AUBURN - Opening day may still be a few weeks off, but that didn't stop children and parents from lining up at the gates of Falcon Park Saturday afternoon.

Dozens of families were on hand for a joint effort between Eat Well Play Hard and the Auburn Doubledays to promote healthy lifestyles for children of Cayuga County.

Sabrina Hesford, community nutrition educator at Cornell Cooperative extension said that Eat Well Play Hard is a program funded by the state Department of Health and implemented by the county health department which works in conjunction with Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Cayuga County Fitness Council to implement the grant.

Eat Well Play Hard has three basic tenants that the program tries to share, with professionals visiting schools in an effort to promote healthy choices in the realm of diet and exercise.

The program asks that children strive for 60 minutes of physical activity each day, increase their intake of fruits and vegetables and that they consume low-fat and fat-free dairy foods.

"Thirty-three percent of children in this country are obese," Hesford said. "As are the adults in this country. Through this grant we are trying to take a proactive approach to fighting childhood obesity."

Hesford, in conjunction with Joe Mushock of the Cayuga County Fitness Council, have been working with children for the past three years.

Carl Gutelius, general manager of the Doubledays, said that the team has been supporting a reading program in local schools for the past three years, but wanted to take a more active role in promoting health in the children of the community.