last week, Cayuga County's Women, Infant and Children Food Supplement Program tackled rule No. 1, which says to maximize physical activity, by providing 400 backpacks filled with exercise equipment, music CDs and more to its members. WIC is a federally funded nutrition supplemental program open to qualifying pregnant, lactating, and post-partum women, infants from birth to one year, and children through age 5.

“We're trying to teach parents and children how to play again,” said Mary Beth Hogan, WIC program coordinator.

Just outside her door, other WIC employees and volunteers busied themselves stuffing backpacks with Frisbees, jump-ropes and other merchandise, along with instructions on proper exercise.

To be eligible for the program, she explained, residents must first qualify for WIC's services, which exists mainly for working families.

“These days, so many parents plop their kids down in front of TV or video games, so we're trying to steer them away from that,” she said.

Parents who participate in “Eat Well, Play Hard” are first given a questionnaire that determines children's exercise habits, then suggestions are made on how to best keep those children physically active.

Then, after three months, parents enter into an agreement with the program to further increase their child's activity level. To provide incentive to the children, the organization plans to give away prizes to lucky participants. Four bicycles will be awarded, Hogan said, two in Auburn, and one each in Cato and Moravia.

Stuffing CDs and footballs into backpacks was Joe Mushock of the Cayuga County Fitness Council, who serves as physical activity coordinator for “Eat Well, Play Hard.”

“I'm the 'play hard' part of this program,” he said. “It's important that people know about 'age-appropriate' exercise ... these backpacks are for kids ages 2 to 5.”