In honor of Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, we thought we’d offer a few helpful resources for engaging children and young people in healthy eating and active living.
Healthy Eating
Michelle Obama and the Let’s Move! campaign recently teamed up with Epicurious, the award-winning food website, to challenge kids across the country to submit their original recipes for nutritious and delicious lunches. The top 54 winning submissions were featured in The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge Cookbook and invited to the White House for a luncheon celebration with Mrs. Obama herself. The menu included some of the winning recipes, including kale chips and a quinoa, corn, and black bean salad.
[pullquote]Consider sharing these resources with the young people in your life….all of us need to engage in activities that foster healthy living.[/pullquote]Looking for more inspiration to get your family cooking healthy and delicious meals together? Check out Chop Chop, a quarterly food magazine and website for kids aged 5-12 and their families. ChopChop’s mission is to educate kids to cook and be nutritionally literate, empower them to actively participate as health partners with their families, and help establish and support better eating habits for a lifetime of good nutrition. The magazine and website are packed with great recipes, fun facts about food and food nutrition, basics on how to use kitchen utensils, and even some tips on how to grow your own vegetables at home.
Active Living
Our friends from the Care Management Institute and the pediatric department of Kaiser Permanente in Hayward, Calif. recently offered up a list of free fitness videos to help get kids and youth more active. Check these out:
Resources for kids
- Sesame Street: Grover’s Workout Video
- Exercise with Daniel Cook
- Get Active Series
- A Cosmic Kids Yoga Adventure
- Jazz Ballet Basics
- Dance Moves with Benjamin Allen
- Fit Factor Kids Exercise
Resources for teens
- MMA Workout with Coach Kozak
- BeeTwixt Pilates
- Fitness Blender Sports Endurance Workout
- Guide to Basic Zumba
- Dance Moves with Benjamin Allen
- Cardio Workouts with Kyle Brayer
We all need to work together for better health. Consider sharing these resources with the young people in your life, and help build awareness about how all of us need to engage in activities that foster healthy living.
