NATIONAL CHILDHOOD OBESITY AWARENESS MONTH AND YOUR DAILY EXERCISE

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

"Every hour you sit at work increases your mortality eleven percent.  Think about that."

----Dr. Mehmet Oz

Up.  Just get up.  Leave the desk and take a ten minute break.  The company will not fall apart while you take a short break to get up from your desk and walk for ten minutes.  The above quote by America�s favorite doctor, Dr. Oz, really resonates with me as I observe adults who think they are productive by not leaving their desk for hours at a time. 

Did you know that a minimum of ten minutes of exercise gives you heart health benefits?  Are you getting thirty minutes a day at least five days a week?  How many days a week are your kids getting at least an hour of exercise a day?  How do you plan fitness into your day?  Deliberately or by accident?  What about your kids?  Do you schedule recess for yourself every day?   

Fitness guru Richard Simmons recommends that you should never eat lunch at your desk.  Simmons says, �Stop thinking you can eat at your desk.  You need to take 15 minutes and go just eat something.  It�s bad for digestion.  You can get diverticulitis, you can get stomach aches and you can get depressed.�   He added, �We�re not winning the war [on obesity]; we�re losing it.  There are more overweight children, more overweight teenagers�there should be more rules about food.�  Make the commitment to take walk breaks and lunch breaks away from your desk.  Your mind will thank you. 

Reversing America�s childhood obesity epidemic will happen by improving the health literacy of parents.  Here's a challenge:  Be a better role model for your own children.  Let them see you sweat! 

One of my favorite Growing Healthy Kids� T-shirt designs created by Get Shot by Ella designer Ella Chabot promotes the mantra, �Exercise Daily�.  Write these two words on the top of every day�s �To Do� list and plan movement and physical fun into your schedule.  Make it a habit.  Commit to it for 28 days. 

This WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS' column is dedicated to Baby Ellie.  She is the reason our family traveled great distances this week (we calculated over 32,000 miles - ONE WAY) to celebrate her first birthday together.  Ellie is my mother�s first great grandchild, daughter of my nephew, Robbie Heinrich, and his wife, Sara Stout Heinrich.  This child is healthy because her mother plans time to cook and prepare fresh fruits and veggies every week for her.  Sara has scheduled to make access to good food choices easy by planning around what foods are locally grown and in season.  Baby Ellie is the

Baby Ellie with her proud parents, Robbie Heinrich (my nephew), his wife, Sara,
and Stella (the dog, looking for cake crumbs),
at Ellie's first birthday party last weekend

picture of health and that is why I was so happy to deliver a GHK shirt of her own so she can be our youngest ambassador in Kentucky.  

All children deserve access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  Support your local farmers.  Eat rainbows from the garden!  

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Growing Healthy Kids

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3 BACK TO SCHOOL TIPS FOR GROWING HEALTHY KIDS

Big day today.  It's the first day of school for kids in Indian River, St. Lucie, Okeechobee, and Palm Beach Counties.   

Here are three tips you can use to get and keep your kids (and you) on track for great health and a healthy weight this school year. 

1. Eat breakfast every morning.  The importance of having breakfast every day cannot be understated.  It really is our most important meal of the day.  The problem is many adults still have not learned this lesson.  I�ll give you an example.  Last week, I was given the opportunity to speak with the cafeteria managers of a local school district.  I asked a lot of assessment questions and one of them was, �Did you have breakfast today?�  The surprising answer was that less than half of them said yes.  Breakfast is when we get our mental and physical fuel for the day.  Give your kids their fuel.  Be a good role model and give yourself the fuel you need for the day.  
2. Get enough sleep every night.  Did you know that being sleep deprived is a great way to gain weight?  Ask your child�s pediatrician how much sleep your kids should be getting, then get your family started on some good �sleep hygiene� habits.  These include things like having a regular bedtime (even on the weekends), shutting off the TV and videos an hour before bedtime, and not eating a large meal right before bed. 
3. Plan family dinners a couple of nights every week.  We all have busy lives.  Some of the high school students I�ve worked with in some of Growing Healthy Kids� education projects have calendars that look like the Metro subway schedule in Washington, D.C. There is a great value to having time together to talk about the day over a meal your kids helped you shop for and prepare.  Eating dinner together is one of the habits proven to contribute to kids being at healthier weights.  Make it one of your family's winning habits!

 I hope you AND your kids have a great school year! 

From one parent to another, I salute you.

Sincerely,

Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.

One of our Growing Healthy Kids learns how easy it is to make healthy pizzas using whole grain  English muffins.