The Not So Secret Secrets and Actively Active Guide to Healthy Lifestyles

Transcription

1 The Not So Secret Secrets and Actively Active Guide to Healthy Lifestyles A toolkit for healthy lifestyles, green beans, fun and simply feeling better.

2 Thank You The University of Akron s 8 th Annual Nutrition Forum For inviting me today to participate in your important and necessary program

3 Why Me? What Do I Know? Masters of Public Health Administration from the University of Pittsburgh Teacher and Educator Health Care Consultant Mother of two Sustained a weight loss of 50 pounds for over 10 years.

4 Why a book? Tweens respond Wrote story to reach the tween developing age group. Didn t want to preach or be didactic. Tested story and ideas on a control group. Incorporated their suggestions. Easier to take Passing on positive information in characters people like. As Cookie s self esteem is built, so too is the readers as they follow the suggestions offered in the book Food for Thought questions begin discussions and understanding story concepts on a sensitive subject Vanessa Pasiadis puts her accumulated knowledge to work as a teacher and health care consultant and by placing good advice in a framework kids will enjoy a story - ChildhoodObesityNews,coin

5 Who is Cookie Lemon and What is Her Message? Don t Call Me Cookie is a fictional account of a young tween s realization about her weight and how it affects her life. Cookie is an active popular girl dealing with her weight issues. Although fiction, provides a way to transmit fun ways to create and maintain a healthy lifestyle, without preaching. Offers a positive message that food choices can be easy to establish and fun to do, whether shopping, making dinner a family affair or dealing with temptations. Teaches a healthy lifestyle as it tells a story.

6 We all know the problem Now we need to develop a toolkit that will help children and families achieve a healthy lifestyle. After all, we are what we eat!

7 Where we are now At least 13% of all children and adolescents are overweight. Type 2 Diabetes is now affecting the youth population as the numbers of children who are overweight increases Overweight children face social discrimination, resulting in poor self-esteem and depression. Too many tweens are not physically active for at least an hour a day..

8 Share the love no matter what your child s weight. Focus on the positive. Don t make your child feel different because of weight. Gradually incorporate physical activities for the whole family to do together. Guidelines The Surgeon General s Call to Action is an excellent starting point for creating an emotional toolkit for dealing with obesity in children. Be a good role model with healthy foods and activity. Never force weight loss in a child. Work on maintaining current weight until the child grows to full height.

9 Dietary Guidelines New Food Plate with appropriate portion sizes serves as a good way to determine what you eat. Always enjoy your food just eat less of it. Really avoid oversized portions Make sure half your plate is fruits and vegetables Switch to fat free or low fat 1% MILK Watch your sodium intake especially in frozen or canned foods and choose those that have less salt. Drink lots of water and not sugary drinks.

10 Being Actively Active At least 60 minutes of physical activity a day for a child and 30 minutes for an adult! Plan family activities so everyone can enjoy being physical. Go on a daily walk, ride bikes together, do something! Encourage playing outdoors in a safe environment for basketball, baseball, walking, swimming, biking with friends. Limit the amount of sedentary time. Allow computer chatting, video games or TV only after physical activities are over and homework done. Two hours a day is a good rule.

11 Thinking Outside the Box And into the toolkit!

12 Everything in Moderation Portion Control Bag it! Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time and bag them. Crunch Color first Drink Lots of Water Drink at least 2 cups of milk a day or have an equal amount of low fat yogurt or low fat cheese The Don ts Don t Skip Breakfast Don t Eat when you aren t hungry figure out if you are lonely, angry or sad and want food to comfort you. If that is the case, find something to do! Don t eat without thinking about what you are doing. Get Plenty of Sleep!

13 The Hand Trick Use your hand to measure the right portions to eat. Your fist is about a cup. The tip of your thumb is about one tablespoon. Your whole thumb is an ounce. Your palm is the right amount for a serving of meat, fish or poultry.

14 Write What You Bite! KEEP A FOOD JOURNAL Logging what you eat in a journal will help you see exactly what you are eating during the day. It will help you to avoid those urges to eat the wrong foods at the wrong times for the wrong reasons.

15 Cookie Lemon s Toolkit for a Healthy Lifestyle Healthy Snacks graham crackers, green beans, apples, low fat yogurts, cut veggies. Food Journal to write what you bite Water bottle for lots of non-sugary liquids. Tennis shoes and other sports equipment A Hand for portion measurements Breakfast Family Support Structure and Routine SLEEP

16 Call to Action!

17 What s Next Story idealistic but valuable Using book to positively promote healthy lifestyles without preaching. Reach children in all environments and let them relate to the message in the book Encourage them to look for and follow Cookie s adventures in the sequel Call Me Kate Deals with emotional eating Older adolescents Triggers that sabotage a healthy lifestyle and is Not a cakewalk

18 For their invaluable assistance in helping Cookie Lemon and her not-so-secret secrets come alive, I d like to thank: Leona Cuttler, MD, Director, The Center for Child Health & Policy at Rainbow, Chief, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, William T. Dahms Professor of Pediatrics Rainbow Babies & Children s Hospital, Case Western Reserve University Steven C. Shapiro, MD Healthy Kids Healthy Weight Program at Rainbow Anna Lowenstein, Illustrator Hawken School Scribes Unlimited Eva Basilion, MPH