Program helps kids and families get healthy  

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

downloadDaily Herald writer Marie Wilson did a great story on Pro-Active Kids.  I though you might like to read about this fantastic program:

Families struggling with weight issues and obesity typically don’t have the advanced degrees it takes to understand the chemical complexities of food and nutrition, but suburban hospitals might have a solution.

Programs that teach the principles of healthy eating to a combined audience of overweight kids and their parents are available through hospitals such as Alexian Brothers andAdvocate Good Samaritan, and participants say they’re taking the mystery out of developing a healthy lifestyle.

Health professionals say bringing children and parents together for lessons on weight loss and exercise helps families change in unison.

“If you isolate the kids, the family doesn’t get the same kind of information and it’s not reinforced,” said Marcy Traxler, who has run the Fit Kids program at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates for the past five years.

Read more →

Rethink Your Drink Video Sweepstakes Ends Friday!  

/0 Comments/in , , /by

IAPO

OFFICIAL RULES

General Sweepstakes Information

  • The sponsor of this sweepstakes is the Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI), which administers the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity (IAPO). IPHI is located at 954 West Washington Boulevard, Suite 405, Mailbox 10, Chicago, IL
  • This is a sweepstakes to illustrate for Illinois residents that it is easy to make low-sugar beverages — and delicious too!

Who May Enter

  • The sweepstakes is open to all residents of the State of Illinois who are 18 years old or older as of February 16, 2015.
  • Employees of the Illinois Public Health Institute and Obesity Action Roadmap endorsing member organizations of the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity, their immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling, and their respective spouses), and persons living in the same household of such employees (whether related or not) are not eligible to enter this sweepstakes.

How to Enter

  • Online submissions will be accepted beginning on Monday, February 16, 2015 at 9:00:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time and ending on Friday, March 6, 2015 at 11:59:59 p.m. Central Daylight Time, according to IPHI’s computers. Mailed submissions must be postmarked between February 16, 2015 and March 6, 2014 and must be received by IPHI no later than March 12, 2015.

Read more →

Village Proclaims Fitness February  

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

DSCN1152The Village of Lombard Proclaimed the 2nd month of 2015 at Fitness February Month:

WHEREAS, Healthy Lombard was formed in 2009 as a Village-wide initiative to address childhood obesity and promote healthy living throughout the Village of Lombard; and

WHEREAS, under the umbrella of the name “Healthy Lombard” over 40 businesses and organizations have joined together usint the Triple “A” Approachof Awareness, Activities, and Achievement to address this need by providing our community with iesources and information on healthy living ; and

WHEREAS, many children and adults make a resolution each January to adopt a healthier lifestyle, but often need a boost to their resolve a few weeks later;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Keith T. Giagnorio, President of the Village of Lombard,

• Officially proclaim the second month of the year as “Fitness February” in the Village of Lombard;

• Congratulate all the children, adults, and businesses who will receive a Health Hero certificates for practicing and promoting healthy living;

• Remind members of our community who want to make a change in their lifestyle to visit the Healthy Lombard websites ;

•Invite the entire community to visit the Healthy Lombard Fitness February Fair that will be held on February 28, from 10 AM until 2 PM, at Yorktown Center; and

• Recognize the Healthy Lombard Model as a blueprint for other villages and towns to follow in order to make a difference in the health of future generations.

Rethinking Your Drink?  

/0 Comments/in , , /by

summer-workout-austinElle Penner, M.P.H., R.D., the Registered Dietitian and Food & Nutrition Editor at MyFitnesssPal, as well as an active runner and food-enthusiast shared that the reasons to stop drinking soda are abundant. Whether you want to cut down on empty calories and added sugars, consume less artificial sweeteners, wean off of caffeine, or even save money, ditching soda is a great place to start.

I actually used to be a big soda drinker–the diet type in particular. Something about it being calorie-free gave me permission to drink it with reckless abandon–so I did. At one point, I consumed more soda than water throughout the course of the day.

Back in 2006 I decided I wanted to rid myself of a dependence on artificial sweeteners, so naturally I started with soda. Over the course of about a year I went from drinking 2-3 sodas per day to 2 to 3 per month. I still very much enjoy a cola with my cheeseburger and french fries, but now that I drink it so much less frequently, I have no problem treating myself to the real deal.

As a former soda-drinker myself, I thought I’d share some tips and tricks I found helpful along the way for those of you who also want to get off the sweet stuff:

1. Be okay with scaling back slowly. If you drink 3+ sodas a day, switching to tap water cold turkey will most likely make every sip feel like a punishment… not to mention induce some serious caffeine withdrawal headaches. I bet you can rather painlessly replace 3 sodas per week with tap or sparkling water, though. Heck, maybe even 1 per day! Whatever the number, make it reasonable. Soda has not, and will not kill you over the next few weeks or months while you gradually get off of it. Over time, you’ll miss those first few sodas less and less and eventually you’ll be ready to cut out one or two more.

