FERRIDAY, La. — Representatives with a community agriculture center hope interactive games and other fun activities will help teach children about good health habits.

A first-ever health fair for children will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in the community center at the Concordia Parish Correctional Facility near Ferriday.

The Louisiana State University Agricultural Center is sponsoring the fair to educate children about the importance of good health and nutrition habits, said Terri Crawford, a Vidalia-based family and consumer services staffer for the LSU AgCenter.

&uot;One out of three children are overweight in this country, and children … are increasingly at risk for type 2 diabetes,&uot;&160;Crawford said. &uot;That shows the need for this type of education.&uot;

The fair will feature different stations where children will participate in interactive games designed to measure such things as agility and to teach them about good health habits. In addition, several agencies will provide health-related tests to help get children ready for school.

The Concordia Parish Health Unit will provide immunizations for children from infants through school age.

Riverland Medical Center will check children’s height and weight and will provide checkups to determine whether children are developing appropriately for their ages.

Sicily Island Medical Center will provide hearing and dental screenings, and the fair will also offer vision screenings. Identification fingerprinting will be done at the event, and blood pressure will be checked by American Medical Response ambulance service.

The LSU AgCenter, the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office, the March of Dimes, the Concordia Addictive Disorders Clinic, the Abstinence Committee of Concordia Parish, the Kid Med program, the Concordia Parish Library and Concordia Bank &&160;Trust.

Sue Jernigan, Riverland Medical Center’s head nurse, is helping coordinate that hospital’s involvement with the fair and also stressed the importance of such events.

&uot;It’s never too early to start learning about health, and hopefully if they do have health problems, we can catch it earlier this way and get them the appropriate treatment faster,&uot;&160;she said.