LEARN TIPS FOR GROWING HEALTHY KIDS AT THURSDAY'S FREE EVENT

Free Educational Extravaganza for Parents and Kids

This Thursday, September 13, you are invited to join us for an Educational Extravaganza when Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. partners with Jetson TV and Appliance Center to highlight great food, nutrition, and physical fitness at home, school, work and play.   

If you want new ideas for delicious, easy, healthy lunch boxes and tips for cutting back on sweets, sodas, and calories, then bring the kids to this event or come alone.  

Here's a sample of Thursday's menu:

• Meet Michael Haggerty, founder of Hero Pops, and learn about his healthy frozen delights made from locally grown fruits. 
• Kids will learn to read food labels from The Nutrition Detectives.   
• The new limited edition Growing Healthy Kids jewelry line, created by The Petrillo Collection, will be shown for the first time.  A portion of sales will be donated to Growing Healthy Kids. 
• Pick up your autographed copy of Nourish and Flourish, the just-released book for parents from Growing Healthy Kids project founder, Nancy Heinrich.  

The Educational Extravaganza takes place at the Jetson Vero Beach location at 1231 20^th Street (corner of 12^th Avenue and SR 60, across from the main post office in downtown Vero) from 4:00 to 6:30 PM this Thursday, September 13.   Admission is free.  A donation of a gently used household item for the Growing Healthy Kids Thrift Store is appreciated.  

Adults will be entered in a chance to win door prizes donated by companies including Vero Beach Hotel and Spa, Coste d�Este, Vittorio�s Pizza, and Electrolux.  Event parking is plentiful.

Additional companies participating in the Growing Healthy Kids Education Extravaganza include:

• �         Florida Outdoor Center (meet Kristin and Mike Beck and learn about kayaking and paddle boarding for kids and families)
• �         Quality Health Care (meet Diane Kingsley-Weir from the office of Dr. Deepti Sadhwani)
• �         Natalie�s Orchid Island Juice Company
• �         Pampered Chef (demos for making healthy snack for kids)
• �         Organo Gold (organic beverages)
• �         24/7 Fitness (with information about their new free fitness programs for kids)
• �         Tupperware (storage ideas)
• �         Lisa Tylutke (clinical aromatherapist)
• �         Juice Plus (get all your fruits & veggies)
• �         Tri Vita Works (products to help with inflammation)
• �         Chair Massages by Sean Holland
• �         Local author Lynn E. Mueller, with her first children�s book, Herbert the Hedgehog

For more information, contact Barbara Petrillo at 772-205-7133 or email her at barb@thepetrillocollection.com.

Growing Healthy Kids, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in Vero Beach creating solutions to improve the health and lives of kids through collaborations with organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs of Indian River County, Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program, The Willow School, and Vero Beach Elementary School. 

SAVE THE DATE!

Thank you for helping us GROW HEALTHY KIDS!  

See you this Thursday!

Nancy Heinrich

GHK Poster Contest Deadline Extended

Dear Parents and Kids,

We want ideas from the kids about what being healthy means to them. So we are extending the deadline to September 30, 2011 for the 1st Annual Growing Healthy Kids Poster Contest!

The theme is "Healthy Eating...Healthy Me". Any medium can be used on an 8-1/2" x 11" paper. The theme words must be included as part of your poster. Prizes include Publix gift certificates, personalized herb gardens, and T-shirts printed with your design.

Mail your entries, along with a $5.00 entry fee* (payable to "Growing Healthy Kids") to:
Growing Healthy Kids
3300 43rd Avenue, #4
Vero Beach, FL 32960

Include the following information with each poster:
Parent name
Parent phone or email
Address
Child's name
Child's school grade in 2011/2012
School name

*$1.00 entry fee for families enrolled in Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program

Help us reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. Kids' voices can help teach others.

(Photo is from a GHK field trip to visit a local hydroponic farmer in Grant, Florida)

Growing Healthy Kids is a movement to improve the health - and lives - of America's - and the world's - kids, one child and one garden at a time.

