In the past 30 years, the rate of childhood obesity has nearly tripled nationally. Children between the ages of 10 and 13 who are obese have an 80 percent chance of becoming obese adults. In light of these alarming trends, Naturally Yours Grocery is supporting Quality Quest for Health of Illinois in local outreach to youth and parents in order to teach healthier eating habits.
The two organizations are partnering this month to pilot a workshop that presents easy ways to change eating habits and make it a family commitment. “A lot of people think that eating healthier will be a big change with a lot of adjustment,” Roger Hutchinson, manager of Naturally Yours says, “but there are a lot of small changes a family can make to see a lot of results.” One suggestion Hutchinson makes is switching from white breads to whole grains. He believes the difference will surprise a lot of people.
This is the first time Quality Quest and Naturally Yours have joined forces to focus on a common area of interest. “We have a Quest team working right now on a healthy lifestyles project that is looking at childhood obesity locally and dissecting the factors that contribute to this issue,” says Julie Gray, Quest communications manager.
The workshops include stations of activities for students and their parents. A “How-To-Healthy-Snack” station allows students to create snacks they can do at home they normally wouldn’t think of eating. “Play-doh Proportions” allows students to draw how big their portions of meats, vegetables and grains should be. The last station allows kids to play Bingo and learn vocabulary about healthy eating such as what BMI means. “I am glad to have something related directly to healthy eating for our students and parents so we can give them good information as they makes decisions about a healthy lifestyle,” Becky Gardner, Principal of Peoria Christian says, “with both parents and students involved, they can make more informed decisions together about being healthy.” Peoria Christian’s workshop was held with students and parents November 11th.
The second workshop was held at Saint Marks on November 12th. “We hope to turn this into a long-term project and volunteer opportunity,” says Hutchinson. For more information, please call 309-282-8820.
