ADVERTISING SECTION PRODUCED BY MPLS.ST.PAUL MAGAZINE WITH SPONSORSHIP ASSISTANCE FROM THE MEDTRONIC FOUNDATION

ADVERTISING SECTION PRODUCED BY MPLS.ST.PAUL MAGAZINE WITH SPONSORSHIP ASSISTANCE FROM THE MEDTRONIC FOUNDATION

RAISING HEALTHY

kidsTHE PARENT EMPOWERMENT GUIDE

RAISING HEALTHY

kidsTHE PARENT EMPOWERMENT GUIDE

Get Moving!

How to Make Exercise Fun

Get Moving!

How to Make Exercise Fun

66HealthyHabits toStart NOW

HealthyHabits toStart NOW

Mix Up the Menu

Ideas for Better Eating

Mix Up the Menu

Ideas for Better Eating

Mpls. St . Paul Magazine recentlyasked Art Collins, Medtronic chair-man and CEO, and Penny Hunt,Medtronic vice president of commu-nity affairs and the Medtronic Foun-dation, about Medtronic’s efforts inraising healthy kids:

MSP: Why is Medtronic so interestedin healthy kids?

Art Collins: Medtronic’s interest inraising healthy kids is linked directlyto our corporate mission of alleviatingpain, restoring health, and extendinglife. It’s also part of Medtronic’s mis-sion to be involved in the communityand committed to improving thehealth of people and communitieswhere our employees live and work.Healthy kids are vital to the future ofvibrant, strong communities. As ahealth company, Medtronic investsenergy and resources into solutionsfor healthier families because it’s theright thing to do. We focus on healthbecause it’s an area we understandwell and one in which we can makeunique and positive contributions.

Penny Hunt: If you look at one impor-tant health indicator, obesity, it’s clearthat our society is facing significantchallenges. Obesity rates in childrenand adolescents have doubled duringthe last twenty years. Obese kids tendto become obese adults, who experi-

ence higher rates of chronic diseasessuch as diabetes, heart disease, and hy-pertension. These chronic diseases arecomplicated to manage, expensive totreat, and have a tremendously negativeimpact on quality of life.

MSP: What is Medtronic doing in theareas of childhood nutrition and exer-cise? Are there any particular prob-lems you are addressing?

Art: Medtronic partners with non-profit health and community organiza-tions to provide kids and their parentswith resources about healthy lifestyles.This year we’ll invest more than $1.5million in health initiatives in the TwinCities, including programs that pro-mote nutrition and exercise—both ofwhich go a long way toward improvinggeneral health and ultimately prevent-ing obesity and chronic diseases.

Penny: We also look for ways to sup-port local community champions likeBryan Bass (see story in this section).The Medtronic Foundation gave hisschool a grant to recognize Bryan’s ef-forts to replace high-calorie bever-ages at North High School in Min-neapolis with healthier choices. In St.Paul, we fund health clinics at a hand-ful of high schools so students whohave had limited access to health re-sources can learn about exercise, nu-trition, and healthy lifestyle choices.And we’re looking to identify pro-grams that help new immigrantsmaintain active and healthy lifestylesas they transition to their new liveshere.

MSP: What will Medtronic be doingin the future?

Penny: We are offering small, one-time Fitness and Nutrition (FAN)

grants to schools in the Twin Citiesmetropolitan area to recognize schoolfitness programs and to encourageschools to promote creative physicalactivity and nutrition initiatives (seeend of section for more information).Individual changes at a young age canmake a big difference.

MSP: Art, what would you say to oth-er business leaders about the impor-tance of supporting programs forhealthy kids?

Art: Everyone agrees that it’s criticalto maintain healthy exercise and nutri-tion habits, starting at a young age. Theeconomic, physical, and emotionalcosts of not doing so are staggering—for individuals, for employers, and forsociety. The challenge now is to movebeyond simply recognizing the crisis inchildren’s health, to taking steps thatsolve the problem. I would encourageother business leaders to supporthealthy kids in a way that works bestfor their organizations.

MSP: You’re both parents. How didyou help your own kids stay healthywhen they were young?

Penny: My kids had lots of energyand wanted to eat all the time, so itwas a challenge. I always had to thinkahead and be ready with healthy foodchoices. It was tricky, but I managedto convince them that strawberrieswere a bigger treat than candy.

Art: Exercise and family meals wereimportant. My wife and I were luckyin that both our daughters were activein sports of all types. We also workedvery hard at ensuring that we all haddinner together. It wasn’t always easywith our busy schedules, but it paiddividends.

Why Healthy Kids Matter to Us

Raising Healthy KidsS P O N S O R E D S E C T I O N

Medtronic’s Art Collins and Penny Hunt

O CTOBER 2005

Host a birthday party at a roller rink. Take the family berry picking. No TV at meals.

I n Kim and Rollie Radtke’s home, healthy habits come first. “Our rule isthat our kids have to have two healthy snacks before they can have junkfood,” Kim says. Kim, thirty-seven, and Rollie, thirty-nine, who own a con-

struction company in Lester Prairie, Minnesota, provide yogurt, string cheese,carrots and dip, crackers and cheese, and pretzels to nine-year-old Spencerand six-year-old Madisyn. And almost every time, the kids don’t ask for thatunhealthy snack, making junk food all but obsolete.

Snack time at the Radtkes is a radical departure from the free-for-all thatKim experienced growing up. “When we’d get home from school, it would beJunk Food City,” she says, citing chips and dip, cookies, and cake as the top offenders. “We weren’t really taught to eat healthy.”

