Take the action off-screen

Stay healthy by limiting the time you spend in front of the computer and TV. This week plan a Move It Monday game night or after-dinner walk and give your eyes a rest.

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.

This week is National “Turn off your TV” week.

This offers a reason to limit TV time or even turn off the TV!  Kids may protest a little but if you have some substitute activities lined up, they may soon forget about TV and enjoy the many other activities they could be doing.

If you are not quite sure how to tackle this with the kids but definitely would like to reduce the amount of time on the TV, start with reading our step by step guide.  Honestly, we keep it short, to the point with lots of specific tips broken down so anyone can try it.  Read the “Turn off the TV” guide.

Next, you will need to come up with some substitute activities otherwise you will find yourself with a bored and complaining child, which is not fun.  We have a list of 25 indoor and 25 outdoor activities you can try.

I would say the most important first step is to involve the kids so they understand why it is important and have them help come up with ideas.  Make a fun family tradition, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised how easy it can be to “turn off the tv”.

Make it important, sign a family contract to Turn off the TV for one week. Can you take the challenge!?!

And finally, let me share with you some important facts :

• Number of 30-second commercials seen in a year by an average child:    20,000
• Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children:    38.5
• Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television:       1,680
• Percentage of children ages 6-17 who have TV’s in their bedrooms:    50
• Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day:    70
• Hours per year the average American youth spends in school:      900 hours
• Hours per year the average American youth watches television:     1500
• Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner:    66

(source: turnoffyourtv.com)

List of Resources to get you started:

“Turn off the TV” guide.

Printable- Limiting TV Time Hours Kids Agreement Sheet

Printable TV Pledge- Family and Kids Turn Off TV Week

Reducing Kids TV Time Weekly Goals Tracking Chart

Healthy Tips-Kids Healthy Snack Food Ideas

Turn Off The TV Tips- Fun Activities For Kids

Tomorrow is the YMCA Healthy Kids Day and there will be activities and events hosted throughout the United States.  Talk about a fun event that is all about reminding kids about the importance of daily exercise and healthy eating!

This year’s theme is “Put Play in your Day!”

Check your local YMCA and see what is going on.  Take the kids and let them hear and learn about healthy living from others in the community which will be helpful in reinforce what you are saying!  It is this kind of synergy that we need to help kids turn around the childhood obesity trend in a very positive way.

We will be at the San Mateo Family YMCA on Grant Street and looking forward to meeting families and kids and promoting healthy eating.

Find a Healthy Kids Day event at the YMCA near you.  Just scroll to the bottom of the page and enter in your zip code.

Also, you can download this YMCA list of participating centers, listed by state.

Other resources:

Helping kids be more active

Being Active Ideas

Fun “Be a Move It” kids Family Contract

Being Active Cute Coloring Tracking Sheet

We are proud to share the news that Nourish Interactive was acknowledged for our nutrition education program by the San Mateo County (California) Supervisors this week. We were recognized specifically for our work in creating a healthier county through our continued involvement and online support resources, along with other organizations and individuals.

It is always nice to be appreciated and recognized for our commitment in fighting childhood obesity through early nutrition education.

And we also want to acknowledge and say thank you to our members and visitors who support us every day by sending us positive testimonials, sharing our website with others and most importantly for sharing our vision to promote nutrition in a fun and positive way.

Nourish Interactive-The Fun Way to Learn About Nutrition!

Visit us! Free website membership – fun nutrition games, health and wellness tools, healthy articles for parents, quick nutrition tips, teacher lesson plans and more! Proud winner of Parents’ Choice Approved Award. Website is bilingual- English and Spanish.

For  Adults, Parents, Families-Healthy nutrition articles, ‘Nourish Healthy Kids’ free monthly newsletter, kid- friendly food tips, meal planners, interactive family wellness tools, fun activities and printable goal tracking sheets so the whole family can work as team to create a healthier habits!

For Communities and Educators- Free nutrition lesson plans, interactive classroom games for teaching students about the USDA Food Pyramid and making healthy choices. Plus, printable K-5 worksheets, healthy eating coloring pages, handouts for parents, and more! Teachers are our biggest fans and we support them in the efforts to help raise a healthier generation!

Free Nutrition Games for Kids-Over 20 interactive games, puzzles and learning tools for kids to have fun and learn about the importance of healthy food choices. Featured game : Chef Solus and the Food Pyramid Adventure – 7 level game.

Fun healthy games and tools make nutrition fun for the whole family!

Get active and relax.

Physical activity reduces stress by relaxing your muscles and improving your mood. Make this Move it Monday and experience the difference!

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.