In gratitude,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

One Child's Future: Diabetes and Colorectal Cancer

Last week a woman I worked with for the day told me she was �on a diet.� If you�ve read my book, Healthy Living with Diabetes: One Small Step at a Time (www.ourlittlebooks.com), then you know I hate the word �diets� because a short-term diet doesn't teach you what you need to know about how to eat healthy for the long-term ("for the rest of your life").

This woman is clearly obese and in her early 30�s. Getting to a healthier weight will not only add quality (less stress on her joints, decrease her chance of getting high blood pressure and cholesterol, sleep apnea and obesity-related cancers such as cancer of the breast) but also quantity to her life. Her comment that she is on a diet opened a window of opportunity for me.

Within 5 minutes of our conversation, I learned that her 12 year old son has only one bowel movement a week. My teaching immediately zoomed in on teaching her about what dietary fiber is (the undigestible part of plants that give them structure), what foods have it (only foods that are grown from the Earth like beans, lentils, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains), and how much of it we need to eat every day (14 grams of dietary fiber per 1,000 calories we eat, or around 28 grams a day if you eat around 2,000 calories a day). She started writing down everything I said to her, as I quickly sensed her worry and quiet desperation for her son.

Let's talk about something most people don't talk about. It is normal to have at least one bowel movement every day. It is not normal to have one just once or twice a week. Not getting enough dietary fiber is common in children, particularly those who are on the free and reduced lunch program in public schools and get 2 of their 3 daily meals at school. Fiber in foods is what gives us the sense of fullness so we stop eating. Lack of dietary fiber leads to overeating, obesity, diabetes, and certain cancers like colorectal cancer. This woman and her 12 year old son are part of the majority of Americans who eat far less than half the dietary fiber needed.

There is no to little fiber in fruit juices, fruit drinks, Capri sun drinks, white breads, �honey wheat� breads, McDonald�s or Burger King items, sodas, and energy drinks.

Become a fiber detective. Read food labels. Aim for at least 28 grams a day (the current recommendation for American men is 35 grams a day according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, see www.usda.gov).

I am 100% confident that the homework assignment I gave last week to the woman was completed in one day. She learned a key piece of knowledge and the skills to get herself on the path to a healthier weight and help prevent a future diagnosis of diabetes and/or cancer in her son.

Growing Healthy Kids - improving the health - and lives - of America's kids, one child and one garden at a time. Growing Healthy Kids is a movement to reverse childhood obesity. Because failure is not an option.

In kindness,
Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids

PS -- "The Nancy Rule" says choose breads and pastas with 4 or more grams of dietary fiber per slice or per serving and the first ingredient includes the word "WHOLE".

Record highs and the beans are blooming!

Paradise greetings,

With a foot of new snow in Des Moines, we are blessed to live in the tropics, enjoying record highs while the rest of the nation shivers. This morning, while driving my son to school I glimpsed an incredible sunrise. After dropping him off, I altered my morning work plan and drove over the bridge to South Beach. What a perfect way to begin an awesome day! Some stretching and gentle breathing exercises to wake up the bod with the power of the mighty sun bathing Earth in magnificent beauty.

The glory of nature. This is what Growing Healthy Kids is about. Connecting kids with the glory of nature. Learning that the healthiest foods come from the earth. Learning how to grow them. How to harvest them. How to prepare them. How to enjoy them. Respecting nature. Respecting ourselves. Respecting each other. We can overcome the nature deficit kids have by acting deliberately and with purpose.

Yesterday I visited the garden at The Willow School. The beans have the most beautiful, dainty purple blossoms on them and are ready to get staked. The lettuce is big enough that I asked the kindergarders when we are going to have our first salad party. The bean and lettuce seeds were provided by Florida Department of Health's Cancer Prevention section. Eating healthier foods such as fruits and vegetables is important for preventing cancer.

This morning on the news, scientists were celebrating the decreased cancer rates one minute, then talking about their expectation that cancer will be increasing because of the American obesity epidemic. This is why we are planting gardens.

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

To your perfect health,

Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids