Everyone is busy getting their kids back to school.  What a perfect time to take a little break and bring the kids to a Family Night that will mix fruits and vegetables and lots of FUN.  Nourish Interactive has been working with Fresh Choice to reach out to kids and promote healthy eating.  With September being National Childhood Obesity Awareness month, it is a reminder to us how important healthy foods and daily activity is for kids.

We are happy to let our San Mateo, CA and nearby Peninsula cities know that the Fresh Choice Restaurant in San Mateo will host its First Family Night.  Nourish Interactive will be there with nutrition education games to make fruits and vegetables fun for kids.

Take a night off from cooking and enjoy fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables from their local farm while the kids have some fun learning about healthy food choices.

Just a few of the FREE & FUN nutrition activities for kids:

• Take a picture with Chef Solus
• Play Nourish Interactive Games- winner of Parents’ Choice Seal and Children’s Library Association Award
• Play tic-tac-toe   The vegetables versus Chef Solus
• Coloring fruits and vegetables while kids learn where produce really comes from!
• Spin the wheel, land on a fruit or vegetable and win a prize!
• Healthy eating out tips for parents to take home.
• Each child will have their name entered into a contest and have a chance to win a Wii game system.

Play the Yummy Drops Fruit Game and automatically get a FREE Kids meal coupon for Fresh Choice Restaurant!

More information:

Family Night event at Fresh Choice Restaurant in San Mateo, CA

Fresh Choice and Nourish Interactive Partnership

Nourish Interactive partnered with Fresh Choice!

Fitness is a team sport

Ask a friend with similar fitness goals to exercise with you this week!  Walks, hikes and sports like basketball and tennis are more fun with two.  Be a great role model for the kids

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.

Four factors that can make all the difference in promoting a healthy weight child.

1. Involve your child in grocery shopping and cooking
2. Avoid having “food rules” like finish all your food on your plate
3. Get the kids playing actively inside and outside
4. Make being active a priority

These are based on new research released by the SymphonyIRI and FMI completed in April 2010.  The study reports “We have found that just a few differences in behaviors can make the difference between the path to overweight and obesity, and that of maintaining healthy weight children.”

Related resources from Nourish Interactive:

Cooking with Kids Tips

Kids Daily Exercise Needs Article

Improving Kids TV Habits Article

Keep Kids Active During Summer Article

Online BMI Calculator- A free tool for parents to check their child’s BMI

BMI tool for children- Instead of a BMI percentile score, children receive positive messages about improving their exercise and nutrition habits!

Learn about our free interactive online games for kids – The fun way to learn about nutrition!

The Surgeon General Regina Benjamin was interviewed earlier this month and she really emphasized the need for fun as part of a key strategy in fighting childhood obesity.

She said that kids need to find activities that they enjoy so that exercise is not viewed as a chore but rather “fun”.  We all like to have fun, so if kids combine something they love to do as part of their exercise regime, then it makes it more enjoyable and something they are more likely to stick with.

I could not agree with her more!   She also said it was important to talk to kids about activity goals rather than “weight” goals.

Have them make a list of the things they like to do and focus on the ones that involve being active

Create family time and make having physical activity time a priority.  This can be the most challenging part, not to let the other little stresses of the day takeover and before you know it, the activity time has come and gone.

Resources to help you get started:

Family Fitness Tips, Being Active and Fit

Turn Off the TV Tips – Fun Activities for Kids

Kids Daily Exercise Needs Article
How To Get The Children Off The Couch And Get Moving!

Improving Kids TV Habits Article
How to Reduce Kids TV Time and Unhealthy Snacking

Keep Kids Active During Summer Article
Get kids active during summer and avoid too much TV time.

A new poll suggests that parents are concerned about the growing childhood obesity crisis in America but they are not recognizing that their child may be overweight.  This is a huge disconnect and we have to ask ourselves “why?’

Why are Americans not seeing that their own child may be overweight or obese and could be facing serious illness as they grow older?   There are several reasons that parents are not seeing the problem:

• the child has been putting on weight slowly, over time, so it is less noticeable
• kids overall (25-30% of kids are overweight or obese) are bigger so maybe the overweight child looks to be a normal size in comparison to the other kids
• parents may be holding on to the notion that “a plump baby or child is a healthy one”

I have children, myself, although grown, and I know as a mother it is not easy.  You don’t want to point out their weight and make them feel self conscious.  We love our kids and we don’t want to focus on their problems but rather on their achievements, we want to be supportive.

