Today is an exciting day. In a couple of hours we will hold the first-of-its-kind training in Florida to give youth a voice in halting,reversing, and preventing childhood obesity. In a unique collaboration between Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. and the Kiwanis Key Clubs, we begin engaging and mobilizing high school students in the recently funded GROWING HEALTHY KIDS: OUR HEALTH, OUR LIVES, OUR VOICE project in Indian River County, Florida.
This second semester service leadership project is one of the current round of projects funded by Youth Service America. We will keep you posted as the project progesses.
GROWING HEALTHY KIDS is a movement to improve the health - and lives - of America's children, one child and one garden at a time.
To your perfect health,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids
Showing posts with label Kiwanis Club of Vero-Treasure Coast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kiwanis Club of Vero-Treasure Coast. Show all posts
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Death by Pop Tarts
Paradise Greetings,
When I arrived to teach the "Making Healthy Snacks" class today, I noticed the board in the kitchen had the official after-school snack menu supplied by the school district: "pop tarts and chocolate milk". As I set up the blenders to make my famous Fabulous Florida Fruit Shakes I spied industrial packages of pop tarts at the end of the counter.
The kids tapped to participate in our class due to their good behavior also spied the Pop Tarts on the counter and their little hands and arms started indiscriminately grabbing for them.
We snatched the Pop Tarts from the counter and put them up out of sight of the children, all of whom had previously indicated they had a mother, father, brother or sister on medication for high blood pressure and/or diabetes.
The "Making Health Snacks" class began. One child was asked to read the recipe. Another was asked to measure out the ingredients. The children had no idea how to tell a "teaspoon" from a "tablespoon" so it was clear that basic literacy was a problem. Once we got past the literacy issue and engaged the kids in a discussion about the frozen blueberries, peaches, and mangos and the benefits of ground flax seed and fat-free Greek yogurt, the blenders started whirring happily as more and more kids came around to see what was happening in the kitchen and what the excitement was all about.
After the first chef spoon held by the girl wearing the Growing Healthy Kids apron (with superpowers) elicited a "Wow, this is great!" reaction, sample cups of our Fabulous Florida Fruit Shakes were passed around to the 40 or so kids and staff in attendance. As parents came in to pick up their little ones, the kids eagerly asked for samples to share with them and we were happy to oblige.
Not once did we hear kids asking for a pop tart for their mom. Funny thing...when you give kids a choice, they always choose health!
Thinking about what happened today, I know that if our school district provided kids with the same options that Growing Healthy Kids is teaching kids, then the job of reversing childhood obesity in Indian River County and the rest of the nation would be soooooo much easier. Pop tarts and chocolate milk or Fabulous Florida Fruit Shakes. Which do you want YOUR kids to have?
Next time you go to the store, pick up a box of Pop Tarts, count the number of ingredients, then read the list out loud. If you want the recipe for Fabulous Florida Fruit Shakes, post a comment.
Growing Healthy Kids - improving the health - and lives - of America's kids, one child and one garden at a time.
To your perfect health.
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids
PS--Thanks to The Community Church of Vero Beach and Vero-Treasure Coast Kiwanis Club for supporting this project!
When I arrived to teach the "Making Healthy Snacks" class today, I noticed the board in the kitchen had the official after-school snack menu supplied by the school district: "pop tarts and chocolate milk". As I set up the blenders to make my famous Fabulous Florida Fruit Shakes I spied industrial packages of pop tarts at the end of the counter.
The kids tapped to participate in our class due to their good behavior also spied the Pop Tarts on the counter and their little hands and arms started indiscriminately grabbing for them.
We snatched the Pop Tarts from the counter and put them up out of sight of the children, all of whom had previously indicated they had a mother, father, brother or sister on medication for high blood pressure and/or diabetes.
The "Making Health Snacks" class began. One child was asked to read the recipe. Another was asked to measure out the ingredients. The children had no idea how to tell a "teaspoon" from a "tablespoon" so it was clear that basic literacy was a problem. Once we got past the literacy issue and engaged the kids in a discussion about the frozen blueberries, peaches, and mangos and the benefits of ground flax seed and fat-free Greek yogurt, the blenders started whirring happily as more and more kids came around to see what was happening in the kitchen and what the excitement was all about.
After the first chef spoon held by the girl wearing the Growing Healthy Kids apron (with superpowers) elicited a "Wow, this is great!" reaction, sample cups of our Fabulous Florida Fruit Shakes were passed around to the 40 or so kids and staff in attendance. As parents came in to pick up their little ones, the kids eagerly asked for samples to share with them and we were happy to oblige.
Not once did we hear kids asking for a pop tart for their mom. Funny thing...when you give kids a choice, they always choose health!
Thinking about what happened today, I know that if our school district provided kids with the same options that Growing Healthy Kids is teaching kids, then the job of reversing childhood obesity in Indian River County and the rest of the nation would be soooooo much easier. Pop tarts and chocolate milk or Fabulous Florida Fruit Shakes. Which do you want YOUR kids to have?
Next time you go to the store, pick up a box of Pop Tarts, count the number of ingredients, then read the list out loud. If you want the recipe for Fabulous Florida Fruit Shakes, post a comment.
Growing Healthy Kids - improving the health - and lives - of America's kids, one child and one garden at a time.
To your perfect health.
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids
PS--Thanks to The Community Church of Vero Beach and Vero-Treasure Coast Kiwanis Club for supporting this project!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Kiwanis Club helps Growing Healthy Kids
Paradise Greetings,
Yesterday, Growing Healthy Kids started building a very large garden at an afterschool program in northern Indian River County, Florida. What is special about this garden is the population of kids served is very high risk for type 2 diabetes. As you know, preventing diabetes in kids is central to the mission and work of Growing Healthy Kids.
Another reason this garden is special is because it is being built with the support of the Vero-Treasure Coast Kiwanis Club. Kiwanis Club is all about service to children, which is why this is, as the saying goes, "a match made in heaven". If you are a Kiwanian and want to implement the Growing Healthy Kids garden-based education project where you live to help halt and reverse childhood obesity, please contact me. Together, we can serve children.
Thank you, Vero-Treasure Coast Kiwanis Club, for supporting Growing Healthy Kids in its mission to improve the health - and lives - of America's children, one child and one garden at a time.
To your perfect health.
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids
Yesterday, Growing Healthy Kids started building a very large garden at an afterschool program in northern Indian River County, Florida. What is special about this garden is the population of kids served is very high risk for type 2 diabetes. As you know, preventing diabetes in kids is central to the mission and work of Growing Healthy Kids.
Another reason this garden is special is because it is being built with the support of the Vero-Treasure Coast Kiwanis Club. Kiwanis Club is all about service to children, which is why this is, as the saying goes, "a match made in heaven". If you are a Kiwanian and want to implement the Growing Healthy Kids garden-based education project where you live to help halt and reverse childhood obesity, please contact me. Together, we can serve children.
Thank you, Vero-Treasure Coast Kiwanis Club, for supporting Growing Healthy Kids in its mission to improve the health - and lives - of America's children, one child and one garden at a time.
To your perfect health.
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Bring on the Veggies! Kid Power!
Paradise greetings,
What a busy week this has been for Growing Healthy Kids. So many veggies to chop. So many salads to make. So many flatbreads to roll. So many kids to get healthy!!!
The pictures you see are from our latest project, in partnership with Kiwanis Club, at Hibiscus Children's Center in Vero Beach. Last week's classes were great and the gardens are growing. The kids were not shy about stepping up to be the master chefs. They learned about reading food labels and how easy it is to make really healthy sandwiches that taste great. We used the "Flatout" breads with 90 calories per flatbread and a whopping 9 grams of dietary fiber! These makes EXCELLENT pizza crusts!!
One girl, watching the other kids chop yellow and red peppers, tomatoes, spinach, and English cucumbers, asked if I'd brought any "lunch meats" for the sandwiches. I told her I didn't, but she could make the rollups with her favorite meats. When she decided to make a rollup with the ingredients provided for the class, she had a bite, smiled and said the best thing ever, "This is GOOD!"
Focus on making one small change a week. Make this week's change to eat one more fruit or veggie each day.
Growing Healthy Kids is about improving the health - and lives - of children, one child and one garden at a time.
To your perfect health!
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Four More Gardens for Healthy Kids
Paradise Greetings,
Thank you Growing Healthy Kids and Kiwanis Club volunteers: Katherine, Joe, Lou, Katy and husband. Thank you to Amy and staff at Hibiscus Children's Center. Thank you to all the kids at Hibiscus. You are now the proud owners of four new gardens! What an awesome morning of energy, enthusiasm and sweat equity! We built the gardens, filled them, and planted them. Now, with water, sun, and love the butterflies and vegetables will come!
It is an honor to be able to create some new spaces for the kids at Hibiscus. I'm excited about the butterfly gardens. Within an hour of getting the first butterfly garden installed for the kids, one of the boys came running over to me and exclaimed that he'd just seen his first butterfly!
When I was there yesterday for our first healthy cooking class, most of the seeds had germinated and were already a couple of inches high. Our first lesson was that fruit is a healthy snack, not fruit juice. Now to teach the adults who serve those children...
It is fun to play in the dirt! The adventure continues! What is YOUR favorite butterfly?
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
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