And the Radtkes are also leading by example when it comes to exercise.When Kim goes for a walk, her kids bike alongside her. The family plays bas-

Parents hold the key to a lifetime of healthy habits that can start today. By Mary Van Beusekom • Photography by Craig Bares

How to RaiseHealthy Kids

O C TOB E R 2005

The Radtke family makes healthy eating—and eating together—a priority.

ketball and catch together, too. Fortu-nately, this desire to be active is nowingrained in Spencer and Madisyn.“My kids like to play their PlaySta-tion and watch TV, but it’s not like Ihave to drag them away to go out-side,” Kim says.

The Radtkes exemplify the positivebehavior modeling that children’shealth experts advocate. Maybe youhaven’t been buying the best foods atthe grocery store, or perhaps yourfamily’s form of entertainment is infront of the TV every night. Certainly,lifestyle is not the only factor that in-fluences obesity rates; economics andethnicity, for example, also play an im-portant role. Regardless, getting yourkids (and yourself ) on a healthy pathis a great starting point; after all, youhave the power to set your children upfor a lifetime of healthy habits. Thekey is to start now.

How to Get StartedPam Van Zyl York, chairperson of Ac-tion for Healthy Kids Minnesota, thestate partner of a national organiza-

tion that addresses childhood nutri-tion, acknowledges that instilling andreinforcing good habits is not alwayseasy. “It does take a certain amount ofdiscipline to say, ‘You have this choiceand you have that choice,’” rather thanallowing children free rein, she says.Van Zyl York should know; a parentherself, she works with Minnesotaschools, communities, and other

groups to instill healthy eating and ex-ercise habits in children.

Van Zyl York’s organization aims toempower parents by giving them theright tools to steer kids of all agesaway from bad choices—like sugarysoda—toward good choices that willhelp them grow up healthy. It mayfeel like an uphill battle in a culturethat seems to encourage poor eatingand inactivity. About 16 percent ofchildren and adolescents are over-weight. In the last twenty years, therate of weight problems has doubledin children and tripled in adolescents,leading to rising rates of diseases thatonce affected mostly adults, such asheart disease and type II diabetes.Other side effects of poor nutritioncan include sleep disorders, jointpain, liver problems, unhealthy teethand gums, and hypertension.

Here are some things to keep inmind as you start making healthierchoices in your home.

Availability of good foods and

the absence of bad foods in thehome is key. Kids will eat what’sthere and will not acquire a taste forsweet, salty, and fatty foods. For exam-ple, Van Zyl York says she keeps a bagof baby carrots in the fridge for herkids. “My kids eat those like other kidseat potato chips,” she says. Manytimes children prefer healthier foods,she says, and parents just don’t realizeit. In her research, teenagers said thatone of their favorite foods is freshstrawberries. “We often forget thatchips and chocolate bars are not theirfavorite foods,” she says.

If at all possible, go to the super-market by yourself. Mary Story, aprofessor in the University of Min-nesota’s School of Public Health, saysthat time and cultural pressures oftenundermine parents’ efforts to feedtheir kids well, which can make tripsto the supermarket especially difficult.“There are so many pressures on chil-dren now, with advertising and reallyaggressive marketing that make chil-dren pester their parents to buy cer-tain foods, and they tend to be really un-healthy foods,” Story says.

Don’t be afraid to say no. Ulti-mately, parents need to remember thatthey are in control of their child’s diet,says William Dietz, MD, a pediatricianand director of the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention’s division ofnutrition and physical activity. “Par-ents need to take these steps,” he says.“They don’t need to explain why. Par-ents think they need their children toagree with them, when in fact, they’reentitled to make these decisions be-cause they’re grown up.”

Dietz even goes so far as to recom-mend that young children ask theirparents for permission to access the re-frigerator. “There should be rules aboutrefrigerator access,” he says. “Theyshould not be allowed to go to the re-frigerator and get [food], because it’s upto the parents to decide what they’regoing to eat.”

As kids hit the teen years, parents

have to relinquish some control whentheir kids are away from home, buthouse rules about nutrition should stillstand. “Parents need to say, ‘This is thedinner menu. If you’re not hungry, I’llput it aside and you can eat it later,’” Dietz says. Teens who grow up in ahousehold that promotes good eatinghabits are likely to adopt those habitsas their own.

Limit TV and computer time. A

variety ofstudies sug-gests thatour country’sv i d e o - g a m e -playing and TV-viewing habits play arole in promoting inac-tivity and exposing chil-dren to ads for foodswith poor nutritionalvalue. “The worst thingparents can do is put atelevision in a child’sroom,” Dietz says.

Get out of the house. When possi-ble, encourage your kids to play out-side. Sometimes, though, kids whogrow up in neighborhoods in which it’sconsidered unsafe to play outdoorsmay find themselves in front of the TVmore, says Lawrence Cheskin, MD, as-sociate professor in the Johns Hopkins-Bloomberg School of Public Health anddirector of its Weight ManagementProgram. If your neighborhood is not a

good place for kids toplay, find a safe place,such as a gym, for them

to exercise. “It comesdown to the parents, too,”

he says. “Do they kick you outof the house or do they let you sit allday and play video games?” One way toaddress this concern is to do activitiestogether as a family, as the Radtkes do.

