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!

"...Albertsons...where we are crazy about food!"

Attention all shoppers!

The Network for a Healthy California is here and going to show you how easy it is to add fruits and veggies to any meal! Stop on by the produce section and sample their Vegetable Quesadillas!
And get a F-R-E-E cookbook too!



















Appoximatley 170 shoppers stopped by our table and sample our delicious Vegetable Quesadilla. The recipe was simple and easy to follow. We made them with fresh roma tomatoes, green bell peppers, green onions, unsalted canned corn and Mexican Four Cheese made with 2% Milk. When you make the Vegetable Quesadilla at home, add chicken or lean cuts of beef if you like.
Or try topping the quesadilla with homemade salsa and guacamole!


The goodie bags had the cookbooks; don't haveone?

No worries!

For these Healthy Living Recipes and the Vegetable Quesadilla featured at today's food demo, go to... http://www.cachampionsforchange.net/en/Recipes.php

I'm a WHOLE WHEAT donut!

Yesterday, I went to the "Go Play! Get Fit! Youth Day" at Tidelands Park, Coronado.

It was so much fun!






















I helped the Network for a Healthy California with their station! We had the 'Carrot Hop,' 'Lettuce Dribble,' 'Tater Tot' and 'Cucumber Javelin.'


As Mike, Larissa, and I were setting up the games, I noticed a group wearing these brownish donut floaty things. At this "Donut" Station, the participants wore the donuts and had a relay race! The kids were having a blast! They would run and some would topple over! They had huge smiles on their faces...me too as I watched them.



On the topic about "donuts," I found it a bit amusing that "donuts" were at a health event. Don't get me wrong... I like to eat my sugar donuts once in a blue moon...so maybe these "donuts" were made with ingredients of 100% whole wheat flour, no high fructose corn syrup and no preservatives!

Here is the link to Go Play! Get Fit! event...
http://www.goplaygetfit.com/

In 2004, the Greater San Diego Recreation and Park Coalition for Health and Wellness was formed with the mission to create healthy communities by advocating Greater San Diego Area Recreation and Parks Agencies as a first choice for health and wellness activities. Go Play! Get Fit! Youth Day was developed to highlight that mission and educate area youth. In 2005, the Cities of Carlsbad, Encinitas, Escondido, and Vista participated in the first annual event serving almost 250 youth. The following year saw a dramatic increase in participation expanding to 10 agencies and over 750 youth. The huge potential for growth and reaching out to even more youth in San Diego County led organizers to choose Balboa Park as the venue in 2007. It included 14 agencies and over 1100 youth. Activities included a variety of physical challenges, exposure to lifelong activities, educational resources and much more.

Flaming Hot!

Michele and I teach a lesson about the Nutrition Facts Label. We have the students compare the labels of two snacks; pretzels and 'Flaming Hot Cheetos.' For some reason, every time we mention the words 'Flaming Hot Cheetos,' there is at least a hand full of students asking us if we are going to serve them some. REALLY, are they serious? Well, I guess it doesn't hurt to ask.

So between the pretzels and Cheetos, which one do you think is a healthier choice? Give yourself a pat on the back if you picked PRETZELS!!!! As part of their taste test, we served them honey pretzel sticks.

Our goal for this lesson is that students will choose healthier snacks and read the nutrition facts label.

As a health educator, it is a great feeling to have when students are actually applying what they learn from the lessons. One example is from our logo contest ... a student drew this picture and I love it!

I hope you do too!

(The "Red" thing is the Flaming Hot Cheeto, but the student spelled it as the 'Hot Chose'... "I will destroy you")

(The "Yellow" hero with the green cape is something, but let's say it's a banana lol... and this hero is using its super powers of the pink eye-rays to zap the 'Hot Chose.' As for what the "Yellow" hero is saying, it looks like "Eat you that way.")

Draw Me!

Nutrition Link had a logo contest and a student drew us. I would say that the picture represents me pretty well!

Interesting questions...

"Ask Crystal" is a forum where students can type in a question (hopefully nutrition related) that they would like to know more about. Here are some questions that made me laugh.

"Why can't we eat trash?", asked a 3rd grader.

"Why are your teeth so big?", asked a 3rd grader.

"Does meat is the healthy food?", asked a 5th grader.

"When you but shampoo in your hair how does it work?", asked a 5th grader.

"Why dont you bring ur real teeth?", asked a 5th grader.