 

2. Get on a soda schedule. Keeping #1 in mind, jot down a schedule for weaning your soda consumption. By writing a plan, you’re thinking through and committing to a reasonable approach to drinking less. For example, if you normally drink 3 sodas per day, cut down to 2 per day for an entire month, and then 1 per day the month after. From there, you can gradually cut down even further. Allow yourself 5 per week for the 3rd month, 4 per week for the 4th month, and so on.

Read more →

Rethink Your Drink Campaign  

/0 Comments/in , , /by

One of the objectives in the IAPO Obesity Action Roadmap is to “increase consumption of healthy food and beverages in relation to consumption of unhealthy food and beverages that have minimal nutritional value, such as sugar-sweetened beverages and calorie-dense, low-nutrition fast foods.”  More

Passing a penny-per-ounce excise tax on sugary drinks is a long-term goal the coalition defined to help reach the over-arching objective. IAPO members have focused on mobilizing, educating, and advocating with community residents, leaders, and policymakers to reduce access to and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages since the start of IAPO.

A Rethink Your Drink 2014 campaign was kicked off with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn declaring February, 2014 as “Rethink Your Drink Month” in Illinois.  More

In the fall of 2013, IAPO developed its first ever legislative agenda for the spring 2014 session of the Illinois General Assembly. Included on the agenda was the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Act, which placed a penny per ounce excise tax on sugary beverages with revenues going to community prevention (50%) and the Illinois Medicaid program (50%).

Governed by a state Council of Agencies with input from an Advisory Board, the funds would help support nutrition and physical activity initiatives, local food systems, school health and wellness, public health departments and infrastructure, active transportation, oral health, and expansion of Medicaid prevention services. While the bill did not pass in the spring 2014 legislative session, IAPO will continue to advocate for this legislative proposal as one tool that could reduce obesity in Illinois.

For quick and fun ideas on how to participate, view the IAPO Rethink Your Drink Toolkit.

Rethink Your Drink Tools and Resources

Join us by hosting educational events in your community and/or sending out educational messages about the health impacts of sugary beverages and how people can take steps to rethink their drinks and reduce consumption of sugary beverages through policy and environmental strategies.

 

Lunches packed at home are generally not as nutritious as school lunches  

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

The Daily Herald also shared this information on November 17, 2014:

Researchers compared more than 750 school meals with more than 560 packed meals given to pre-K and kindergarten students in three schools, analyzing them for nutritional value over five days, CBS News reports.

“We found that packed lunches were of less nutritional quality than school lunches,” said lead researcher Alisha Farris, a Ph.D. candidate at Virginia Tech University.

The packed lunches had more fat, and included more desserts and sugary drinks than the school lunches did, the researchers found.

“There was a spectrum,” Farris said. “There were some really healthy packed lunches. But overall, they were pretty unhealthy.”

The study is published in the November-December issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

Read more →

Is Your Child Overweight or Obese?  

/0 Comments/in , , /by
, Family Fitness Expert, writes: you may look at your kids and think, “He’s strong and sturdy,” or “She’s still got a bit of baby fat.” But check again; that baby fat could have big consequences for her health. Child obesity can leave kids at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, and even depression.At regular check-ups, your child’s doctor should check his height and weight and calculate his body-mass index, or BMI (see an online calculator that helps you check against thresholds for child obesity).

  • A child is considered overweight if her BMI is at or above the 85th percentile (but below the 95th percentile).

Because kids’ growth patterns are different from adults, a child’s BMI can’t be directly compared to an adult’s. Special BMI-for-age charts help doctors know which kids are at risk. So do growth patterns over time, and so does questions doctors may ask about diet and fitness, such as:

If the BMI, the lifestyle questions, and/or family medical history raise a red flag, the doctor may order follow-up lab tests, such as a lipid profile (which checks the level of cholesterol in the blood), and recommend lifestyle changes for the whole family or other treatments.

 

Get Moving!  

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

ch3The “A Year of Being Well”  Newsletters shared that some people dread the thought of physical activity even though adults need at least 30 minutes each day and kids ages 6 and older need at least 60 minutes. Reasons for lacking enough physical activity vary. Perhaps being active seems tough because you’re not in shape or you have trouble finding time in the day? Whatever your reasons, there are affordable ways to keep moving that can fit into your busy schedule. It’s important for families to understand that small, easy steps can significantly increase your family’s prospects for healthier lives.

Explore new ideas to get your kids moving more. Doing things as a family will help you ensure you’re all getting the amount of physical activity you need. Play ball or tag. Ride bikes. Take a Walk to Be Well. Physical activity doesn’t have to be something you dread. Find an activity you like and do it every day!

Balance Weight Center Presents Nutrition Session on October 4th.  

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

balanceflyer

Click on the graphic above to download the informational flyer.

Registration and a participation fee  is required for this event. It will be held at the Balance Weight Loss Center located at 2525 Ogden Avenue. Downers Grove, IL 60515, Phone: 630-929-3009, Web: www.balanceweightcenter.com

Parent Education Session

  • Food demonstration

Learn about:

  • Energy balance
  • Portion size
  • Maintaining healthy weight

Kid Education Session

  • Hands on activities
  • Nutrition Education
  • Kids make a healthy snack.