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At Kangaroo Boot Camp at Fairfax County's Keene Mill Elementary School, the students are acting like gym class is like a membership in a great health club. They’re pumping iron, working with exercise balls, scaling a rock wall and snarfing up healthy snacks in an after-school program to which their parents are also invited. The physical education teacher there says it’s important to offer the chance to students, and to involve the parents. Kangaroo Boot Camp is just one of many after-school exercise programs sprouting up across the country.
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There’s no doubt that football players at all age levels have gotten bigger over the years and that, now, there seems to be a prejudice in favor of being overly large if you want to play serious ball. So, some potential players with a not-so-large body frame are packing in the calories and lifting weights to bulk up. Sounds like not that bad a thing, until you start looking at just what KIND of food those kids are finding to help them fill out the uniform. Often they’re not paying attention to the fat content; they’re just looking at calories consumed. Never mind that some of the star athletes already out on the field could technically be classified as obese. One nutrition expert said that more of a concern is that these students are learning very unhealthy eating habits, or adopting habits that will not serve them well once they become less involved in sports. Have you seen the pressure to be big in your school? Have you seen the ill effects of large athletic bodies turned to just plain large bodies? We’d love to hear your stories.
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Wishing all our Creating Healthy Kids readers a wonderful Thanksgiving!
If you're cooking for the holiday, perhaps it's not too late to lighten things up a bit with some yogurt-based recipes?
or
Need an interesting topping for your turkey?
Raspberry Pecan Turkey Chutney
This recipe comes to us from Chef Autumn Brennan and the rest of our friends at Organic Valley Family of Farms.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium onion
3 celery ribs, minced
1 cup pecan halves, chopped
1 teaspoon tamari
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1 bag frozen red raspberries
1 cup low fat plain Stonyfield Farm Yogurt
Directions
Sauté vegetables and pecans in butter until tender. Add tamari, spices, and balsamic vinegar, let simmer on low heat for 2 minutes. Fold in raspberries and let simmer for 5 more minutes, cover and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes before folding in the yogurt. Serve warm over tender turkey breast or as a chutney or dipping sauce. Yields 4- 6 servings.
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Recently I listened to a radio report on NPR by a high school senior who lives in California. She talked about the trend in her high school where students are “dealing” junk food now that the school’s vending machines no longer supply the “daily fix”. How surreal is this scenario-students trafficking and selling candy, chips, and soda like drugs?!
The way I view this situation is that although the California legislators meant well by banning junk food from the school environment, this outcome of a “black market” shows they took the wrong approach. What is really needed is nutrition education so that the students themselves can learn to make their own educated choices about what they want to eat.
It is somewhat similar to the anti-smoking and anti-drug campaigns that have been waged. We need an “anti-junk food campaign”. My approach as a teen advocate for healthy eating is not to ban or take away treats, but rather to educate students as to why they should choose a healthier alternative. Once armed with this knowledge, it is then time to make sure healthier, nutritious, and good tasting snacks are readily available. It should be about choice and becoming an educated consumer. Taking something away just makes you want it more, hence the enterprising market for “illegal” junk food.
--Arielle
Arielle Carpenter is a high school senior who advocates for healthy eating among her peers. Arielle drops in here at Creating Healthy Kids every now and then to give us her impressions from the front lines.
Got a comment for Arielle? Or a question? Send it in using the comment box below and she'll reply in a future post here in Creating Healthy Kids.
See what Stonyfield is doing about junk food vending machines in schools.
With more children being overweight in the U.S., there’s an increased risk of prediabetes—a metabolic problem that can progress to Type 2 diabetes and its accompanying cardiovascular problems. Study results announced this week, shown and discussed in this Associated Press article, state that while 1 in 14 average adolescents have the prediabetes condition, a full 1 in 6 of overweight adolescents has it. A key researcher with the study says, “Intensive lifestyle interventions such as more physical activity and an improved diet can likely stop the condition from progressing.”
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**Are you a strong woman? Visit Strong Women Daily News.
**Ever wonder about life on the farm? Visit The Bovine Bugle. It's more real than reality tv.
The Maine Coalition on Smoking or Health announced this week that public opinion seems to be in favor of government and schools doing more to curb obesity, including a ban on junk food in schools. Twenty percent of Mainers don’t believe schools are doing enough to promote exercise and healthy eating, according to this report. The poll surveyed 400 Maine adults between September 12 and September 25, 2005.
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One high school senior in Connecticut thinks that one reason Americans are so fat is that they have a preconceived notion of what tastes good, so they don't give healthy foods a chance. So, the senior helps start a nutrition club, with the help of a nurse practitioner, according to the Stamford Advocate. The club then surveyed the junior class to find that pizza was the preferred lunch choice because no other good-tasting choices were available. “Students want better salads, sandwiches and other options,” Mike Alcan said. Taste tests of some healthy snacks followed. Meanwhile, Alcan is eating better. We tip our lids to the go Healthy Early Club.
ABOUT CREATING HEALTHY KIDS
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** Creating Healthy Kids is part of Stonyfield's Menu for Change program.
We're looking for a few good bloggers here at Stonyfield Farm and Creating Healthy Kids.
If you are a school student, a concerned parent, a teacher or a school official, we'd love to hear about the state of school food at your school.
Students...write to us occasionally and tell us what's on the menu at your school and what you thought of it.
Parents...are you watching what your child eats while at school? Are you serving on a committee reviewing food and vending policies? We'd welcome your periodic reports here in Creating Healthy Kids.
Teachers and administrators: How do you see food choices affecting your students? Are you involved in projects to change the menu, or increase physical activity levels at your school? Is your state considering new legislation?
We can't promise you fame or glory, but we can promise you some space to air your gripes and the occassional discount on yogurt.
Contact Chief Blogger Chris Halvorson directly at chalvorson@stonyfield.com and put "School blogger" in the subject line. Chris will give you all the training you need to take part in the Creating Healthy Kids blog.
Today we introduce Arielle Carpenter, a high school senior who is nearly making a living out of fighting junk food in the schools and carrying a message about healthy eating to her peers. Arielle will be dropping in here at Creating Healthy Kids every now and then to give us her impressions of the challenges of eating well and eating healthy if you're a high school student in America today.
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My name is Arielle Carpenter and I am a high school senior waging a campaign against childhood obesity. I became a teen advocate for healthy eating about three years ago when I started high school and saw what my peers were eating for lunch - namely junk food from the school's vending machines. I began my grass roots campaign to educate children and adolescents about the importance of making better nutritional choices.
I started by writing to the school district's superintendent and he in turn referred me to the School Menu Planning Committee. From there I got involved in trying to make healthy changes, such as asking that prepared salads be brought out into the courtyard for sale (in South Florida that is where the majority of students eat). I pursued my quest by sponsoring Nutrition Awareness Days where I gave out literature and samples of healthy snacks that were donated by manufacturers.
I continue to promote making healthy choices, but it is not an easy battle, as evidenced by what many food manufacturers market to kids. I now focus on giving interactive Power Point presentations to lower and middle school classes and these have been very well received. I am always on the lookout for products that I think my peers and other adolescents will enjoy that I can offer to them as a sample instead of "junk food". I am happy to report that there have been numerous companies who have supported my efforts by sending me boxes of healthy snacks that I have been able to give away during my presentations. I stress that children must become educated consumers, learn to read labels, and make healthier choices when it comes to choosing what they want to eat. I have borrowed the phrase that youth under the age of 18 must learn to "Vote With Your Fork", meaning that although we cannot vote in an election, we can voice our opinion that we do not want junk food by purchasing healthier foods.
I would like to expand my campaign and have others join me to get the word out so that together we can try and stop this dangerous trend in childhood obesity. Feel free to contact me through this blog and we can work together to bring about change.
--Arielle
[You can leave a comment for Arielle here by using the "Comment" feature below. If you have a question for her, send it in the same way and we'll be sure she answers it soon!]
We're looking for a few good bloggers here at Stonyfield Farm and Creating Healthy Kids.
If you are a school student, a concerned parent, a teacher or a school official, we'd love to hear about the state of school food at your school.
Students...write to us occasionally and tell us what's on the menu at your school and what you thought of it.
Parents...are you watching what your child eats while at school? Are you serving on a committee reviewing food and vending policies? We'd welcome your periodic reports here in Creating Healthy Kids.
Teachers and administrators: How do you see food choices affecting your students? Are you involved in projects to change the menu, or increase physical activity levels at your school? Is your state considering new legislation?
We can't promise you fame or glory, but we can promise you some space to air your gripes and the occassional discount on yogurt.
Contact Chief Blogger Chris Halvorson directly at chalvorson@stonyfield.com and put "School blogger" in the subject line. Chris will give you all the training you need to take part in the Creating Healthy Kids blog.
ABOUT CREATING HEALTHY KIDS
* Subscribe by using the box at the upper left and you'll get entries direct to your e-mail.
** Creating Healthy Kids is part of Stonyfield's Menu for Change program.
Left: That's our CE'Yo, Gary, in the midst of our organic yogurt products for kids. (Pssst...those aren't all his kids and some of them are in high schol now!)
We kind of liked seeing the news wires light up over the last few days with the story of how parents are more often turning to organic food for their babies and toddlers because of their concern over pesticides. This is exactly why we produce a line of organic yogurt for babies and toddlers. We were proud to be mentioned as one company producing the kinds of healthy products parents are looking for now.
An Associated Press article this week was spurred on by a brand new study (which we reported on already in our Moos from the Farm e-newsletter in September--go here to subscribe!) that showed, in a small sampling of children, a "dramatic and immediate" response after the children ate organic food exclusively for a short period of time. Pesticide residues in their bodies were undetectable after just five days. The findings suggest that children are exposed to chemicals mainly through food, not through spraying in homes or other sources. (The health effects of pesticide residues in children are as yet unknown.)
This week's article notes that sales of organic baby food have jumped nearly 18 percent since 2004, which is double the growth of organic food sales overall. The response of one parent may say it all:
"The pesticide issue just scares me — it wigs me out to think about the amount of chemicals that might be going into my kid."
While scientists are still trying to figure out how pesticides affect children, a key researcher in this EPA-funded study points out that it tooks years to prove the health hazards of lead.
Last year, Stonyfield worked with the Environmental Working Group to produce a Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce, which you can still get, downloadable here.
We'd love to know your thinking on this important issue. Take our Friday Parenting Polls below and you can see how your attidudes might compare with other parents of babies and toddlers.
**You can also read our Wellness e-newsletter about organics...
**Or pay a visit to our entire Organics section, where you'll learn a lot, we promise...
**Or, just go check out The Bovine Bugle, where an organic dairy farmer tells about his daily life on the farm.
