WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: The Year of the Pulses

"Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have."   

                                    --Winston Churchill

Lentils, dried peas and beans are always included in our Kids in the Kitchen lessons.  They are one of the most nutrient dense foods available.  There are so many ways you can prepare them.  You can buy a truckload for a dollar (maybe not that cheap, but they are really, really cheap).  When people tell me they can’t afford to feed their kids healthy foods, the answer is to teach them how to prepare lentils and other pulses. 

In 2013, the United Nations declared that 2016 will be The Year of the Pulses. Confession:  I had eaten lentils for years before I heard the term “pulses”. 

What is a pulse?  A pulse is an edible seed that grows in a pod.  Pulses include all beans, peas, and lentils.  They do not include fresh beans and peas.  They are extremely high in both soluble and insoluble fiber.  They are also rich in protein and have high levels of minerals such as iron, zinc, and phosphorus as well as folate and other essential B vitamins.   They are cheap and are easy to store.  They help prevent diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Some of my favorite pulses:

• Brown lentils
• French lentil
• Black lentils
• Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• Pinto beans
• Black beans
• Cannellini beans
• Mung beans
• Yellow split peas

For some great pulse recipes, visit www.pulsecanada.com and www.iyp2016.org.  For my favorite hummus recipe, check out Nourish and Flourish:  Kid-Tested Tips and Recipes to Prevent Diabetes (available at www.amazon.com).  

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Obesity in Adults: 7 Tips You Can Use

"Pasta does not make you fat.  How much pasta you

eat makes you fat." 

                                                 --Giada De Laurentiis

Obesity rates continue to climb.  Adults who are obese are 4.7 times more likely to develop diabetes.  For the wealthiest nation in the world that spends more than $245 billion on diagnoseddiabetes (as estimated in 2012), a whopping 41% increase over the previous 5 years, we are spending a lot of money on a preventable disease that could be used many other ways.

Growing Healthy Kids is committed to preventing diabetes in children and educating parents how to prevent, control, and reverse diabetes.  Are you are parent?  Start with a simple plan to make one change a week.  Record your plan in a notebook and measure your changes. 

Make health goals that are SMART:  Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Specific.  Review this list of 7 tips and pick out several to implement for you and your family.  Use them to create SMART goals:

1. Start every day with a breakfast that includes some high quality protein (like eggs or yogurt), a little fat, and some healthy carbs (fresh fruit or veggies). 
2. Make family dinner time a priority at least 4 nights a week (depending on the kids’ sports and other commitments)
3. Ban cell phones from the dinner table.  This small change encourages conversation about the day and dining at a slower, relaxed pace, allowing everyone to taste and enjoy their food.
4. Take a walk after dinner, whenever the weather permits. 
5. Eat a salad featuring local greens (when available) at least once a day.  Ask your kids to create a family salad bar with 5 or 6 ingredients. 
6. Learn to make a simple vinaigrette for your salads (see my recipe below).
7. Replace fruit juice with fresh fruit. 

GROWING HEALTHY KIDS:  Our Recipe Collection

HEALTHY VINAIGRETTE

MIXtogether in a bowl (or in a jar and then you can just shake it well):

• ·        1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ·        1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• ·        ¼ cup Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar
• ·        1 teaspoon honey (use locally produced honey where available)
• ·        sea salt
• ·        fresh ground pepper

BEAT with a whisk or a fork until the mixture emulsifies.

This is a great dressing for a simple chopped salad using fresh, locally grown greens.  We love salads made with fresh picked organic greens, arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, pears, avocados, garbanzo beans, and apples.

Make a plan.  Keep it simple.  Think of what YOU would do with $245 billion!

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

A view from the Finance Desk

Hello Friends,

I am happy to be blogging today, something we finance people rarely get to do. Creating child safe environments is a dynamic process that involves active participation and responsibility by everyone in the community – individuals, families, government and non-government organisations and community groups. Sharing responsibility for the care and protection of children helps to develop a stronger, more child-focused community. 

A community conscious of safe spaces for its children can: 

• care for all children; 
• identify vulnerable children; support children who have been abused and neglected; 
• and prevent further harm to children. 

At Nhaka Foundation our programs help communities and schools to provide safe environments for children. Through our Early Childhood Development (ECD) outdoor playground equipment construction and ECD Classroom renovation we have been able to create a safe playing environment for ECD pupils. A child's environment affects their development and behavior. A well-planned, indoor and outdoor environment makes it easier for children to learn, to get along with one another and become independent. Effective environments can also make things easier for the parents, teachers and guardians. Be it a school or home setting, a positive learning environment is crucial for a child. A positive learning environment not only consists of the physical setting, but it also encompasses how the child feels or responds to the setting.

What I have learnt through the work we do at Nhaka Foundation? Young children need teachers who take time to work with them individually, in small groups, and sometimes with the entire class–to help them develop their cognitive and social skills, their language abilities, and their interest in learning new things about the world. Through our ECD para professional and teacher training program teachers receive in service training to build their capacity in line with child development trends. The focus of a child safe environment is not simply to create an environment that minimises risk or danger. Rather it is about building an environment which is both child-safe and child-friendly, where children feel respected, valued and encouraged to reach their full potential.