We are in danger of having the first generation that will be sicker and die younger than their parents.  How can we change this if we don’t recognize the problem in our home?

The best way to fight childhood obesity is by identifying issues early.  Have your pediatrician calculate the child’s BMI to age percentile as a starting point and see where your child falls.  Although this is not exact, it does give you a guideline and starting point for discussion.

Focus less on body image and more on their eating habits and getting a balanced meal.  Help your child be more active by finding activities they enjoy and activities that you can do together as a family.  Your pediatrician and dietitian can really help you curb eating habits with meal planning tips and suggestions.

And, it is so important to keep changes positive and something for the whole family instead of singling out the child.  Remember, that even small changes will add up over time.  These small changes will help your child build healthier habits and be a healthier person in the long run.

Resources to help you get started:

BMI tool

Pediatrician visit discussion sheet by age (just print and take to your next visit)

Setting healthy goals as a family guide

Easy tips on how to get the family moving this summer

help the kids learn about the fun of being healthy, play nutrition games

Pencil in some push-ups!

Get to know your schedule. Look at the week ahead and find several 30-minute blocks when you and the family can use for exercise. Write them on your calendar and look back next Monday to see how you did!

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.

Resources:

Printable – Write in your daily activity worksheet

Kids Daily Exercise Needs Article
How To Get The Children Off The Couch And Get Moving!

Improving Kids TV Habits Article
How to Reduce Kids TV Time and Unhealthy Snacking

Keep Kids Active During Summer Article
Get kids active during summer and avoid too much TV time.

Last Saturday was National Get Outdoors Day. This is a new remembrance day so many of us may have missed it. But not to worry because all these special health oriented holidays are here for one reason, and that is to serve as a prompt, a gentle reminder, that we all need to take steps to eat healthier and be active every day.

What I love about these little special days, is you can turn to the kids and help them get jazzed about doing something active because it is a ‘new’ event! You can tell the kids, “hey we need to celebrate “National Get Outdoors Day” what special outdoors activity should we do?”  Make it important and a fun celebration for the family.  Kids pick up on our excitement (unless their teens!) and the littlest things can generate enthusiasm!

So next weekend, have the family celebrate this new event by picking some special outdoor activity to do as a family together.  It also gives the family an opportunity to talk about what fun outdoor activities you might enjoy and the importance of getting outdoors and playing.  Fresh air and fun!  Being active is so important for the body and with our new high tech environment, kids need some reminding – in a fun positive way.

Here are some ideas and resources to help you get started:

Tips from the organization that promotes Get Outdoors Day

Children and Nature Organization and the Grass Stain Guru great outdoor suggestions for families

Fun outdoor activities list-  physical activity ideas and outdoor games for kids PDF

Being active and fit tips

Being active agreement page

Physical activity tracking sheets

Walking tracking sheets

It’s Father’s Day this weekend and we have some new and very cute free cards and “Best Father of the Year” certificates for kids.  We managed to sneak in some healthy foods and messages in them.

Holidays are a really wonderful opportunity because kids are excited and they know it is a special day.  Kids want to be involved and here is a fun way to let them make some special gift of time coupons and customize cards for their special dad.

Please feel free to pass this along and let’s get kids having fun while promoting healthy eating.

Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dads around the world!

More fun father’s day activities

Show ‘em what you got!

Become a role model for your children! Start the week by organizing an outdoor game like softball or volleyball that the whole family can enjoy.

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.

Resources:

Turn Off the TV Tips – Fun Activities for Kids

Family Fitness Tips, Being Active and Fit

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.  This is actually a great time to remind us how important it is to find physical activities to do with our kids.  Why?  Many of us may have started out the year with great enthusiasm but with busy lives, work and keeping up the kids, it is easy to forget our health and activity goals.

But, that’s okay.  It happens to most of us (including me!)  Just a great reminder to get moving again.

Here is a list of activities that you and the kids can choose from.  The most important thing is to have fun.  Don’t think exercise, think being active and FUN!  Find the activities that you and your kids enjoy!  Then you will want to keep doing it.  And try new activities, too!

Related resources:

Activity Goal Sheet for Kids

Activity Tracking Sheet for kids- print out to track daily and weekly activity