Happy Independence Day! If you haven’t pulled out your barbecue pit yet, chances are you will for this 4th of July.

Grilling is a fun way to promote healthy eating for the family. You don’t have to add grease when cooking and there is less clean up! These are just a few of the benefits. Hanging outside together while the food is grilling as a family is also a huge plus!

Here are some easy tips when grilling:

• Thermometers are often not used, but they actually help avoid under cooking and overcooking. So pull out the thermometer.

• Weather affects grilling times. Windy and cool weather will add grilling time and hot weather speeds up cooking

• Most foods will cook better with the lid down. This helps foods cook evenly and thoroughly.

Don’t forget the vegetables. Kids can help wash them and place them in skewers for some great kabobs.
Read more about healthy grilling tips.

Happy 4th everyone!

Healthy Barbecue Tips- Fruits and Vegetables on the Grill

Water is a great way for kids to be active and have a lot of fun.  Fun for parents too!With kids jumping in the pools, lakes and beaches, I wanted to share with you some important water safety rules that all kids should follow:Swimming pool safety:

• there should always be an adult present when kids are in the pool, even backyard pools
• review swimming pool rules with the kids, they are usually posted nearby
• teach kids to walk not run in pool areas, watery floors makes it too easy to slip
• don’t rely on blow up water toys as safety devices for kids who can’t swim, they can easily lose air
• review with your child where the depth markers are and how far is appropriate for their age, height and swimming level
• avoid eating or chewing candy/food while swimming, kids could choke
• remind children not to push or jump on each other while in the pool

Lakes and Ponds

• all of the above
• kids who are not good swimmers should wear a life vest, the bottoms of lakes can change depth
• water shoes may be required for areas that may have jagged edges or debris
• teach kids to avoid swimming nearing weeds and tall grass where they could get tangled

Beaches

• all of the above
• teach kids to face the wave so they know when it is coming
• allow swimming only on beaches that have a lifeguard
• teach kids to swim within your sight, not too far out

You got the grill pulled out and are ready to start barbecuing. A fun family way to cook and eat together enjoying the wonderful summer weather.But don’t forget these safety tips to keep the kids and family safe:Before you start to grill - check and clean the grill

• Make sure the burner tubes are not blocked. Insects often make this their home during winter! Clear blockage and push it through to the main part of the burner.
• Check for cracked or brittle gas tubes. Check for sharp bends in the tubes.
• Move the hoses far away from hot surfaces and dripping hot grease.
• Keep the drip tray or can clean and free of debris
• Check for leaks; always follow manufacturer’s instructions if you smell gas or when you reconnect the grill to the LP gas container.
• If you find a leak, immediately turn off the gas. Don’t attempt to light the grill until the leak is fixed.
• Keep lighted cigarettes, matches, and open flames away from a leaking grill.
• Do not attempt to repair the tank valve or the appliance yourself, always use the services of a qualified appliance repair person.

Now you are ready to barbecue:

• Keep grills at least 10 feet away from the house or any building.
• Do not use the grill in a garage, breezeway, carport, porch, or under a surface that can catch fire.
• When charcoal grilling, never use lighter fluid after the fire has started. Only use fluid to soak briquettes before starting the grill.

When you are barbecuing:

• Use long-handled tools and long barbecue mitts to prevent burns.
• Never use water to put out a fire on a gas grill.
• In case of flare up, turn burners off (in gas grilling). Gas or Charcoal, move food off of fire.

This Monday prepare for the 4th with fruit
Go red, white and blue with pomegranate, bananas and grapes in your salad. Blend strawberries, plain non-fat yogurt and blueberries for a smoothie rich in flavor and antioxidants.

Mondays are a great day to renew Family Health vows. Every Monday, you will find some healthy tip to help your family start the week off on a Healthy Note!

Thanks to Healthy Monday organization for sharing their Monday tips.

During summertime, it can be easy to fall out of some healthy habits - like making sure your child eats breakfast every morning. Perhaps with kids sleeping in or going to camp, it is throwing your morning routine out the window!

Here are some easy, time saving planning tips to help the family stay on their breakfast track:

• some breakfast food can be prepared the night before - like boiled eggs or oatmeal
• set your kids alarm clock to get up 15 minutes earlier to allow time for breakfast
• have the kids backpacks and what clothes they’ll where laid out the night before
• cut up fruit the night before - the kids can eat them whole or in a quick smoothie
• make sure you make time for breakfast also, remember kids model your behavior and learn from your example
• breakfast food doesn’t have to be “traditional” leftovers can make a good breakfast
• shoot for at least 3 food groups
• have your children help plan the breakfast meals for the week

Resources: Healthy Breakfast Pointers for Kids

Kids fun Printable Eat Breakfast Goals

Kid friendly Free Printable Breakfast Tracking Sheet

First Lady Michelle Obama invited children from the Bancroft Elementary School to harvest the vegetables they had planted in March at the White House’s vegetable garden.

The students helped pick the vegetables and then taking it another step further…kids worked with the White House chefs to prepare a meal using the freshly picked vegetables

What I love about Michelle Obama (among many of her inspirational acts) is that she does more than just put on a show for the kids. She is an example and role model for her own kids and those she reaches out to. She uses the vegetables from her garden for her family meals and for formal dinners.

Michelle Obama has really used the garden as a fun way to teach kids about nutrition and the fun of vegetables. By having them help plant and then harvest them, kids are more willing to try vegetables that helped grow.

She continues to remind us that kids need to be involved. It is the best way to help them learn first hand about healthy eating.

More healthy kid eating tips

Georgia State has just introduced a bill that would have schools tracking a child’s body mass index (BMI). So in addition to reading, writing, math and other subjects we may be asking them to track a child’s BMI. Learn more about your child’s BMI.

The bill would require schools to record this score twice a year. That means in addition to teaching there would need to be two days a year where they would have to obtain weight and height measurements and then calculate each child’s BMI.

Other states like Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina and West Virginia have already started requiring schools to measure this.

I have mixed emotions about this. The best place for BMI monitoring is in the pediatrician’s office. Each visit whether it be for routine exam, immunizations or sick visits should always include a quick BMI check. This is really a health issue and needs to be treated as such with proper nutrition counseling, resources and a family discussion of goals to improve the family’s eating and activity habits.

But then I ask myself what about the kids without insurance, who don’t go to the doctor routinely or worse, pediatricians that don’t monitor BMI scores?

I am not here with an easy answer but rather questions to think about:

Do the schools have the resources to add this extra activity? Would it be a very stressful, maybe even embarrassing day for the child who is overweight? Are parents’ given enough information to help understand what a BMI score is? What about healthy eating? Are the kids that don’t eat healthy but happen to be a “normal” BMI score going to get completely overlook? Are these scores accessible to their pediatricians? What are we doing with the data?

I know we have a real problem on our hands, but I am not sure that mandating schools is the answer? How about mandating the health community? For me, I think focusing on providing a good education to kids with a good nutrition education program, healthy meals, PTA awareness and outreach programs and mandated PE classes would be a better use of resources.

What do you think?

Resources: Find out what your child’s Body Mass Index score is.

Learn more about a child’s Body Mass Index score is.

 This Monday shine up your family’s smile.
Skip the dentist and risk losing those pearly whites. Schedule a professional cleaning twice a year, plus a check up for oral cancer, tooth decay and gum disease.

Mondays are a great day to renew Family Health vows. Every Monday, you will find some healthy tip to help your family start the week off on a Healthy Note!

Thanks to Healthy Monday organization for sharing their Monday tips.

I am happy to announce that we are partners with Healthy Kids Challenge.  We share a common vision and goal and by working together we can further our cause to promote healthy kids and healthy families.

What is the Healthy Kids Challenge?

The challenge is to help kids in your life make healthy eating and physical activity choices a habit.

The Healthy Kids Challenge Organization (HKC) helps you do that in a variety of ways:

•  Healthy Me Challenge of the Month is a free monthly E-newsletter that offers a personal healthy eating or physical activity challenge. The focus is on six healthy messages – not weight.  Three to five simple challenges are offered each month. Pick at least one to Take the Challenge for your own wellness and see how many others you can get to Take the Challenge with you!

• A Teaching Toolbox that includes resources with tips you can download. There are options for individuals, families or youth leaders and teachers.

• Options for training and workshops or presentations

• At higher levels of involvement, HKC offers program development

• Specifically for schools, HKC offers a year long distance assistance “School Challenge”. Participating schools receive resources, tips, and help by phone and E-mail with help to put wellness policies into action and help kids reach their best learning potential.

• Special events such as a healthy fundraiser option, Dance for Health™or the middle school Stirring Up Health™ Recipe Contest help you provide fun opportunities with an added learning experience bonus.

Whatever YOU can do…a tiny step or a bigger leap…HKC can help you find something that works. Take the Challenge today and be a *KidLink™, a person who helps kids make healthy eating and physical activity choices a habit.

Learn more about this wonderful organization run by dietitians who are committed to helping you promote healthy families.

Nourish Interactive. is listed on their Healthy Kids Challenge Resource Partners Page for Fun Nutrition Education for Kids!

Father’s Day is this Sunday.  For Free Cards and Gift of Time Certificate that kids can color and customize for a great thoughtful gift for Dad.

It is that time of the year, where kids (adults too!) stop and recognize how great dads are.

There are many ways for kids to thank dad for his fun and loving ways that don’t cost money. With father’s day quickly approaching, we have created some free printable coloring cards, certificates and gift of time certificates that kids can personalize to make a special thoughtful gift for dad.

We have included a list of special gift of time activities children can choose from if they need some ideas.

We took the time to create these father’s day coloring sheets because one of the keys to long term healthy eating habits is associating a positive attitude with nutrition. The more we help kids remember the importance of being active and eating healthy - in fun ways, the more we are helping them form that positive association.

That is why we now have a “Fun Activities” section in our educators’ webpages. Kids’ bookmark activity and tons of free printable nutrition worksheets are also available.

We can learn from the fast food, high sugar, and high fat food manufacturers, who use their characters in all kind of fun ways to promote their food. Let’s continue to work together to move the word, idea, attitude about “nutrition” into the FUN column.

Teachers, counselors, childcare providers, afterschool leaders, parents, and really anyone working with children should feel free to use and distribute these worksheets for educational purposes, so long as the copyright and footer information are left intact.