Lyons Elementary School Health Fair

On March 29th, Houston DINEs joined a slew of other neighborhood organizations at Lyons Elementary School for a Health Fair followed by a Town Hall Meeting featuring Councilmember Ed Gonzalez.

During the health fair, students were exposed to information to keep them healthy such as information from CAN DO Houston, City of Houston Health and Human Services and Blue Bear from Blue Cross Blue Shield Texas. The health fair and meeting went well!!

Over eighty Lyons Elementary students exercised their advocacy muscles by coloring sheets that urged the city to support healthy causes. Each student did an amazing job!

To keep on track followed these tips to make living well easy breezy.

1. Start by introducing healthier elements into foods that your child already likes. For example, offer blueberry pancakes, carrot muffins, fruit slices over a favorite cereal, chunks of bell pepper in a potato salad, or shredded veggies over rice.

2. Don’t buy unhealthy foods. Out of sight, out of mind. If the chips and cookies aren’t around, your kids can’t eat them. They may resist at first, but when they get hungry, they’ll start munching the carrot sticks. Keep healthy foods on hand — 100 percent juice instead of colas or sugary drinks, and a bag of apples instead of a bag of chips.

3. Encourage kids to “eat their colors.” This game works well with younger kids. Food that’s bland in color often also lacks nutrients. Eating a variety of brightly colored foods provides more nutrients in greater variety. Be a good role model. The best way to influence kids is by example. Don’t expect them to eat spinach if you won’t touch it.

Obese and overweight women, children underestimate true weight

Overweight and obese mothers and their children think they weigh less than their actual weight, according to research reported at the American Heart Association’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2011 Scientific Sessions.

In the study of women and children in an urban, predominantly Hispanic population, most normal weight women and children in the study correctly estimated their body weight, but most obese women and children underestimated theirs. The researchers also recorded participants’ height, weight and BMI, which is a measurement of body weight based on height. A BMI of 25-29 is overweight, and a BMI over 30 is obese.

The researchers found:

65.8% of moms surveyed were overweight or obese.

38.9 % of kids surveyed were overweight or obese.

81.8 % of obese women underestimated their weight compared to 42.5 % of overweight and 13.2% of normal weight women; similarly, 86% of overweight or obese children underestimated their weight compared to 15 % of normal weight children. ·

Of mothers with overweight or obese children, almost half (47.5 percent) thought their children were of normal weight.

Children selected larger body images than those chosen by their mothers to describe an “ideal” or “healthy” body image for a woman. · 41.4 % of the children in the study thought their moms should lose weight.

A good way to start the track to losing weigh is monitoring and counting calories consumed each day. Counting calories and exercising a few days each week can be the start of healthier lifestyles!

Click here for the entire USA Today article. http://usat.ly/gI1K7n

Healthy Kids Healthy Generation

On Wednesday, March 16th, 28 students from Texas helped the American Heart Association advance its mission by supporting key legislative issues at the state capitol. Most of the kids were in 4th-5th grade while some were a little older. The morning session included a telling your story training, issue briefing, and interactive role playing exercise to help get the youth prepared for the day of legislative visits to come. Smoke-Free Texas and Trans Fats in Schools were the main issues covered and this was the perfect audience to help us share our message.

Lunch was conducted on the north capitol grounds and began with an address by and photo-op with Representative Mark Strama. The Murchison Elementary “Hot Shots” Jump Rope For Heart Team performed their routine for capitol staff and visitors alike.

That afternoon legislative visits were conducted and over 60 offices were hit. Every member sitting on either a House or Senate education or health committee was targeted and covered. Additional drop-bys were done by youngsters eager keep going. One group was able to meet directly with Smoke-Free Texas bill author Myra Crownover. Another group got to personally meet with Diane Patrick who authored the trans fats bill.

All in all it was a highly successful day for AHA and our mission. I believe it helped Smoke-Free Texas retain some momentum it accumulated last week and gave a good spark to the Trans-Fat bill that was less than a week old. It also provided a great learning experience for the youth involved and gave many of them their first taste of civic involvement.

Hopefully the rest of the team can fill in the gaps I may have missed and provide personal stories about their experience.

The Heart of the Matter

This March, Houston DINEs and the American Heart Association will focus many off our efforts on childhood and youth health.

Recently, a young, vital, teenager who played rugby for his high school died from a heart attack during the match. The teen collapsed after taking a tackle to the chest. Devastating issues like this occur each day throughout the nation.

Use your spring break to join our crusade as we tackle issues such as school lunch, physical education requirements, smoke-free Texas and nutritional issues such as Trans fats. On March 16, 2011 we will push our agenda at the State Capitol. For more information contact Joel Romo, Senior Director of Government Relations at joel.romo@heart.org.