Most of all, have fun. Van ZylYork recommends that parents en-courage participation in sports be-cause they provide exercise and op-portunities for interpersonal interac-tion. A study she did with fifth gradersshowed that fun is the No. 1 reasonkids are active, and they love spendingtime with their friends and families.Even if your children are not the or-ganized-sport type, they still have op-tions: playing a pick-up game of bas-ketball with dad in the driveway ordown the street, walking to the localpark with big sister, or inventing theirown games with the neighbor kids. F

Raising Healthy KidsS P O N S O R E D S E C T I O N

• Get children accustomed to drinking water instead of soda orjuice when they’re thirsty.

• If your kids like juice, try substituting sugar-free lemonadeor fresh fruit.

• Turn off the TV during meals.• Have healthy portable snacks

available, such as grapes, raisins,or mozzarella cheese sticks.

• When the family will be away fromhome during regular meal time,pack a picnic lunch rather thangoing to a fast-food restaurant.

• Teach kids the playground gamesyou learned as a child, such asjump-rope, hopscotch, or foursquare.

More HelpfulHints B roaching the subject of weight with a child who is heav-

ier than what is considered healthy requires very carefulconversations that take the focus off of extra pounds. In fact,Pam Van Zyl York, chairwoman of Action for Healthy Kids Min-nesota, says that if the focus is on health rather than onweight, the weight problem may take care of itself. Makinggood nutrition and exercise choices as a family can go a longway, too. Any discussion should be preceded by a close exami-nation of how the entire family uses food and regards exercise.

“We need to pay attention to our environment and how wemanage our home food environment,” Van Zyl York says. “It isvery ineffective to single out one member of the family andexpect them to behave differently from the rest of the family.If you’ve [looked at the family] and it’s still a problem, it’s timefor a talk with the child’s family physician.”

There’s no disputing the fact that body weight matters—even in kids. “Early childhood overweight is a major risk fac-tor for obesity later in life,” says William Dietz, MD, director ofthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division ofnutrition and physical activity. Dietz cites a study of obeseadults that found that half were overweight before age eight.

But how do you determine if your kids are at what’s consid-ered a “healthy” weight? In general, Van Zyl York recommendsfocusing on your child’s pattern of growth over time ratherthan on height and weight at any one point (pediatriciansroutinely chart patients’ height and weight on a growthcurve). Talk to your child’s pediatrician if you’re concerned,but Van Zyl York cautions parents to remember that eachchild is different. Factors such as ethnicity and family historyneed to be taken into account. “Children are not all thesame shape or size,” she says. “Remember that healthyhabits in terms of eating well and being active are going tobe more important, especially for those who may not be asthin as others.”

Dietz recommends approaching any discussion aboutweight with caution. Children, especially teenagers, usuallyknow they’re overweight and may become painfully self-con-scious when they are reminded. Girls, in particular, are indanger of becoming preoccupied with their weight and devel-oping eating disorders. Having the child’s pediatrician dis-cuss the emotional topic of weight instead is probably themost effective approach, Dietz says. —M. V.

Talking to Your Child about Weight

Make fruit sundaes for dessert. Walk wherever you can. Make frozen-yogurt malts Make time for breakfast. Adopt a highway. Play in the leaves.O CTOBER 2005

Get

kids involved

in yardwork, like

raking and

gardening.

Ultimately,parents need to

remember thatthey are in control

of their child’sdiet.

“ “

O CTO BER 2005

Supersizing is out. School vending machines are under fire. Even CookieMonster is cutting back. Lately, so much attention has been focused onthe bad food choices targeted at kids—and their corresponding rising

rates of obesity—that it’s easy to lose sight of what they should eat. Yet child-hood is the most critical time for their immediate nutritional needs and for es-tablishing lifelong habits.

After the first year of life, adolescence marks the greatest growth spurt.During those critical years, teens gain 50 percent of their adult body weightand build 40 percent of their skeletal mass and the final 20 percent of theiradult height. So what, and how much, should your kids be eating? Nutrition-ists from around the country will help you make sense of our complex foodenvironment and reclaim healthy eating as something to celebrate.

Understand Your PowerParents have the lion’s share of control and influence over what and how theirkids eat, even though in a busy household it might feel like just the opposite.

Eating better makes for healthier, happier families. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Fortunately, it is. Our nutrition experts tell you how to make it happen. By Sara Aase

O CTOBER 2005

Healthy Foods,Healthy Kids

Raising Healthy KidsS P O N S O R E D S E C T I O N

Plant a veggie garden. Ask kids to help you cook. Choose active family vacations. Have a jump-roping contest—or break out the Hula-Hoop. Join a health club together.

Keep the following four corner-stones in mind, says Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, principal investigator of Pro-ject EAT and author of a book thatsummarizes that research, I’m, Like,So Fat! Helping Your Teen MakeHealthy Choices about Eating and Ex-ercise in a Weight-Obsessed World:• Role model healthy behaviors. • Make it easy to make healthy food

choices and be physically active. • Focus less on weight and more on

overall health. • Provide a supportive environment

with lots of talking and evenmore listening.

Walk the TalkAs we all know, kids really doimitate what they see theirparents doing. If you feedthem carrots while you nib-ble cookies, they’ll reach forcookies as soon as they’reold enough. So bring homehealthy food and eat it to-gether as often as possible. Butwhat and how much? Turn to the foodpyramid, online at mypyramid.gov,where you can type in your child’s age,gender, and activity level to get a cus-tomized guide, by food group, withplenty of examples of foods to bringhome. It’s also available by calling

703-605-4265. The guideeven demystifies whatconstitutes a serving,translating it from ouncesinto cups and half-cups.

