Big Kids Need New Habits

Paradise greetings,

In order for each one of us to be a part of the changes needed to improve the health of children in the United States who will have a shorter life expectancy than our generation, we better get our own stuff in order.

I teach kids how to choose healthier foods, how to grow a simple garden and how to make really cool fun, delicious foods. But what's missing for these kids who are 50 or 100 pounds overweight? Adults who know that there are 17 teaspoons of refined sugar in one 23 ounce Arizona Southern Style iced tea, for example. Adults who are also 100 pounds overweight and don't think twice about eating 5,000 calories a day. Schools that serve white sugars and white flour foods to kids and wonder why they can't concentrate or sit still. Adults need to know what the kids are learning through Growing Healthy Kids' programs.

That little boy last Saturday who looked up at me after tasting his healthy Growing Healthy Kids PB&B sandwich and said, "This is great...and I can make this at home by myself!" That is why I am doing this. For him.

We must become better role models for all our children. By empowering ourselves, we will empower our children. Simple changes. Eat more vegetables than fruit. Eat fresh fruit, don't drink fruit juice. Drink more water. Walk.

This Sunday at 1:30 PM at Unity Center in Vero Beach, Florida I will be teaching a workshop on Preventing and Controlling Obesity and Diabetes.

Please join me.

To your perfect health.

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

First Lady Michelle and Our First Parent Workshop

Paradise greetings,

It is SO AWESOME to have the First Lady of the U.S. on board with our work to halt and reverse childhood obesity, don't you think? You should have heard the excitement at home last night while watching the State of the Union address when President Obama announced that Mrs. Obama is tackling childhood obesity.

The fact is kids are not supposed to be fat. The fact is that clear, concise education is needed. The fact is that when you show kids how to make healthier choices about foods, snacks, meals, and drinks, they choose health! The fact is that you CAN afford to eat healthy with a little preparation and planning. The fact is we all need to slow down to look at the consequences of NOT acting to get overweight and obese kids on the path to healthier weights. The fact is that given current trends, our children's generation will have shorter lifespan than ours. The fact is that what's wrong with America can be fixed by what's RIGHT with America (President Clinton said that when he was in Fort Pierce on a campaign stop for then candidate Barack Obama).

The fact is we cannot afford to fail.

Which is why this morning we checked out the beautiful venue for the first Growing Healthy Kids Parent Workshop we will hold in conjunction with Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program and Indian River County Health Department. Mark your calendars for Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 5:30-7:30 pm at the Majestic Theater in Vero Beach. Dr. Elman, pediatrician with the health department, and I will conduct an education program for parents while their children will be safe and sound watching a current kids' movie. We have room for 150 parents and about 150 kids. Youth Guidance (772 770 5040) is the place to call to reserve your brain for the evening.

We each must act deliberately. Because failure is not an option.

Growing Healthy Kids - improving the health - and lives - of children, one garden and one child at a time.

To your perfect health,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

When Given the Choice, Kids Choose Health

Paradise greetings,

It's chilly in the tropics this morning, as I send prayers to all the people of Haiti. I pray that a strong and powerful infrastructure will be built there so the country can blossom as paradise. I have served many Haitian clients in my work here in South Florida when I worked for Florida Department of Health and each of them is special to me. They are kind, thoughtful, with a very strong work ethic and so full of love for their children and their families. We have much we can learn from them as we serve them in their time of grief and need.

This past Saturday, Growing Healthy Kids held its January 2010 program for some of the "unmatched" children served by Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program. We met on a beautiful morning at Riverside Park for 2-1/2 hours of learning about healthy foods, quiet reflection on the natural beauty and significance of Veterans Memorial Island, and an orientation to the fitness trail. All these kids and most of the adults who attended Saturday live in Indian River County, yet more than half had never been on the fitness trail or to Memorial Island, with its breathtaking views of the Intracoastal Waterway and its solitude.

What delighted me the most was watching children play, watching their expressions when they tried the snack for the first time with smiles popping up all over, and hearing their "yes" when I said several times, "let's jog to the next trail". It was MAGIC!

There were harsh realities. Several children, because they are overweight, do not get enough exercise, and are eating more calories than their bodies need, did not join in at several fitness trail stations. Next month, I will be more deliberate in speaking with the volunteers about being positive role models for fitness. Children watch us. Monkey see, monkey do.

The healthy snack I brought for everyone, thanks to the generosity of Publix Supermarkets, was Growing Healthy Kids PB&B sandwiches, served in the Danish tradition called "open-faced sandwiches". One slice whole grain bread, 1-2 tablespoons natural peanut butter, 1/2 sliced banana, 5-6 raisins. Cut into six pieces. That's it! The bread I used was Arnold's Healthy Multi-Grain Bread because it contains 4 grams of dietary fiber per slice and the first ingredient includes the word "whole" (also known as "the Nancy rule" for choosing breads and pasta - "4 or more and "whole"). The peanut butter I used was Smucker's creamy natural peanut butter, which has no added sugar. By comparison, I showed kids the food label of another national brand of peanut butter well known to kids. This other brand had added sugar and added unhealthy fats. The lesson was "less is more".

When several kids said, "This is really good and I can make this snack by myself," I smiled and said, "Yes, yes!"

Growing Healthy Kids - improving the health - and lives - of children, one garden and one child at a time.

To your perfect health,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

lgnorance Has Got To Go!

Paradise Greetings,

Yesterday at our Growing Healthy Kids kayaking adventure with 7 kids from the Boys and Girls Club, one of the girls arrived at the boat dock with her 23 ounce can of Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea. As the kids and I had discussed last week in planning for yesterday's outing, I had prepared healthy snacks (albacore tuna with apples and celery, oranges, and water) for them. We suddenly had an unscripted healthier eating "Teachable Moment".

I used the can of Sweet Tea to teach the kids about how to read a food label. This drink has 23 grams of sugars per serving and there are 3 servings in one can, so there is a WHOPPING 69 grams of sugar in 1 can. I asked her how often she has this to drink and her response was 1 or 2 cans A DAY. Then I asked the kids about what vitamins, minerals, or other nutritional value is in the 69 grams of sugar.

You know what the answer is: NONE, ZIP, ZERO NUTRITIONAL VALUE! When I then explained that to have clear skin and to keep our bodies at a healthy weight (I was talking with 6 girls and 1 boy, so I had their attention on this point), you want your calories to have value and all this sugar isn't helping and contributes to many health problems.

When I see this same group of kids later this week at our next Growing Healthy Kids program, I will finish the Arizona Sweet Tea lesson when we talk about the High Fructose Corn Syrup it also contains. And yes, I will take a bag of sugar and a teaspoon with me so we can measure into a bowl what 69 grams of sugar looks like. Can't wait!!

I think I'll have big glass of water with some fresh lemon!

Growing Healthy Kids - improving the health - and lives - of children. One garden and one child at a time.

To your PERFECT health,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

Calling All Adults: Fat First!

Paradise greetings,

A rainy morning today. After the last couple of weeks of unusually cold, freezing weather, we need some liquid sunshine. This week we will be planning the new gardens for the new year.

Growing Healthy Kids Tip: Did you know that most of the fat calories we eat should be from GOOD fats, called UNSATURATED FATS? Unsaturated fats are in fish, nuts, olives, liquid vegetable oils like olive oil, canola oil, and sunflower oil, flax seeds, and avocados. Most of the fat we eat should come from these foods. One thing about nuts: since nuts' calories are primarily from fat, even though it is the good fat, if we - or kids - eat too many nuts we can quickly get too many fat calories. About 1/4 cup of most nuts has around 200 calories. Just a few walnuts provide an excellent snack!

Last Friday I visited the children at the Boys and Girls Club and shared some healthy snacks enjoyed by all (carrot sticks, walnuts, and organic bunny fruit snacks--yum). Afterwards everyone ran a couple of laps around in the fresh air. We planned our kayak adventure for next week and the kids decided on a healthy menu of tuna sandwiches on whole grain bread, oranges, and water. Several of these kids have never been on the water in a canoe or a kayak, so a great adventure is right around the corner! Our kayak partner, Mike Beck, reported that he was busy last week rescuing sea turtles from the dangerously cold Intercoastal waters. The kids will get to hear first-hand from him about his work while paddling and watching for egrets and manatees.

An observation from volunteering yesterday as a proctor at the state math competition hosted by Vero Beach High School (couldn't help notice all the soda machines placed strategically on campus): the number of obese adults chaperoning and volunteering. They were everywhere! It is my belief that adults must first address the problem of their own fat in order for kids to take them seriously. Maybe "Fat First" should be our new tag line. If you are a fat adult, then fix yours first by making one change a week to eat healthier and move more. I mean no disrespect to anyone, it's just that we can no longer ignore the problem. Has the term "obesity" lulled people into complacency about self-honesty? America, this is Mission Control, and We Have a Fat Problem. So, what's YOUR body mass index number?? If you are in the obese category (BMI 30 or higher), then how much weight do you need to lose to be one number smaller? Go to http://www.cdc.gov/ to find out!

Growing Healthy Kids - improving the health of kids, one garden and one child at a time.

To your perfect health.

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

The Party is Growing Healthy Kids

Paradise greetings,

Today I woke up with a big smile and a happy heart. Thinking about what women can do when we come together with a purpose, my spirit soars. When everyone does a little, we can do so much!

Last night, Growing Healthy Kids' mission to act deliberately to raise awareness about how to halt and reverse childhood obesity was highlighted in the company of incredible, caring women. I am in gratitude and awe of everyone's participation at the first Chicks with Checks' Party with a Purpose. Thank you to Donna Vernon and the Chicks with Checks for providing a platform for our work and our results to gain traction.

It was great to share the hot-off-the-press news at the party that Growing Healthy Kids was just notified that we are a recipient of an Annie's Homegrown Grants for Gardens! This grant will provide foods for creating the healthy snacks which the kids just love! We have a responsibility to respect where our foods come from and to provide good nutrition for children to thrive, a belief we share with Annie's Natural and Organic Foods. Thank you to Annie's Foods.

Growing Healthy Kids has also been selected as one of three recipients for Annie's contest on Facebook beginning the end of this week. More on that when we get details. I am SOOOO excited about all these developments, as it means we can now really kick up some serious garden dust with healthy foods and snacks for kids (once Florida thaws out, of course).

So, here's your question...what is your favorite kid-friendly healthy snack??

From the Arctic tundra previously know as "where the tropics begin", it is with great gratitude that I begin my work today to act deliberately to improve the health - and lives - of children, one garden, and one child at a time.

To your perfect health.

Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

Party with a Purpose for Growing Healthy Kids

Paradise Greetings,

Tomorrow is a big day for Growing Healthy Kids!! We are the first beneficiary of Chicks with Checks, a socially conscious networking organization started by the amazing Ann Newell up the coast in the Carolinas. Tomorrow is the Vero Beach chapter's first Party with a Purpose and we are so excited to be the lead dog!

Growing Healthy Kids is raising awareness about children who have been influenced and peer pressured to consume more calories than they are spending in physical activity and normal growth and development and as a result are at unhealthy weights. Who are these persons of influence? You decide.

Being overweight or obese increases one's risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, skeletal problems, arthritis, sleep apnea, and psychological problems like depression. The risk for some cancers also increases with excess weight.

It's one thing if an adult chooses to eat and drink too many calories and not balance it with the calories they are burning. Any idea how many calories YOU ate and drank today in food and drinks?? It's another thing when adults turn a blind eye to kids who are eating 3 days worth of calories, salt, and fat when they have a drive-by dinner from McDonald's, Burger King, or KFC. Balancing the energy equations for overweight and obese children is OUR job and it's time for us to get to work. NOW. The health - and lives - of one out of three kids is America is depending on it.

We must act deliberately to increase awareness about how to halt and reverse obesity in children. This is what Growing Healthy Kids is all about. We are gently and playfully teaching children in Indian River County how to have fun (planting and maintaining vegetable gardens) and to prepare and eat healthier foods. I swear to you, when the kids try the healthy foods we make together, you'd think they'd never eaten real food before. They love the choices they are getting!

So come Party with a Purpose tomorrow in Vero Beach. Call the head chick - Donna Vernon - at 772 569-2390 for more information. For me, it's back to the drawing board to plan the next month's programs for the kids and our first parent workshop. See you tomorrow evening!

To your perfect health.

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

Making SMART Health Goals

Paradise Greetings from the Frigid South,

It's cold here. I can handle a day or two of temperatures in the 30's. This is more than a week of watching and waiting to see if we have to cover up the plants again. My dining room is filled with geraniums, ferns, and orchids. My kitchen counter is filled with green tomatoes (care to share your favorite fried green tomato recipe with me??) and baby basil plants I recently grew from seeds for the spring kids' gardens.

So, I'm taking advantage of today's freezing cold weather. A quick nap here, a extra dream there. A chance to cozy up with that book I've been looking at for 2 months (I'm up to page 150!). A look at my new Eat-Taste-Heal cookbook and deciding which recipe I'm going to make this week. Writing a card to my mother. Looking through my latest Sunset magazine (even though I haven't lived in California for years, once a Californian always one at heart). Making a plan to change a small area in the "living room" of my backyard when temperatures start rising.

While it is cold and frigid here in the tropics ("Vero Beach - where the tropics begin" is the city's motto), we can use this downtime to plan for our uptime. What the past week below freezing temperatures means is that we will be planting new gardens soon!

Enjoy this opportunity by making one SMART* health goal a week to improve your own health. My SMART health goal for the week is to walk for 30 minutes at 7 AM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. What's yours?

Let's plant new gardens so we have containers of herbs right outside the back door for adding new flavors to our foods. Let's dig up a piece of the grass in the back yard and plant some green beans there when it warms up. Let's plan for healthy children by planning for our own health. Let's plant the seeds of change. But first, another nap...

Growing Healthy Kids, dedicated to improving the health - and lives - of children, one garden and one child at a time.

To your perfect health,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

*SMART = Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-specific

Happy New Year!

Paradise greetings,

I'm watching the Rose Bowl Parade right now, enjoying all the marching bands and wonderful floats. I love a good parade, don't you?

Yesterday I stopped by Kayaks Etc. to see how our first kayak garden is growing. Kristen and Mike Beck had closed the shop a little early as they were out on the water somewhere on our beautiful Intercoastal Waterway enjoying the perfect 80 degree weather, paddling their way to the New Year.

What a wonderful launch it has been for Growing Healthy Kids. As I take a few days off to reflect on our accomplishments, I am in awe of the many kids whose lives we have touched. I am grateful for the lessons the children have taught me in my quest to make a difference for the millions of children at risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, bone and joint disorders, and more because they are not at healthy weights. A big piece of solving this challenge is that adults must first look at their own risks if they are overweight and take action to live healthier lives. We must lead by example. It is the only choice we have to alter the pediatric obesity epidemic.

Are you leading by example as we begin this New Year 2010? Have you asked yourself, "What is my number one health goal and what can I do everyday to achieve it?" Are you at a healthy weight and if not, when are you going to start getting there?

We have so many fun things ahead of us in 2010 as Growing Healthy Kids builds gardens with children, teaches new healthy cooking classes, and creates new alliances. For now, I am going to enjoy the rest of the Rose Bowl Parade and Al Roker's corny parade jokes...HAPPY NEW YEAR, my friends.

To your perfect health,

Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids