The Learning Connection

The Learning Connection Report from our partner in health, Action for Healthy Kids, aligns perfectly with our model for the Balance My Day™ curriculum and we are thrilled to join them in demonstrating that well-nourished and active kids are better equipped for success!

The Learning Connection: What You Need to Know to Ensure Your Kids Are Healthy and Ready to Learn demonstrates that

• physical activity supports academic achievement,
• well-nourished kids learn better and
• that healthier practices in schools can increase school revenue.

The easy-to-read special report, released in 2013, is a roadmap for parents, educators, school administrators and school volunteers to create healthier school environments so the kids in their lives are better positioned to learn.

It’s a follow-up to Action for Healthy Kids’ landmark 2004 report The Learning Connection: The Value of Improving Nutrition and Physical Activity in Our Schools.

Read the full report:

Learn more about HKC’s Balance My Day™ nutrition curriculum.

Active Play: Challenge, Printable, and SPARK

May is THE month for Active Play! In honor of National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, I challenge you to help kids get more active play by using at least one of the following options:

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Active Play Challenge – May Action Idea

1. Download the Active Play Challenge form and copy enough to give one to each kid.
2. Explain to the kids that you are going to challenge them to feel good, look great and have fun with minutes in motion during the day!
3. Hand out the Challenge forms and explain how to track points each day.
4. Encourage kids to get an to join them in active play, and get extra points. Have the parent/guardian sign the log, and the kids can bring it back to school.
5. At the end of 1 week, discuss with kids their results.

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Family Fun Means Motion - Print this new sheet from our “Active Play, Balance My Day” Healthy6 tip series. It helps you make physical activity fun with tried and true family games! It’s a great way to get the whole family moving.

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Partner Spotlight on SPARK

You may have seen this already, but I want to share that this month in our weekly WOWS newsletters, we are featuring some of our Partners In Health. Since I’m already sharing some of our active play ideas here, I thought I’d mention that our partner, SPARK, has free physical activity and P.E. lesson plans online. Check ‘em out!

Early Childhood Physical Activity Lesson Plans

Elementary School Physical Education Lesson Plans

Middle School Physical Education Lesson Plans

High School Physical Education Lesson Plans

Celebrate Your School Lunch Superheroes!

Celebrate School Lunch Superhero Day on Friday, May 3rd! The day aims to showcase the ways in which school nutrition professionals make a difference for every child who comes through the cafeteria. It also kicks off the School Nutrition Association’s week long School Nutrition Employee Week, May 6-10, 2013.

Here are a few creative, yet simple, ways to join in the celebration:

1. Find simple tips such as the following on SNA’s website: “Announce School Nutrition Employee Week (May 6-10, 2013) on the signs in front of the schools. Make sure that the week is featured on the schools’ calendars and in newsletters. Don’t forget to include the celebration on your menus for the week.”
2. Submit your School Lunch Superhero pictures to be featured on the School Meals That Rock Facebook Page. They have already begun showcasing some Superhero Employees and School Districts, and will continue throughout next week. Inspiring!
3. Hand out these free Certificates of Appreciation for School Nutrition Employee Week from LearningZoneXpress. Simply download and print!
4. Simply offer your school nutrition employees a sincere “Thank you!”

Healthy Kids Challenge Supports Let’s Move: How Cities and Towns Can Make Healthy Food Affordable and Accessible

This is the final challege for April: Make healthy food easier to access in your community. That’s a tall order, but not impossible. We know because we work with communities every day to meet this challenge of making the healhty choice, the easy choice. It takes time, commitment, a plan, and support, to say the least. But don’t take our word for it, read on to see why we fully support Let’s Move!…

“More than 23 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, live in low-income urban and rural neighborhoods that are more than a mile from a supermarket. These communities are known as “food deserts” since they lack access to affordable, nutritious food. Lack of access is one reason why many children are not eating recommended levels of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Food insecurity and hunger among children is widespread. A recent USDA report showed that in 2008, an estimated 49 million people, including 17 million children, lived in households that experienced hunger multiple times throughout the year. Let’s Move! to ensure that all families have access to healthy, affordable food in their communities.

In our effort to fight obesity in children and adolescents, it is important that we focus on increasing access to healthy and affordable foods. Here are some ways that cities and towns can play an important role in providing access to affordable and healthy food options through activities such as the following:

• Establish a Food Policy Council
• Increase enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Support the sale of local foods across the community by offering incentives and encouraging the establishment of farmers’ markets.
• Promote policies that support and protect community gardens.
• Pass food policies that require food and beverages purchased with government funds to meet certain nutrition standards.
• Require access to free and safe drinking water in public places.
• Ensure that residents can access healthy andd affordable food through public transportation—by realigning bus routes, providing free shuttles, or other means.”*

(*Let’s Move!, Make Healthy Food Affordable and Accessible page.)

So to help you along the path of creating a healthier community, here are some more resources:

Let’s Move Faith and Communities Toolkit

Let’s Move Cities, Towns, and Counties

Let’s Move Community Garden Checklist

Let’s Move Healthy Communities

Let’s Move Action Ideas

Let’s Move Faith and Communities Success Stories

For more information on how Healthy Kids Challenge helps communities make the healthy choice, the easy choice, click here.

3 Tips for Our Family Health Challenge

The Challenge: Make it easier for your family to choose healthy foods – at home, eating out, wherever! Building on the ideas from this week’s WOWS newsletter, here are some simple ways to make it happen:

1. Keep grab ‘n go breakfast ideas in reach, like string cheese, whole grain crackers and an apple.
2. Try a new fruit or veggie, like jicama or starfruit, as a family.
3. Flavor ice cold water with lemon, lime, or orange slices to give it a zing when choosing it as a mealtime beverage instead of sugary drinks.

Also, I want to point out that Let’s Move Healthy Families is a great resource, aligned with our principles, providing ideas like:

• Mix vegetables into dishes, like adding peas to rice, or cucumbers to a sandwich
• Choose lean cuts of meat like skinless chicken or extra lean ground beef for hamburgers or pasta sauces
• Have kids drink water at snack time
• Kids are smaller than adults and should eat smaller portions

There are so many ways you can meet this family challenge, but you must first CHOOSE to take action. Today’s a great day to start!

Challenge Special: Snack Attack Activity and Two Printables

Honoring our special April Healthy Foods Challenges, we have 3 freebies to help you meet those challenges this month. Enjoy!

My favorite fruit is red…juicy, summer strawberries!

Snack Attack Activity

1. Ask kids to name benefits of snacks containing less fat and less added sugar.

• Help us feel good and feel good about ourselves
• A healthier body weight
• A healthier heart
• Gives more nutrients to do our best in school

2. Discuss why we make the choices we do. Is it because the snacks:

• Taste good?
• Are easy to fix?
• Satisfy hunger or give energy?
• Are what their parents or someone else buys or fixes?
• Are the coolest ones to eat?

For the entire April monthly activity instructions, click here. This activity is also found on pages 93-94 of the Balance My Day Nutrition Curriculum-Grades 6-8. One of my favorites!

TWO Snack Attack Printables!

Grab ‘n Go Snack Ideas

When on the go, bring along energizing snacks! Whether traveling, camping, or transporting kids to activities, the following ideas are sure to help you satisfy those hunger attacks in a hectic day.

Healthy School Celebration Snack Ideas

Make the next happy celebration a healthy one too! These snack ideas and activities can be as popular as the traditional high fat and sugar party foods!

Healthy Kids Challenge + SPARK + PEP Grant: Long term success

From the Big Apple of New York City to sunny California, Healthy Kids Challenge® (HKC) is a shining star in helping PEP grantees create a healthier school environment that lasts far beyond the three year grant award! HKC, a nonprofit with a staff of registered dietitians, is the exclusive nutrition education partner for SPARK, one of the best physical education programs in the world – a true solution to our problem of inactive and poorly nourished kids.

Since nutrition education was added to the PEP grant requirements in 2010, just 3 years ago, Healthy Kids Challenge has assisted over 50 PEP winners. Whether your school is looking to integrate nutrition education into core curriculum and comply with common core/state standards…or challenge your PE teachers with the task of adding nutrition to their PE/health curriculum, our success with guiding schools speaks for itself.

HKC provides training, resources, and technical assistance for:

• classroom and PE teachers
• after school staff
• school wellness councils and
• community partners.

Customized staff training, comprehensive nutrition education curriculum for grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8 that meets all HECAT (Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool) standards set by CDC, and distance assistance and coaching can all be part of a successful PEP grant award!

Learn more at healthykidschallenge.com or call 1-888-259-6287.

Helpful links:

Healthy Kids Challenge PEP Grant Help

Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Application Info

SPARK 2013 PEP Grant Information

HECAT report for Healthy Kids Challenge

Balance My Day™ Nutrition Curriculum contents and sample pages

Healthy Kids Challenge Resources for Active Schools

Healthy Kids Challenge® supports Let’s Move! Active Schools, and is offering resources and training to help schools provide an active environment for everyone.

Together, healthy eating and physical activity create balance. Healthy Kids Challenge is committed to helping leaders find ways to support kids and families in finding they C.A.N. (connect activity and nutrition), including:

• A partnership with SPARK evidence based PE programs.
• A Move and Learn activity in every nutrition curriculum lesson.
• Active Play is one of the Healthy6 habits.
• Integrating physical activity into every workshop and event. Kids and adults learn better with movement.

We support Let’s Move! Active Schools, “a comprehensive program that empowers school champions – P.E. teachers, classroom teachers, principals, administrators, and parents – to create active environments that enable all students to get moving and reach their full potential.”

Check out our Balance My Day™  Nutrition Curriculum grades K-8:

• Comprehensive classroom lessons integrate math, science and language arts with the CDC HECAT (Health Education Analysis Tool) outcomes.
• Every lesson has a Move and Learn activity to enhance learning and add more minutes of physical activity to the day.

And our Healthy Kids Challenge Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Trainings:

From school-based nutrition education curriculum and food service training to environmental and policy changes that make healthy eating and physical activity the easy choice, workshops are tailored for your audience and school or community. Let us design a training that meets your needs: half day-full day-breakout sessions!

Here’s an example of a recent HKC-SPARK Nutrition Education Training:

Training for staff in the West Orange, New Jersey school district was centered around:

• how to integrate brain breaks for better focus and concentration,
• healthy eating messages sprinkled throughout the school hallways, cafeteria, and classrooms, and
• nutrition education woven into PE and core curriculum K-12.

Hats off to Thomas A. Edison Middle School and the entire school district in West Orange, who truly understand the strategy of using good nutrition and physical activity to create a culture of health in the schools that can do nothing short of fueling student success.

“Teaching our students to maintain a healthy balance with eating and exercise is our top priority. The SPARK program is helping provide the tools and training to achieve this goal,” shared Corinn Giaquinto, Health and Physical Education instructor, Thomas Edison Middle School, West Orange, New Jersey.

We use the most current evidence-based recommendations of Centers for Disease Control and other leading organizations. Use this link for information about HKC strategies and outcomes. Have an active day!

Healthy Kids Challenge + SPARK + PEP Grant: Long term success

From the Big Apple of New York City to sunny California, Healthy Kids Challenge® (HKC) is a shining star in helping PEP grantees create a healthier school environment that lasts far beyond the three year grant award! HKC, a nonprofit with a staff of registered dietitians, is the exclusive nutrition education partner for SPARK, one of the best physical education programs in the world – a true solution to our problem of inactive and poorly nourished kids.

Since nutrition education was added to the PEP grant requirements in 2010, just 3 years ago, Healthy Kids Challenge has assisted over 50 PEP winners. Whether your school is looking to integrate nutrition education into core curriculum and comply with common core/state standards…or challenge your PE teachers with the task of adding nutrition to their PE/health curriculum, our success with guiding schools speaks for itself.

HKC provides training, resources, and technical assistance for:

• classroom and PE teachers
• after school staff
• school wellness councils and
• community partners.

Customized staff training, comprehensive nutrition education curriculum for grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8 that meets all HECAT (Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool) standards set by CDC, and distance assistance and coaching can all be part of a successful PEP grant award!

Learn more at healthykidschallenge.com or call 1-888-259-6287.

Helpful links:

Healthy Kids Challenge PEP Grant Help

Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Application Info

SPARK 2013 PEP Grant Information

HECAT report for Healthy Kids Challenge

Balance My Day™ Nutrition Curriculum contents and sample pages

Role Modeling Tips for Teaching Kids How to Eat Right

One of the best strategies to teach kids healthy habits is to be a healthy role model yourself. After all, actions speak louder than words, especially when it comes to kids!

So, here are some role modeling tips, based on our Healthy6 key messages that will get you and your kids on the path toward healthy habits for life. And the theme for National Nutrition Month this year is also, Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day; a convenient tie-in to these tips today!

1. Fruits and Veggies Every Day. Eat YOUR Veggies! …and your fruits. When kids see you eating them, they’ll be more likely to try them, and like them too.
2. Make Smart Serving Size Choices. Serve yourself appropriate portion sizes, and don’t overeat. Also, talk to kids about your own feelings of hunger and fullness to help them learn portion control, too.
3. Do Your Own Drink Think. Make ice cold water or skim milk your drink of choice at every meal, and your kids will come to expect it as the norm, not the exception.
4. Attack Everyone’s Snacks. Build healthy snacks into your own routine, and sit down and eat them with kids whenever possible.
5. Active Play, Balance Everyone’s Day! Get out there and move around with the kids, whether it’s an organized sport, or just free play. Find your own fitness routine and let the kids see you making it a priority every day.
6. Build Breakfast into Your Day. When kids see you enjoying breakfast every day, they are more likely to join in and start their day that way too.

What are you doing to Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day throughout the month of March?