Generally speaking, theguidelines are the same for all ofus: Eat mostly whole grains, vegeta-bles, beans, fruits, and nuts; low-fatdairy with some lean meat (poultryand fish); some mono- or polyunsatu-rated oils; and very small amounts ofsaturated fat, sweets, and other foodsthat deliver too many calories and toofew nutrients. “Your plate should look

like a Chinese meal,”Neumark-Sztainersays. “With a lot of

rice, a lot of vegeta-bles, a little meat, a lit-

tle fat.” Don’t know exactly

what a “whole grain”is? The pyramid will ex-

plain the difference be-tween grains and tell you

how to read labels—justremember, the first ingre-

dient on any label makes up the ma-jority of whatever you’re buying.

Eat together to model portion sizesand enjoyment of food, says Neu-mark-Sztainer. It discourages bingeeating, encourages important social

skills, and enhancesfamily togethernessand a sense of well-

being. Even if teensseem to resist family

meals or go through junk-food binges, the foundation

you build now will stay with them. Make It EasyKids will eat what’s in front of them,especially when they’re hungry, somake the good stuff more accessiblethan the junk. (You just may find thatthis trick works for you, too.) Thatmeans cutting up fruits and vegeta-bles and leaving them on a counter af-ter school or in plain sight in thefridge. Too busy to chop? Buy the pre-cut veggies and fruit platters. Someeven come with dip.

“In my house, if there was a melonsitting on the table, it would rot be-fore the kids would cut it up,” saysMary Story, a professor in the Uni-versity of Minnesota’s School of Pub-lic Health. “But if I cut it up and putit in a bowl, it would disappear.” Al-so stock up on yogurt, bananas, ap-ples, bottled orange juice, breakfastbars, tortillas and cheese, popcorn,pretzels, hummus, dried peas, andveggie burgers.

Making it easier to eat healthfullyalso means limiting the amount of

Diningtogether as afamily encourages

better eatinghabits.

O C TOB ER 2005

T urns out there really is something to that old parentmantra, “Just try it!” Children who dine with family at

least four times a week eat more fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, and calcium-rich foods, eat fewer fried foods, anddrink less soda than children who don’t, according to astudy by University of Minnesota researchers. Why? Parentsdecide what to serve, and everyone eating the same food to-gether is a powerful reinforcer of good habits.

“One of the strongest and most important factors that in-fluence children’s diets is what parents eat,” says Mary Sto-ry, co-investigator for Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), adietary survey of more than 4,000 Minnesota teens. “If wereally want kids to eat healthy, this has to be a family affair.”

The benefits of eating together go far beyond physicalhealth. Story and her colleagues also found that teens whoate seven or more weekly meals with their families hadhigher grades, were less depressed, and were less likely todrink, smoke, or use marijuana than kids who ate with theirfamilies less than twice a week.

“It’s not just about food but also about having that timetogether,” says Barbara Carlson, co-founder and presidentof a Minneapolis suburban community organization calledPutting Family First and co-author of a book of the same ti-tle. “It’s a check-in time to share the highs and lows of theday, debate, discuss, share ideas, ideals, and values. And tolaugh together!” —S. A.

Why Eating Together Makes a Difference

Have a jump-roping contest—or break out the Hula-Hoop. Join a health club together.

sweets, chips, or so-da you bring home—especially soda pop,nutritionists say. It of-fers nothing but emptysugary calories—250 in atwenty-ounce bottle—without pro-viding any nutrients, yet it replacesmilk as a choice for many kids.

Don’t ban foods, and don’t usethem as rewards. Bring treats homein moderation, and in small por-tions if possible, such as ice creamsandwiches. And show that it’s OKto eat them in small amounts andenjoy them. “Eat a piece of cake andenjoy it. Don’t feel guilty about it,”Neumark- Sztainer says. Studiesshow that forbidding foods back-fires, and that kids eat more of itwhen parents aren’t around, whichcan lead to binge eating and othernegative food behaviors that canlast throughout adulthood.

Do discuss portion sizes and foodmessages with kids. It will equipthem to make better food choiceson their own and will also help yourealize which messages push yourbuttons.

Focus on Good HabitsIf family members are overweight,focus instead on healthful eating andexercise. “Teens or children whohear a lot of comments about weightfeel badly about themselves and aremore likely to engage in unhealthydiet behaviors,” Neumark-Sztainersays. If your teen tells you she thinksshe needs to lose weight, encourageher instead to focus on what she’seating and her level of physical activ-ity, and to let her body do the rest.“Talk about how they ate fruit fordessert and what a good decisionthat was rather than weight,” Neu-mark-Sztainer says.

Establish a no-weight-teasing poli-cy at home. “Forty-eight of fifty teenswe interviewed had experiencedsome type of weight teasing,” Neu-mark-Sztainer says. “It’s usually not

intended to hurt, but it canbe very hurtful. Homes aresupposed to be safe places

for them.” If your child isgetting teased outside the

home, be prepared to offer extratime and emotional support.

No Extremes NecessaryDietary habits aren’t learned—or un-learned—all at once. So makechanges gradually. “Changes arehard,” Neumark-Sztainer says. “It’svery important to take small steps.”These tips might include:• Increase fruits and vegetables.• Switch to low-fat dairy products.• Eliminate soda. • Decrease portion sizes.• Increase whole-wheat

consumption.• Eat regular meals and meals as a

family as often as possible.• Enjoy your food.

Pick one thing at a time to workon. For instance, if you’re not eatingany meals together, “don’t say we’re

going to eat together five times aweek,” Neumark- Sztainer says.“Pick one night. If you’re drinking alot of soda, switch to juice first.Don’t switch to water right away.”Strive for healthful, balanced mealsas often as possible, but don’t ex-pect perfection. “It’s about findingwhat works for you,” Neumark-Sz-tainer says. “You can make somecompromises—it doesn’t have to beall or nothing.” F

Bring treatshome in

moderation. It’sOK to eat them insmall amounts and

enjoy them.

