FRIAR FIT!

Ever thought about getting some physical activity in before a baseball game?



Well now you can! Come join the Pad Squad for a quick 15 minute Instant Recess! (It started one hour before the scheduled game).




Kids of all ages meet at Park at the Park and move their bodies! My favorite movement is when we did the "umpire call." We put our right arm in front of our bodies and pulled back...making the call, "You're out!"

The game was exciting! The Padres won 4-1! Plus, there was a home run too!

Another exciting part of this baseball game outing was seeing three of my students there with their friends and family. (Pictured above is one my 3rd grade students)! Nutrition Link able to give the Logo Contest Finalists tickets, courtesy from the Padres Charity Ticket Program.

For more information about Friar Fit, please go to...
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/sd/community/friarfit.jsp

Wanna be a Rock Star!

Want to have the best of both worlds?

Start your day off right!

EAT BREAKFAST!

My fun trip to the grocery store inspired me to write a story about cereal.

Cereal Hype!
Pretty Packaging at the Grocery Store

Walking down the cereal aisle, I caught myself running towards an orange and blue colored box of cereal bars that featured a musical pop star on the package. The cereal bars had edible magenta colored music notes on it and I could get free bonus stickers. It may seem silly and strange for a 25-year-old female to jump for joy over a box, but that was when I realized that the marketing team did their job. They got me!

Since this food item was in the cereal aisle, it must mean that it is good for me right? It has been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and the front of the box declared “good source of fiber” in bold letters. Yes, fiber that good nutrient we need in our bodies for digestion. Then my brain switched over into health educator mode and my conscience yelled at me, “It’s just good advertising, put it back on the shelf!”

Now imagine you are grocery shopping with your child and (s)he reacts to the flashy packaging of the product. How do you respond? Would you buy it before reading the nutrition label? Or would unit price or total cost be your first thought? Or, would you buy it in response to your child’s urging? Before you decide, it is important to remember that besides being a parent, you are also a consumer and companies are very interested in the choices that you make. Corporations spend an estimated $60 billion a year to market food specifically to children, while the federal government budgets less than 1% of that to fight obesity annually.

The main outlet for this kind of marketing is television programming. A recent study conducted in 2007 focused on food advertisements shown during Saturday morning programming from 7 to 10:30 a.m. Of the 907 food commercials, 72% were for foods high in fats, oils and sugar. Of the 17% of advertisements for fast foods, only 2% could be considered healthy foods. Lastly, cereal commercials accounted for 44% of all food advertisements seen on television. It seems corporations agree with the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day!