WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Poster Contest for Kids 2014

"Every child is an artist: The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."  

                                                                                           -- Pablo Picasso

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.  This is why we have chosen this month to announce our national 4^th Annual Poster Contest for Growing Healthy Kids.  This year's theme is “My Favorite Family Foods”.   Our goal is to encourage kids to express their visions about healthy foods.  Parents, please use this theme to talk with your children about family food traditions, preparing favorite recipes as a family, or favorite foods to grow at home. 

Guidelines for the 4^th Annual Poster Contest for Growing Healthy Kids are below:

• ·         The poster contest is open to all children in the U.S. who are 13 years old and younger on October 16, 2014. 
• ·         Artwork must be no larger than 8-1/2” x 11”.  All media are accepted.  Chalk, charcoal and pastel entries should be sealed with a fixative spray to prevent smearing.  Combinations of media (crayons, colored pencils, chalk, pen, torn pieces of paper, pictures from magazines, markers, etc.) are acceptable.
• ·         Only one entry per child. 
• ·         On back of the poster please include:

o   Parent’s name, email, phone number, and address

o   Child’s name, age, and school name 

Deadline:  Posters must be received or postmarked by October 16, 2014. 

Mail posters to: Growing Healthy Kids, 762 S. US Hwy 1, #106, Vero Beach, FL. 32962. Winners will be notified by November 16, 2014. 

Each poster is judged on originality, artistic merit, and expression of the theme.  Participants agree to allow Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. to use their names and posters for educational, promotional, and publicity purposes.  Three posters will be selected by a panel of educators and artists and will be published on the Growing Healthy Kids website and in the next Growing Healthy Kids’ book about good food and health.  When posters are published, only the child’s first initial, last name, city and state will be included.  No other information will be published or shared.  Certificates of Recognition will be sent to the three children whose posters are selected, along with a signed copy of NOURISH AND FLOURISH:  Kid-Tested and Approved Tips and Recipes to Prevent Diabetes.  All entries become property of Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.  

A mother and daughter at a Growing Healthy Kids program
held at Gifford Youth Activity Center in Vero Beach, Florida.

We have a generation of kids at risk for obesity-related diseases.  The board of directors and volunteers who are part of the Growing Healthy Kids movement feel strongly about unleashing the power of the youth voice to improve the health – and lives – of America’s children and their families to reverse, prevent and halt childhood obesity and obesity-related diseases.  We can learn from our children.  They can learn from us.  Kids are very observant about their world.  There are teachable moments all around us.  

Studies have shown that having dinner together as a family is one of the most important ways you can teach your children how to stay at a healthy weight.  Planning meals together, shopping together, cooking together, taking care of a kitchen herb garden, and enjoying food together as a family…these tasks are about so much more than food! So enjoy talking about this year’s theme and start creating some family food traditions of your own.  Most of all, have fun!

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Depression, Diabetes, and Childhood Obesity

“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”

                                                                              --Robin Williams, 1951-2014

When I started the Growing Healthy Kids organization, I had an idea about preventing a new epidemic of disease, depression, and early deaths among children due to diabetes.  I saw the childhood obesity epidemic and the alarming increases of children at unhealthy weights.  With one in three children in the U.S., overweight and obese, I knew that many of these children will develop type 2 diabetes, also referred to as “adult-onset diabetes”.  Having seen what happens to adults who are ignorant about the effect of drinking sugar filled sweet teas or sodas every day on their nervous systems (resulting in amputations of toes and feet) or their heart (4 times higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke) or their sexual health (increased incidence of impotence), I also knew that diabetes is a preventable disease.  Having worked with thousands of older adults with diabetes and having experienced firsthand how life-changing improved health literacy can be, I decided to use my ideas and my words to address parents and children and the childhood obesity epidemic in my own community and through my words, the rest of the country. 

Symptoms of diabetes include:

• Frequent urination
• Excessive thirst
• Unexplained weight loss
• Extreme hunger
• Sudden vision changes
• Tingling or numbness in hands or feet
• Feeling very tired much of the time
• Very dry skin
• Sores that are slow to heal
• More infections than usual

Once someone develops diabetes, they can have problems that can affect:

• Mood (diabetes doubles the risk of depression as a result of high, uncontrolled blood sugar)
• Vision
• Kidneys
• Cardiovascular (increased risk of heart attack and stroke)
• Nervous system (nerve damage causes peripheral neuropathy)
• Feet
• Digestion
• Oral health
• Sexual health

One of the biggest (and preventable) risk factors for developing diabetes is: 

• obesity

We can improve the health and lives of America’s children.  September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.  In conjunction with this observance, I will be making two major announcements next week and we are counting on you to help us get out the word! 