“ “

Let kids

make their

own healthy

creations.

Fruit kabobsFor an easy way to make eating freshfruit more fun, make a fruit skewer todip into yogurt or fruit dip. There areno sugar or additives, but this treat isstill sweet.

Carrot sticks with peanut butterWe’ve all eaten ants on a log (celery,peanut butter, and raisins), but thiscarrot version is a creative variationthat kids will love just as much.

Frozen grapes Here’s a fun snack that’s packed withantioxidants—and it cools, reenergizes,and replenishes kids who are tiredfrom a long day (hopefully filled withactivity).

Seasoned popcornNaturally low in fat, air-popped pop-corn—flavored with seasoning salt in-stead of butter—keeps all the taste butloses the fat.

...And a Few to AvoidCarbonated beveragesSodas are filled with sugar, preserva-tives, and caffeine, all of which causedehydration.

Manufactured baked goodsBaked goods are manufactured tohave a long shelf life and are full ofadditives, artificial flavors, and preser-vatives. Children do not get useful nu-trients or energy reserves from thistype of snack.

Candy barsCandy bars are good for the immedi-ate energy boost from sugar but don’thelp the body replenish nutrients andenergy already expended, which leavesthe body wanting more. Try a carobchocolate granola bar instead.

—Dina Eddings

4 Healthy Snacks

Raising Healthy KidsS P O N S O R E D S E C T I O N

Play games with your kids. Do a healthy-food taste test. Walk an extra lap around the supermarket. Build a fort. Host a block party with activities for all ages.O CTOBER 2005

What We Eat at Our House

L alah Lewis has the typical tastes of an eight-year-old . The Atlanta student’s favorite foods are a

McDonald’s hamburger and fries, something she ordersonce a week on treat day. Tolerated vegetables includegreen beans, lettuce with French dressing, creamed corn,and English peas. Lalah is also typical in that she’s amongthe 30 percent of kids who are now overweight or at riskfor becoming overweight.

Phyllis Lewis, Lalah’s grandmother and guardian, says diet-related diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heartdisease run in her family, so she works very hard to makesure Lalah eats well and exercises. “I was heavy as a childand no one did anything about it,” Lewis says. “I don’t wanther having to worry about this all her life.”

Lewis makes Lalah a vegetable-rich “green drink” everymorning from a health-food powder or from scratch, usingkale, celery, carrots, parsley, garlic, and ginger. During thesummer, Lalah also drinks a fruit-laden smoothie. Lewissays she and Lalah learned more good advice from a six-

week dietary program called Fit Kids, offered by Children’sHealthcare of Atlanta, to which Lalah’s doctor referred her.“They don’t recommend you have a big fight or force yourchildren to eat vegetables,” Lewis says. “Have it on thetable, and if they don’t eat the vegetables today, maybethey’ll eat them in ten years. That was one of the big eyeopeners for me.”

Lalah’s efforts are frequently sabotaged during theschool year by pizza parties, birthday treats, and adultswho insist on rewarding children with sweets. Lewis tries tohelp Lalah pick and choose but understands that the line isa fine one. Studies show that forbidding children to havecertain foods or trying to curtail their intake of them back-fires. Those children eat more of the tempting junk foodwhen parents aren’t around. Lewis takes the long view. “Iwill let her enjoy parties,” Lewis says. “That may cause a lit-tle increase in weight, and then when there’s nothing go-ing on I reel her back in. I think as she gets older she’llwant to eat healthy. The seeds are being planted.” —S. A.

Nutrition FactsServing Size 1 Package (283 g)

Servings Per Container 1

Amount Per ServingCalories 290 Calories from Fat 25

% Daily Value

Total Fat 2.5 g 4%Saturated Fat .5 g 3%Trans Fat 0 g

Cholesterol 25 mg 7%Sodium 680mg 29%

Total Carbohydrate 52 g 17%Sugars 20 g

Dietary Fiber 1 g 4%Protein 14 g

Vitamin A 30% • Vitamin C 10%

Calcium 2% • Iron 2%

Get enough of these nutrients.Eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables,

and whole-grain foods for theirlow-fat, high-vitamin, and

high-fiber content, as these mayreduce your family’s risk of heart

disease. When it comes to protein,be sure you get if from lean meats

like fish and poultry.

Do not exceed 30 percent ofyour daily calories from fat.

Percentages based on a daily2,000-calorie diet.

What to Look for in a Nutritional LabelThere’s more to the nutritional label than meets the eye. Here’s a translation.

Limit these nutrients. Eatingtoo much fat, cholesterol, andsodium may contribute torisks for heart disease, somecancers, and high blood pres-sure. Limiting these elementsnow gives your child a headstart for a healthy life aheadof him or her.

Look closely at the serving size,particularly how many servings

there are in one package. Thiswill help you determine how many

servings (and calories from fat)you’re consuming.

}{

The amount of sugar listedincludes both natural sugars(such as those that occur infruits and dairy products) aswell as sugars added duringprocessing. As a general rule,keep sugars to less than 10grams per serving.

around the supermarket. Build a fort. Host a block party with activities for all ages. O C TOB E R 2005

T hink about your average summer as a full-time kid: Wearing the treadsbald on your bike—after all, that was the only transportation for many.

