GET THE FAT OUT

If America is up to the challenge of reversing our childhood obesity epidemic, then we need the right tools for the job.   It’s safe to say that we need lots of different tools in our tool bag if we're going to right this wrong.  

With 2/3s of adults in this country overweight and obese and 1/3 of American children overweight and obese, we (the adults) need to be better role models for children.  It is wrong for children to grow up eating primarily highly processed foods filled with too many calories, and too much sugar, fat, and refined carbohydrates.  It is wrong that many kids go days without eating fresh fruits and vegetables. It is wrong that school districts do not require physical education  (PE) classes.  It is wrong that some elementary age kids in public schools have only 1/2 hour of PE a week.

Being overweight (and thus being at increased risk for all diseases and conditions that are a direct result of “wearing” too much fat on our bones) is a direct result of eating too much food, consuming too many calories, and not exercising enough.  Some people are oblivious about how many calories they are consuming and using and can use some help.

There is a cool tool that can teach you how many calories you are eating, drinking, and burning throughout the day.  The BodyMedia FIT armband offers up to 95% accuracy, according to its manufacturer.  These armbands retail for $199 each, but three are being given away in a contest I read about in a little booklet called Remedy’s Healthy Living I recently picked up at my local Publix supermarket.  Here’s the deal:  go to www.healthcommunities.com/RHLgiveaway between February 24, 2012 and May 9, 2012 and enter the information requested.  There is no purchase necessary to enter to win.  What do you have lose?

Let’s work together to be healthier role models for America’s overweight children by losing a few pounds ourselves.  To learn more about obesity and your own body mass index, go to www.cdc.gov.   

Growing Healthy Kids is a movement focused on improving the health – and lives - of America’s children, one child and one garden at a time.  Eat better, move more, feel great!

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

FIGHTING OBESITY...Recipes from the Growing Healthy Kids Project

At our last FITNESS, FUN, AND FOOD event in Vero Beach, Florida, the kids and adults learned how to make Fresh Corn Salsa.  This delicious dish can be used as a side salad and goes great with grilled fish, baked chicken, and of course, Mexican dishes such as enchiladas and fish tacos. 

Below is the recipe for this simple, healthy dish filled with flavors from the garden.  This is a basic recipe that can be changed up depending on what is fresh, in season, and of course, what you have on hand. 

To prepare corn, follow these easy 3 steps:

1. Put into a large pot of boiling water and cook 4 minutes:
• 4 ears of fresh corn, shucked
2. Rinse corn under cold water to stop the cooking. 
3. Stand up one ear of corn at a time in a large bowl and cut the corn off the cob. 

Chop and add to the corn:

• 4 Roma tomatoes
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow or red onion (we used a Florida sweet onion)
• 1 avocado (optional)
• ½ cup fresh cilantro

 Open, drain, and rinse:

• 1 can black beans

Add:

• Juice of 4-5 limes
• ¼ cup Mojo marinade

 Thanks to Veggies of Vero (www.veggiesofvero.com) for supplying vegetables used in the preparation of this recipe.  Fresh Corn Salsa received the Growing Healthy Kids' Seal of  Approval on February 25, 2012 from the kids with Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program. As Ginny Rhodes, Program Director with Youth Guidance fondly says, “We LOVE Veggies of Vero!”

Did you know…

• An ear of corn averages 800 kernels in 16 rows?
• More corn, in weight, is grown worldwide than any other grain?
• half an ear of corn has about 15 grams of carbohydrates (if you have diabetes, this is about 1 serving of carbohydrates)

 Enjoy this recipe and stay tuned for many more.  We’re working on something REALLY BIG for our readers all around the world. 

Growing Healthy Kids is a movement to reverse childhood obesity, one garden and one child at a time.  Thank you for all you do to teach your own children the joys of eating real food.

One of our Master Gardener volunteers teaches a girl how to slice peppers.

A boy concentrates on chopping cilantro for the FRESH CORN SALSA.

Sincerely,

Nancy L. Heinrich, M.P.H.

Founder

FIGHTING OBESITY WITH FITNESS, FUN, AND FOOD

Here are a couple of myths I hear:

MYTH 1: It’s hard to teach kids how to eat healthy.

FACT: Teaching kids how to eat healthy doesn’t have to be hard. Start with a simple food project and teach them a new skill. Give them room to try out new flavors.

MYTH 2: Eating healthy is too expensive.

FACT: When you choose foods that are in season, especially foods grown by your local farmers, it can be inexpensive to eat healthy.

MYTH 3: Youth Guidance has plenty of adult mentors for the kids they serve.

FACT: There are still 400 kids on Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program's waiting list hoping to be matched with an adult mentor. Through our collaborative education programs, we help identify mentors for these kids.

Learning how to eat healthy and stay fit is what we do in the programs taught by Growing Healthy Kids. We engage kids in the process by having “fun with a purpose” as Ronnie Hewitt used to say to me.

Here’s the story about last Saturday's Fitness, Fun, and Food Growing Healthy Kids with Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program event held at Riverside Park. Twenty great kids and some enthusiastic adult volunteers spent the morning getting fit on the fitness trail, checking out the cool things to do and see at the Vero Beach Museum of Art's Community Day, then learning how to make Fresh Corn Salsa. The food was fabulous and the young chefs had a blast learning some basic techniques for use in the kitchen, such as how to use a knife, how to slice vegetables, and creative license with ingredients. The cool thing to watch was that ALL the kids wanted to be involved, not just some of them. They ALL wanted to wear the Growing Healthy Kids' aprons that give them superpowers for eating healthy foods. They ALL were having fun with the purpose of learning how to eat healthy, one vegetable and one child at a time.

Below are pictures from Fitness, Fun, and Food. Be inspired to teach your own children about the joys of having fun with a purpose, especially in the kitchen. A very special thanks to Rebecca Hornbuckle of Veggies of Vero for supplying the farm fresh veggies for this event. The flavors of the just-picked tomatoes, peppers, and spinach were delicious. The juicy navel oranges provided very stylish decorations for our “al fresco” dining table.

Growing Healthy Kids is committed to reversing childhood obesity and improving the health of America’s children, one garden and one child at a time.  To learn how you can help, go to http://www.growinghealthykids.me/.

Respectfully yours,

Nancy Heinrich

PS - Watch for the Fresh Corn Salsa recipe in our next blog!  To learn more about becoming a mentor with Youth Guidance, just call 772-770-5040.



Nancy Heinrich get the kids excited about the fresh veggies.



Go, girls, go!



A volunteer and her mentee make squares for new Community Mural.



One participant learns how to use fresh lime juice to flavor foods.



Valerie Flanagan and kids on the fitness trail at Riverside Park.