This week is National Public Health Week.  This is a time that reminds each one of us about the important health issues that face our nation.  Childhood obesity is now one of those health issues that challenges us to work together to find solutions and reverse the trend.

The theme this year is A Healthier America – One Community at at Time.

There are events happening this week hosted by hospitals, organizations and public health departments to raise awareness and share ideas on how we can improve our communities.

Find an event in your area or see events scheduled nationwide.

This week, talk to the children about their ideas on how they can live healthier.  Having the conversation is the beginning of improving your family’s lifestyle.  Share ideas and gain consensus as a family on the changes you will make in your home and in your community.  Even small changes are important and they add up to a healthier child!

Resources to help you:

Family healthy goals – how to keep kids involved and motivated

Kid friendly agreements and fun tracking sheets

Here are some facts released by the American Public Health Department:

• For the first time, American children may live shorter lives than their parents.1
• Nearly 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese.2

1 David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D. “Childhood Obesity — The Shape of Things to Come,” New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 357:2325-2327, Dec. 6, 2007, No. 23.
2 Office of the General Surgeon. “The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation Fact Sheet.” Jan. 2010.

Michelle Obama is taking a front seat in the fight against childhood obesity.  She reminds us that today, one-third of all American children are overweight or obese. The rate is even higher among African Americans, and one-half of all minority children born in 2000 or later can expect to develop early-onset diabetes.

A new website Let’s Move.gov was launched to reach out to individuals, teachers, parents, leaders and anyone that wants to join the fight against childhood obesity.

We are proud to say that Nourish Interactive has joined Michelle Obama and the Let’s Move Organization to help kids eat healthier and be more active.  It is going to take “a village”!

Let’s Move will:

• give parents the support they need
• provide healthier food in schools
• help our kids to be more physically active
• make healthy, affordable food available in every part of our country

Can you tell if your child is overweight?

According to a new study, you may be underestimating your child’s weight. A large proportion of the parents of overweight children—and especially mothers, who are surveyed more often—do not perceive their children as overweight. In some studies, the percentage of parents who don’t realize (or won’t admit) that their child is overweight has been reported to be as high as 80% to 90%.

One thought was that we have a greater percentage of overweight and obese children.  So overweight kids don’t stand out as much as they used to twenty years ago.

Regardless, of the reasons, it is important to first start with a pediatric check up and see where your child is on the growth chart.  You can also use our BMI calculator designed for kids but remember this is just one measurement and has to be combined with other factors.  If your child is indeed overweight, then working with a dietitian is recommended. The basics will still apply:

Don’t single out your child, work as a family to eat healthier

Set one or two goals for changing eating habits and track them.

Be patient, positive and encouraging.

General guidelines of areas to work towards:

• Find activities that your child and family can do together and work towards being active for at least one hour every day.
• Increase fruits and vegetables.
• Decrease sugary and fatty foods that don’t offer nutrition,  just calories.
• Get plenty of sleep.
• Limit TV time and screen time to 2 hours or less a day
• Eat breakfast every morning

Resources from Nourish Interactive:

Printable Nutrition Tips and Tools for Parents

Healthy Parenting Nutrition Articles- ‘Nourish Healthy Kids’ newsletter articles and tips

Free Nutrition Education Games for Kids!- Fun interactive games and tools

Healthy Nutrition Tips Calendar -Printable PDF

Printable Healthy Nutrition Tips Calendar

I came across this video about kids being active.  I love the music.  Made me get up from my computer and break out some moves.

With the weather still being pretty cold, here is a fun aerobics video for kids, you can even do the DVD with them. Make being physically active a fun part of your day together.

This is a fun way to encourage kids to be physically active for 60 ‘Move It Minutes’ a Day. You can get a taste of the DVD from this youtube video.  Show it to the kids and see if they start to move.  Finding different ways to get your kids having fun while they are active is the key to helping them build this as a life long habit!

Fit Factor for Kids Website and DVD

Resources from Nourish Interactive- The fun way to learn about nutrition:

Move It Minutes- Printable Daily Physical Activity Tracking Sheet

Get Kids Moving Tips- Healthy Family Article

Family Fitness Tips, Being Active and Fit

More Resources:

Let’s Move - New initiative for improving kids health, nutrition and increasing daily physical activity.

Michelle Obama speaks out on the new initiative “Let’s Move”

Let’s Move will give parents the support they need, provide healthier food in schools, help our kids to be more physically active, and make healthy, affordable food available in every part of our country.

We support Michelle Obama and our President 100%.

Healthy Choice Resources

Fun Healthy Goals and Tracking sheets

Nutrition Games and Tools for Kids

Nutrition Tools for Parents

Nutrition Tools for Teachers