Pick-up kickball games where “ghost runners” were activated. Endless days inthe water amphibiously propelling yourself just because you wanted to. Andwho can forget the competitive and usually spontaneous foot race to the cor-ner? Miraculously, these activities somehow all happened between dancerecitals and little league games.

But whatever it was you did as a kid, chances are you never really thought ofit as “exercise.” And you probably never dreamed there would one day beheadlines about kids and lack of exercise.

Here’s the good news. Beyond blaming video games, satellite TV, Oreos, andeverything in between, there are lots of things parents can do constructively(and creatively) to get kids back on track—provided first that they are goodrole models themselves. Plus, there are some tricks to help children rememberthat these activities are just plain fun.

Parents Are the Example“Parents need to model good behavior—show kids that activity is an important

Get Moving!No matter how you do it, take a lesson from these kids at a Minneapolis park—movement should be fun.

If you suspect that your family isn’t active enough, you’re probably right. The goodnews is that it’s easy—and a whole lot of fun—for you and your kids to start movingtogether. By Shawn Sweeney • Photography by Craig Bares

Raising Healthy KidsS P O N S O R E D S E C T I O N

Skip instead of walk. Designate an area of your home where active play is OK. Organize a neighborhood Frisbee league. Plan family bike trips. Learn a new sport together.O CTOBER 2005

part of their own lives, and kids willfollow suit,” says Kathryn Schmitz, anassociate professor in the Division ofEpidemiology and Community Healthat the University of Minnesota.

Most of us understand that we allare individuals with different bodiesand needs. There’s not a magic formulafor how much exercise is enough for aparticular child. Schmitz equates it tohow doctors determine the dose of aprescription drug: “When you takeprescription medication, you take thedose necessary for a particular effect.Exercise is the same—effects differ bydose,” she says. “One hour of vigorous,intense activity is recommended forthe average child or adolescent.”

These sixty minutes of activityshould be accumulated throughoutthe day in segments, according to theNational Association for Sport andPhysical Education. This can be aquick game of tag, a dance party, ajump-rope contest—whatever is goingto get your kids moving.

Even though your intentions as aparent may be the best, pushing yourchild to do any sort of activity maybackfire. “Parents need to understandthat they cannot force a child to exer-cise,” says Beth Passehl, Fit Kids Pro-gram Coordinator at Children’sHealthcare of Atlanta. The Fit Kidsprogram helps overweight kids andtheir families with the tools neces-sary to balance exercise and diet. “All

parents can do is help the child learnto be responsible for their own bod-ies and to take good care of them-selves because they can and want to,”Passehl says.

The Mental-Health BenefitsWhile the physical benefits of exer-cise are obvious, the advantages of ac-tivity extend to the realm of mentaland emotional well-being as well.

Exercise has been linked with a va-riety of psychological benefits, includ-ing decreased depression and anxiety,improved mood states and self-confi-

dence, and an increased sense of over-all quality of life, according to the Na-tional Mental Health Association.Studies dating back to 1995 have con-firmed these links, says Leslie Lydle,professor in the Division of Epidemi-ology and Community Health at theUniversity of Minnesota. “Whilethere’s been this general feeling that[exercise and mental well-being] arerelated, there is mounting evidencethrough empirical research,” she says.

Higher levels of activity in childrenare shown to lower rates of delin-quent behavior and boost academicperformance, according to theNMHA. This relationship betweenphysical activity and academicachievement is another topic of in-terest for Lydle and her colleagues.“We believe that kids who are not ac-tive during the day probably are hav-ing problems concentrating in school,which is leading to lower achieve-ment,” Lydle says. “And of course thatcan trigger a whole set of stressorsfor kids.”

D epending on what part of the country you live in, seasons may dictatewhat activities are feasible—and fun—for kids. Here are some suggestions

that cover the country.

WinterIce skating and hockey at the local park, sledding, snowball fights, and the con-struction of snow forts and snowmen all are great conventions of winter. Here’s ahint to warm up you and your kids: Escape to an indoor water park or take a strollthrough a local museum to shake the winter doldrums and get the blood flowing.

SummerNeed a cure for the summertime heat? The obvious choice is to dive toward thepool or beach. But if you want to stick closer to home, familyfun.go.com offerssome great ideas for right in your own backyard. One game is Musical Sprinklers, achairless version of the childhood favorite. Kids dance in a circle around a sprin-kler that’s shut off. When the sprinkler comes on, everyone must freeze. And oneor two are instantly cooled off!

The “In Between” SeasonsWherever you live, there are bound to be weather restraints that could hinderphysical activity. If a visit to the health club or chance to be outside are not op-tions, reintroduce timeless games such as Twister, Nerf basketball, or even theconstruction of a couch fort out of cushions and blankets. —S. S.

Fun for All Seasons

O C TOB E R 2005

a neighborhood Frisbee league. Plan family bike trips. Learn a new sport together.

Fun:The Name of the GameHealth clubs offer just about every-thing needed to transform the humanbody from the consummate “before”to “after.” While some parents look totheir workout at the club as “me time,”others take advantage of fitness clubsthat make it all about the kids.

At their foundation, YMCA andYWCA are all about kindness, diversi-

ty, benevolence, and now, forwardthinking. One YMCA chapter adver-tises multicolored fliers on cork bul-letin boards with headlines that read,“Kid’s Exercise Night” and “Kid’s Yo-ga.” That’s right: Kid’s Yoga.

“We have far more success withprograms that are about having fun,”says Mel Jessee, YMCA fitness direc-tor at the Northwest branch in New

Hope, Minnesota. “‘Teens in Training’is a program that constantly has awaiting list. [This program] makes allthe fitness machines available totwelve-to-fourteen-year-olds in a fun,supervised atmosphere.” The organi-zation always looks to find out what is“cool” for a particular age group whenit comes to exercise. For example, thischapter’s “Funk” program brings to-gether exercise and hip-hop for teensand young adults. “We know from ex-perience that the word ‘exercise’drives them away, so we don’t say it atall in the program title,” Jessee says.

“They forget about it and just havefun.” Throughout the United States,more and more fitness facilities areencouraging parents and their chil-dren to join aerobics, Pilates, or aquat-ics classes together.

While belonging to a health club is anice perk, you don’t need it to encour-age activity among children. Simplethings—taking the pet for a walk, run-ning through the sprinkler, raking apile of leaves to jump into—will make aworld of difference for your family’shealth. And remember, exercise can bemore fun when a friend or familymember shares it with you. “Physicalactivity is likely to be continued if folksenjoy it, have someone to supportthem in the activity, and join them inmaintaining changes,” Passehl says. F

Raising Healthy KidsS P O N S O R E D S E C T I O N

Natalie BeckMinneapolis, MinnesotaCollege freshman

“Throughout high school, I played organized sports, which I par-ticipated in primarily for the fun of the game and being part of ateam. Right now, exercise is a big part of my mental health. Inthe craziness of [my] senior year, exercise was a necessary outletbetween homework and the major life decisions I was making.Dancing is my passion and dance is my decided college major, so

any opportunity at outdoor activities such as inline skating or biking withfriends makes my day. My advice for someone who has a hard time staying ontrack with exercise would be to find one activity you love or you and your friendslove. Then stick to it and find a way to make it a fun part of your week.”

Marvin BradfordChamplin,Minnesota9th grade

“I love playing basketball [and] at the park after school or play-ing HORSE at my friend’s house. I take tae kwon do class be-cause it’s fun and I get to be with my friends in the classes. I re-ally like the discipline of stretching, warming up, running, andthen getting to spar. When I’m done, I’m definitely sweating,and I know I got a good workout. I have video games like all my

friends, but I’d rather play outside with friends than play video games or watchTV all day.”

Joey HerzogBloomington, Minnesota 5th grade

“I love playing soccer and basketball at school. I also like toscooter or bike to my friend’s house to jump on the trampolineor meet at the park. Me and my friends made a game up called‘Lava Tag.’ It’s a game we play on the park’s jungle gym. You getyour friends together, and if you’re ‘it’, you have unlimited stepson the sand and three steps once you get on the jungle gym [to

go after someone]. Then the ‘not its’ have unlimited steps on the jungle gym, butthey can’t touch the sand. It’s a lot of fun!”

O CTOBER 2005 Find recipes at fitnessandkids.com. Bake, roast, or poach foods instead of frying.

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What I Do for Fun

By placing soda machines outside gymnasiums, rewarding academicachievement with candy, and allowing French fries to pass for a vegetable

serving in the cafeteria, schools have been sending students mixed messagesabout nutrition for years.

In response to growing concern about childhood obesity—and a virtual alpha-bet soup of organizations from the CDC to the NEA weighing in on what to doabout it—schools throughout the country have stepped up their efforts to pro-mote healthy eating and exercise habits.

Schools of ChangeNorth High in Minneapolis, for example, did away with all but one of its soda-only machines prior to the start of the 2001–02 school year. To promote healthieralternatives, the school increased the number of beverage vending machines fromfour to sixteen total: two machines with sports drinks, thirteen with bottled waterand 100 percent fruit and vegetable juice, and one with soda. As an incentive todrink water, North allowed it in classrooms and priced the water competitively at75 cents a bottle, compared with $1.25 for soda.

Assistant Principal Bryan Bass championed the changes with North High ad-ministrators because they were fed up with the number of unhealthy choices sur-rounding students. But here’s the catch: North relies on the profits from vending

Schools Smarten UpA look at how schools are encouraging their students to eat better and move more—and whatyou as a parent can do to help. By Amy Barrett • Photography By Craig Bares

Assistant principal Bryan Bass was a key player in adding water vending machines at North High in Minneapolis.

O C TOB ER 2005Make sandwiches with turkey and whole-wheat pitas. Pack a pasta-salad lunch.

machine sales to offset the cost of Ad-vanced Placement exams, field trips,and enrichment programs. Fortunately,since pulling the plug on the soda machines, North’s profits frombeverage sales have actually increased.

Not only that, “our rate of suspensionwas also reduced by 20 percent overtwo years,” Bass reports. “Was it just be-cause of the vending machines? Maybenot. It also had to do with good leader-ship. But it didn’t hurt to get rid of thesugar and caffeine.”

Meanwhile, Hopkins High School inthe Twin Cities has been serving upwhole-wheat cinnamon rolls and organ-ic yogurts for breakfast along with pre-mium deli meats and other fresh andnatural sandwich fixings for lunch at theHealth Nut Café, which opened in 2003.

The Health Nut Café is one compo-nent of an effort to improve nutritionand physical activity throughout theHopkins school district. The effort be-gan about three years ago with the for-mation of a Healthy School Environ-ment Committee, including teachers,principals, and parents, as well as repre-sentatives from the Hennepin CountyCommunity Health Department andthe Minnesota Department of Health.

“We looked around and asked our-selves, ‘Does our environment supportour curriculum?’” says Bonnie YoungJohnson, director of the Healthy SchoolEnvironment Initiative for the Hopkinsschool district. “We didn’t want stu-dents to go out the door of their class-room and not have healthy choices oropportunities to get much exercise.”

With a goal of having some kind ofhealth program in place at every schoolby the end of 2005, Johnson and hercolleagues started applying for grants.Eisenhower Elementary School, forone, got $1,000 from the Midwest DairyCouncil to promote milk consumption.Several schools also got money for pe-dometers and started walking clubs.The Community Education staff evenopened a cooking school, where parentsand children can learn how to preparehealthy home-cooked meals.

Although schools can’t tackle child-hood obesity alone, school-based healthinitiatives like these play a key role be-cause of the amount of time studentsspend at school—roughly six hours a day,five days a week, thirty-five weeks a yearfor thirteen years, not counting extend-ed-day programs and summer school.

What You Can DoFamilies, too, can do plenty to improvehealth and fitness at their child’s school.Here are a few ideas to get you started:• Get to know your school. Ask

what foods are available at school, notonly from the hot-lunch menu, but al-so in a la carte lines, vending ma-chines, and classrooms. Are studentsactive every day? Are there policieson physical activity and nutrition?

• Talk with the P.E. teachers. Takethe initiative to speak with physicaleducation teachers who are shapingchildren’s lives as much as any otherteachers. Find out what your P.E.teachers need to support them in get-ting more P.E. time in school. In ad-dition, attend PTO meetings, writeletters to the editor, and contact yourcongressional representative.

• Get involved. If your school doesn’talready have a health advisory commit-tee, start one. This committee can gen-erate ideas for ensuring a healthy envi-ronment at school. “You need a group ofpeople,” says Johnson, adding that ithelps if some of them are upper-leveladministrators. “A passionate individualcan’t do it alone.”

•Start small. Study programs that havebeen successful at other schools, but berealistic about the time and moneyneeded to implement them at yours.

•Involve your kids. Don’t assumethey’ll be opposed to change. WhenBass shared his idea for replacing soda machines with the student leader-ship group at North, they said, “It’sabout time!”

•Rethink birthday treats. Whenit’s your child’s birthday, send book-marks, stickers, pencils, or healthysnacks to the classroom with them instead of sweet treats. “You don’t wantto deprive your kids of the party atmos-phere,” Johnson says, “but you can dofun things without being into fats andsugars.”

•Brown-bag it. If you don’t like thechoices available for hot lunch, sendfood from home.By reinforcing proper nutrition and

exercise as much as possible, schools canhelp students reduce their odds of healthproblems later in life. “Some folks areafraid to take the risk,” says Bass, whosecolleagues have nicknamed him Tofu,“but it’s a responsible risk. You’re talkingabout the health and well-being of thefuture.” F

Want to make a difference in your school? The Medtronic Foundation is offeringone-time Fitness And Nutrition (FAN) grants up to $5,000 to schools in the TwinCities metropolitan area. FAN grants recognize exemplary school fitness andnutrition programs and encourage new and innovative ways to promote physicalactivity and good nutrition before, during, and after school. Priority is given to schools that serve socio-economically disadvantaged students. For moreinformation or to apply, log on to medtronic.com/foundation. The applicationdeadline is December 15, 2005.

Medtronic Announces New Grants

Add healthy desserts like banana bread, fruit-filled muffins, and granola bars.

Ask your kidswhat they’re eating

(and when) formeals and snacks

at school.

“ “Raising Healthy KidsS P O N S O R E D S E C T I O N

O CTOBER 2005

Action for Healthy Kidsactionforhealthykids.org800-416-5136Nonprofit that focuses its efforts onhealthy changes at schools. Also pro-vides state-by-state initiatives.

American Dietetic Associationeatright.org/public800-877-1600Offers nutrition, health, and well-being information plus tips of the dayand an online dietetics manual.

Be Active Minnesotabeactiveminnesota.orgProvides tips for getting started withphysical education, finding the rightactivity, and sticking with it.

Centers for Disease Control and Preventionwww.cdc.gov770-488-5820 or 404-679-7924

Provides a wide array of informationand tips on nutrition, physical activity,and obesity.

Center for Science in the Public Interestcspinet.org202-332-9110Covers a wide array of health issuesfrom nutrition to alcohol intake. In-cludes a link to smartmouth.com, akid-oriented nutrition website.

Dietary Guidelineshealthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines877-696-6775Provides a link to the government’scomprehensive 2005 guidelines ongood dietary habits.

New Food Pyramidmypyramid.gov703-605-4265Tips on making the pyramid work for

you plus a new interactive tool to cus-tomize the guide based on age, sex,and activity level.

School Nutrition Associationasfsa.org703-739-3900Information for parents on child nu-trition ranging from details of foodser-vice operations to kid-friendly recipes.

Shape Up America!shapeup.orgInformation about physical activityand weight management as compo-nents of children’s health. Also in-cludes ninety-nine tips for family fit-ness fun.

USDA Center for Nutrition Policyand Promotionusda.gov/cnppLinks to the food pyramid and infor-mation on various dietary guidelines,including a version specifically foryounger children.

VERBwww.cdc.gov/youthcampaign/770-488-6480A national, multicultural, social mar-keting campaign coordinated by theCDC to encourage young people agesnine to thirteen (tweens) to be physi-cally active every day. See also: verbparents.com and verbnow.com

WICwww.fns.usda.gov/wic800-942-4030 (Minnesota)Website with information on the pro-gram designed for low-incomewomen, infants, and children, includ-ing information on how to apply forthe program.

For More InformationWhere to find the latest information about raising healthy kids.

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Buy fresh veggies from the Farmers’ Market. Rent a canoe. Snack on whole-grain cereals.