Together, we can tap into the voice, words, and ideas of America’s children. 

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.

To learn more facts about diabetes from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, click here.

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Thank a Farmer, Feed a Child

“Weight sits like a spider at the center of an intricate, tangled web of health and disease.  Three related aspects of weight – how much you weigh in relation to your height, your waist size, and how much weight you gain after your early twenties – strongly influence your chances of having or dying from a heart attack, stroke, or other type of cardiovascular disease; of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes; of being diagnosed with postmenopausal breast cancer or cancer of the endometrium, colon, or kidney; of having arthritis; of being infertile; of developing gallstones; of snoring or suffering from sleep apnea; or of developing adult-onset asthma.”

                                              --Walter C. Willett, M.D., from Eat, Drink and Be Healthy

When I was a kid, I always looked forward to the trip to visit my grandparents and their farm in Indiana.  When we woke up in the mornings, my grandfather would have already been up for hours milking the cows.  Days were filled with helping (or at least we thought we were helping) plow the fields or taking tractor rides around the farm’s back roads.  Afternoons I would help my grandmother with a task in the kitchen to help get supper on the table.  Evenings my brothers and I chased lightning bugs around the front yard while my mother and grandparents rocked on the porch swings and my grandfather relaxed, smoking his pipe.

Thinking about those wonderful summers on the farm with my family reminds me about how important my grandfather’s job was.  He was a farmer.  He grew corn and soybeans and provided a safe home for his dairy cows.  He respected the land by growing his cash crops and then letting the soil rest and replenish by planting alfalfa.  He always planted a big vegetable garden for my grandmother out behind the farmhouse.  The tomatoes and beans we ate in the summertime were bursting with flavor in every bite, unlike the hothouse-raised tomatoes you often see in stores today.  Enjoying the flavor of fresh-picked vegetables lovingly prepared by my grandmother was the essence of childhood memories on the farm.  We ate the food that had been grown by my grandfather and prepared by my grandmother;  when it was gone we went outside to play.  Every day, we seemed to eat just the right amount of food and enjoyed lots of physical exercise and fresh air.  

Next time you buy vegetables, think about who grew them and how they got to your store and your table.  Better yet, visit your local farmers market and buy vegetables directly from the farmer who grew them.  The shorter the distance vegetables have to travel to get to your family’s dinner table, the better for your health. Support your local farmers.  Give them your respect.  When we have access to foods grown without chemicals, we have a better chance of not triggering cancer and staying at a healthy weight.  Kids deserve good foods.  Thank you to all the farmers working to grow good food! Thanks, Grandpa, for teaching me about respect.  

Here is an easy recipe that we have been working on in the Growing Healthy Kids Test Kitchen.  My grandfather would have loved it!  You can substitute yellow cornmeal if you cannot find blue cornmeal.  Blue corn is higher in nutritional value and has a nutty taste.  Kids love to make these and they make a great addition to a healthy school lunchbox! 

GROWING HEALTHY KIDS:  Our Recipe Collection

Blue Corn Cakes

In a medium mixing bowl, combine:

• ·        ½ cup blue cornmeal
• ·        ½ cup flour (I like to use oat flour)
• ·        1 Tablespoon baking powder
• ·        1 teaspoon salt

In a small saucepan, sauté for a few minutes over low heat:

• ·        3 Tablespoons butter
• ·        Corn kernels, cut off 1 ear of fresh corn (or use 1/2 can of corn, drained)

Pour corn mixture into dry mixture. 

Add:

• ·        2/3  cup unsweetened almond milk (or a little more if needed)

Whisk together until batter is smooth.  Let rest for a few minutes.  Add more milk if needed.  

Ladle ¼ cup batter onto griddle coated with just a little grapeseed oil.  Cook until sides of cakes bubble gently and cakes are light golden brown, about 2 minutes. 

Gently turn them over with a spatula and cook for another 2 minutes or until golden brown. 

Serving suggestions:  Top with chopped tomatoes, fresh cilantro and fat-free sour cream OR sautéed red peppers and Vidalia onions.

Makes 8 griddle cakes. Enjoy! 

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids