CHEAP FOOD CONTRIBUTES TO CHILDHOOD OBESITY EPIDEMIC

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

Since writing last week's column, The High Cost of Eating Cheap, I've have several conversations with parents which have caused me to lose sleep.  

This country has become The Fast Food Nation with an unhealthy reliance on highly processed, cheap foods and the result is a nation full of sick children.  Educating parents and grandparents about the good foods that kids need is what WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS is all about and I am even more passionate about the mission of the Growing Healthy Kids movement than ever before.  I have always believed that parents need to be educated about the relationship between what kids eat and the health of their kids.  If kids are not healthy, they will not be able to concentrate at school and to learn their ABCs and 123s.  I keep receiving lessons that grandparents also need education.

Let me share happenings from this week.  

One morning, while visiting a local elementary school at breakfast time, I stopped by the school cafeteria to take a look at what the kids were eating.  Keep in mind that the official position of the school district is that they are making great improvements to what the food choices are for the kids.  Most, if not all, of the kids who eat their breakfast at school qualify for the free and reduced meal program which means the kids eat for "free".  What I saw saddened me.  Believe me when I say that I believe that some food, even bad food, is better than no food.  Most of the kids were eating a tray full of white sugar.  Most were drinking the strawberry milk (it is fat-free, but what the staff won't tell you is that each carton contains a whooping 7 teaspoons of added sugar).  The day I was there I saw waffles made with white flour, topped with artificial maple syrup, lots of plastics bag of apple juice, and cinnamon toast.  Didn't see any protein for the brain power they need in class.  Didn't see any whole grains to give kids a sustained source of energy.  All I saw was sugar and lots of it.  Kids need breakfast.  Make sure your kids are getting what they need, not what is cheap and easy.  The elementary school cafeteria is where you will find the intersection of hunger and childhood obesity.  If you don't believe me, then go have breakfast at your local elementary school.  

I received a call from a parent who got my name at a school presentation.  She called asking for help with her young daughter's recent weight gain.  The daughter, due to a recent family relocation, just spent the past several months living with grandparents while her parents worked getting the rest of the family moved to their new home.  While the young girl lived with her grandparents, they apparently didn't say "no" to the child's food requests for ice-cream, hot dogs and McDonald's.  The mother and I have had several long conversations about how to make small changes to put the brakes on all the cheap, easy foods that are most likely the culprit in the child's rapid weight gain.  Two recommendations I made were to switch from whole milk to 1% milk and to limit trips to McDonald's to no more than once a month.  

The cool thing that happened this week was the grand opening of the new hydroponic garden at Vero Beach Elementary School, where Growing Healthy Kids is conducting a monthly wellness program for parents and their children.   Kids are now able to see real food grow as part of their school lessons and to taste the goodness and freshness all for themselves.  I am so excited about what is happening at Vero Beach Elementary School because it can be a model program for teaching kids and also their parents and grandparents that eating plant-based foods is so much better for your health than the highly processed cheap foods you find on the dollar menu at McDonald's or in the boxes in the middle of your favorite grocery store.   

In keeping with my promise to share tips with you, America's parents, here is a list of 20 basic pantry ingredients for your kitchen:

1. red lentils
2. brown lentils
3. garbanzos
4. split peas - green and yellow
5. white beans - Great Northern or navy
6. black beans
7. pinto beans
8. rolled oats
9. basmati rice
10. quinoa
11. multigrain cereal
12. dried whole grain pasta - spaghetti, penne, lasagna
13. couscous - white for pilaf and whole wheat for breakfast cereal
14. pearl barley 
15. ground flax seeds (look for Bob's Red Mill brand)
16. sunflower seeds
17. walnuts
18. pecans
19. almonds
20. apple cider vinegar (Braggs is the brand I recommend)

My advice to parents?  Limit the ice-cream or McDonald's for your children.  Ice-cream or an order of McDonald's french fries every day results in SUPER SIZED CHILDREN.  McDonald's once a month might be OK, but McDonald's once a week or more often will be detrimental to your children's health.  The food engineers are working at creating addictive food flavors.  The result of eating cheap food is a sicker generation of kids with shorter lives than ours.  That is an option we cannot afford.  Eat real food! 

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

  

Fighting Childhood Obesity-It's Planting Time in the Tropics

Paradise Greetings,

The gardens are getting planted! Little greens are popping through the earth! We've got some great garden projects going all over the county!

Lettuce, squash, cukes, swiss chard, tomatoes, basil, and more!

HOLD IT!!! We have a question for the gardeners of the world who are reading this right now. What is your success-based tip for keeping zucchini plants bug-free in the Florida climate? PLEASE SEND TIPS QUICKLY! Help keep the bugs at bay! Help protect our zucchinis!!

On a serious note, this morning I visited with Bonnie Swanson, principal at Vero Beach Elementary School (http://www.indianriverschools.org/). Mrs. Swanson gave me a tour of the new gardens the children are preparing and planting in preparation for their new green school to be built on the same school property. Rain barrels were installed yesterday in the biggest garden. Vero Beach Elementary is one of the schools that lost its "Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program" last year. In the midst of one of our nation's greatest failures, the obesity in children, this school's nutrition program took a major step backwards when it lost this program. Why is it that we are taking away children's access to fresh fruits and vegetables when what we need to do is to INCREASE ACCESS TO FRESH FRUITS AND VEGGIES???

Growing Healthy Kids is working to prevent type 2 diabetes (http://www.healthydiabetescoach.com/) and other obesity-related diseases in children. The school nutrition program plays a very important role in providing nutritious choices. Yet it is not working. This particular school has 88% of the kids eligible for the free and reduced meal program as a result of what Mrs. Swanson calls "situational poverty" as families struggle in a community with no job creation.

What I saw this morning at the school's cafeteria breakfast line was far from nutritious and not what kids need to be fit, smart, and ready to learn. There is much work to be done to improve the nutritional quality of the school food programs in America. That's why we're having a party at the school next Monday - stay tuned!!

Remember, send in your tips for keeping our zucchini plants bug-free!

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

To your perfect health.

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

The Salad Party Revolution Begins at Vero Beach Elementary School!

Paradise Greetings,

Last Wednesday was a great day. It was the day of the First Giant Salad Party for the hundred 3rd grade students at Vero Beach Elementary School. It was a beautiful thing seeing 100 kids eating their vegetables and begging for seconds!! Featuring locally grown vegetables from Kevin O'Dare (Osceola Organics) and Joel Bray (who farms 2 acres of land and gives away the vegetables to those in need), Dr. Ken, from Jupiter, FL., talked with the kids about making healthy food choices. He selected 3 kids to be the chefs of the day. After donning chefs hats and Growing Healthy Kids chef aprons, the trio learned how to make a sharp vinaigrette dressing for their Salad Party. All the kids took home the recipe!

Salad Party Sharp Vinaigrette:
Mix together in a bowl:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
fresh ground pepper
2-3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
Beat in gradually with a whisk or fork:
1/2 cup extra virgin oil oil
You can also whip all the ingredients in a blender at high speed for several minutes.

Here's what you need to know: We need fats -- the GOOD fats (called "unsaturated"), like olive oil. Other good fats are fish (especially wild salmon), avocados, nuts (especially walnuts), olives, and flax seeds. Most of our fat calories should be from these foods. If getting to a healthier weight is on your "to do" list, then cut back on the fat calories you are eating. Use less butter. Use less ranch dressing, use more vinaegrette dressings ("Just Say No to Ranch Dressing" -- can you see it on a bumper sticker??). Switch from 2% milk to 1% milk. Or switch from 1% milk to almond milk. Use less cheese. Eat less meat and eat more fish. You can get frozen wild salmon filets at Walmart now.

Thank you to Andrea Tabor and Erin Mullen from EAT, the Happy, Healthy Lunch Box, for partnering with me for this event. Thank you to Dr. Ken. It was loads of fun! Thank you to our volunteers, Cindy McCall and Barbara Petrillo, the teachers, the principal, Mrs. Swanson, and most of all the KIDS!!! You're all awesome!

What you can do: call your local elementary school and find out how many kids are enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program. At Vero Beach Elementary, 87.73% of the kids are on the program (the second highest rate in Indian River County), with a whopping 80% on the FREE LUNCH PROGRAM. Families are hurting with job losses and feeding our children healthy foods is our priority. Call your school and tell them you want Growing Healthy Kids to hold a Giant Salad Party. Call your elected officials and tell them we need better food choices for the school lunch programs for kids on free and reduced meals. For some of these kids, this is all they eat in a day.

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