FitTown USA Town Hall Discussion

On March 10th and 11th, HealthCorps joined with the Urban Zen Foundation to host a two day town hall discussion exploring solutions to enhance the physical and emotional health and wellness of kids and teens at home, in schools and in the community. Part of the focus was to explore ways to engage parents and school staff as "agents of change."

Michelle Bouchard, President of HealthCorps®, opened the first panel discussion with a call to "invoke vitality in kids to activate them and get a conversation going." Because in order to get the kids to even want to hear about health and nutrition and ways to improve their self esteem, they first need to feel that we hear them; that their situation and their current choices matter – that they are important and relevant – and once they feel that they have a voice – they can listen to other voices and perspectives.

First Lady of New York, Michelle Paterson, has spearheaded an effort to help kids to fight obesity called Healthy Steps to Albany (www.healthystepstoalbany.com) which inspires kids to compete in contests that involve physical activity and better nutrition. Her hope is that kids will actually inspire change in their parents as well, helping to bring the concept of health and wellness to the family unit. This year 362,000 kids in 7th and 8th grade participated in Healthy Steps. She well knows the value of applying these same health principles to herself and she believes that "a healthy lifestyle that she herself began in the 7th grade, has sustained her to this day."

Alexandria Jameson, a well known vegan chef (Naturally Flavored Chef LLC), health counselor and author, has a rather interesting position on the obesity issue. It gets her “really fired up” when she sees flavored milk as a choice in school. Her candid comment - "Kids do not need these kinds of choices in school. These are high sugar beverages called healthy because they have calcium. Kids are going to access them (and other high sugar drinks) on their way to and from school, at home and on weekends so let’s at least offer simple healthier foods and drinks in schools." The challenges to this platform range from bureaucratic red tape to financial challenges to the unyielding stance of some parents who feel that nutrition rules should be guided by….parents. Her hope is that Farmer’s Markets be brought to urban areas that don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Annemarie Colbin is a giant in her field though a somewhat diminutive woman. She created the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York and quite simply – she was engaging her kids in nutrition and healthy habits long before the more public effort to fight obesity had ever begun. She admits to taking a stand in school when her kids were growing up by sending simple, tasty healthy lunches. Before long, kids who were initially “put off” by what she was sending for lunch, were begging to have it too!! Her message is simple – we are and we feel like what we eat – so make it basic, tasty and free of dangerous unhealthy ingredients. Her daughter continues the legacy in Denver schools. Dr. Colbin wants parents to learn to feed their kids better choices and she is convinced that grandmas, who typically are the true cooks of the family unit, need to be part of the obesity solution.

And then there was Barnaby Spring, Principal of EBC High School for Public Services in Brooklyn NY. Though he looked like an urban cowboy, he was apparently a lover of organic and healthy foods and yoga. Never would have guessed it!! His incredible passion and efforts to expose kids to experiences like healthy foods initially scandalized his students. He believes that healthy foods transform energy levels and school performance, and certainly studies support these theories. He recognizes the validity of inner city kids’ anger, and he feels that in order to solve weight issues and change eating habits you need to be honest and real and recognize the failures of certain well-intentioned efforts. Not everything works but he is passionate about the "effort to try."

The panel moderator, Brian Wansink, PhD is an author and the Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. He passionately explores eating patterns and consumer habits in various food circumstances – at home, in restaurants and he looks at the consumer response to certain cues – bigger plates and appetite, proximity of treats and how often you indulge. His belief is that if you change the environment so that it works for you rather than against you – it can be an important tool in battling obesity. He wants to "nudge kids in the lunchroom so they do the right thing." He believes kids need to feel they have the freedom to choose while they invariably make better choices, and he too believes it’s important to rally the parents.

A final thought offered by panelist Spring – Hope is in the young people – so organizations like HealthCorps who bring young adult coordinators to urban schools as teachers and mentors can bring change by invoking discussion and exhibiting the health habits we want students to embrace.

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