A lot still needs to be done in the communities we serve. Being the "number cruncher" means that I get to see how we spend our funding directly on the children we serve each and every day. We need more and you can help in your individual or collective efforts. Visit our webpage DONATE button and partner with us as we carry out this work.

Until next time,

Viviane

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Savor the Flavor of Parsley

"Health is not a condition of matter, but of Mind."  

                                                             --Mary Baker Eddy

With the obesity epidemic all around us and threatening the lives - and health - of America's children, it is the simple steps to healthier eating that make each meal a delight.  

The fresh organic parsley in my refrigerator will soon be made into a delicious parsley pesto.  Pesto is a key ingredient that enhances the flavor of several of my favorite meals:  (1) served on gluten-free Portobello mushroom ravioli (with a green salad made with local greens from my favorite farmers) and (2) my favorite grilled sandwich EVER made with extra sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, a slice of organic heirloom tomato, a sprinkle of pink Himalayan sea salt, and pesto on sprouted whole grain bread.  

Parsley has so many incredible health benefits, yet many people believe think it is “just a garnish” to make the plate pretty.  Let’s banish that myth! 

Some of parsley's health benefits:

• Vitamins K
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin A
• Folate (folic acid)
• Iron
• Copper
• Magnesium
• Potassium

According to The World’s Healthiest Foods (www.whfoods.com), “The flavonoids in parsley-especially luteolin-have been shown to function as antioxidants that combine with highly reactive oxygen-containing molecules (called oxygen radicals) and help prevent oxygen-based damage to cells.  In addition, extracts have been used in animal studies to help increase the antioxidants capacity of the blood.”  

A half cup of parsley contains about 11 calories – good for the waistline! Parsley pesto is easy to make.  Here’s my recipe: 

PARSLEY PESTO

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh organic parsley (use curly or Italian)
• ½ cup walnuts (to enhance the flavor, lightly toast them in a dry pan)
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
• ½ teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup (or so) of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Place all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor and process until well mixed.   Then drizzle the olive oil down the tube until you get the consistency you want.  

Note:  If not using pesto immediately, then store in a container and pour a thin layer of olive oil on top.  Cover and refrigerate.  Use within a week. 

Savor the flavor of parsley.  It's oh, so good!

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: "I want to eat better, can you help me?"

“Quite simply, the more you substitute plant foods for animal foods, the healthier you are likely to be.” 

                        --Dr. T. Colin Campbell, nutrition expert at Cornell University and co-author of The China Study

Every day, while giving presentations or talking with people around the country about the work we do in the Growing Healthy Kids organization to defeat childhood obesity, there is always at least one person who asks for help in eating better.  Sometimes it is because they have just been diagnosed with diabetes.  Frequently it is because they know they are not eating right and are gaining weight or having issues with their blood pressure. 

Learning howto eat better often starts with a stark realization that if something doesn’t change, one’s health will change for the worse.  The fact is that obesity is the root cause of many preventable diseases.  Taking responsibility for what you eat is the first step towards better health.

March is National Nutrition Month.  Here are 3 tips you can use to eat better AND feel better:

1. Eliminate high fructose corn syrup from everything you eat and drink by reading food labels on all processed foods.  This highly processed sugar is stored as fat and has no nutritional value. 
2. Eat super foods every day, such as almonds, walnuts, blueberries, kale, quinoa and sweet potatoes. 
3. Take a walk after dinner every day, or at least most days.  Adding this simple step can aid in digestion, help you sleep better, reduce stress, get to a healthier weight, and prevent overeating. 

Savor the flavor of eating right!

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc. 

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: My Favorite Kitchen Tools

"Every child should be taught to cook in school, not just talk about nutrition all day.  Good food can be made in 15 minutes. This could be the first generation where the kids teach the parents." 

                                                                   --Jamie Oliver

Know what? Kids love to have a job in the kitchen.   We give them jobs when they come to our workshops.  That is why we have so much fun playing surrounded by fresh veggies.

One of the great joys we experience in our Growing Healthy Kids in the Kitchen workshops is teaching kids how to use basic kitchen tools.  My belief is that all kids should be knowledgeable in using 10 basic kitchen tools.   Let’s start with two of my favorite kitchen tools.

When kids come to our workshops, they clamor to use the graters and microplane zesters.  Something magical happens when you give a kid a cutting board, a box grater, and a pile of zucchini and carrots or a cutting board, a zester, and a bowl with lemons and limes*. 

My Rx for your children’s wellness?  Take the kids shopping this week and pick out a new kitchen tool.  Playtime!  They’ll have a new job they love and you’ll be halfway towards a great batch of whole grain breakfast muffins!

MEMO TO PARENTS:  Hug your children and tell them "I love you" every day.  These are the most important  habits for Growing Healthy Kids.  

In gratitude,

Nancy Heinrich

Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.

*PS-Next time you make a key lime or lemon meringue pie, kick up the flavor by topping it with some citrus zest!   Or add lemon zest to your favorite whole grain blueberry muffin recipe.

Special needs education: Creating an inclusive learning environment

Dear Friends,

In recent weeks we have worked with a number of children that need support through special needs education. As we have interacted with communities and teachers we have noticed a few things that need to be addressed urgently. Firstly, the teachers are not adequately trained to support children with special needs especially when it comes to providing them with support. Secondly the schools are not resourced well enough to ensure that the children enjoy their right to education alongside their compatriots. According to the Constitution of Zimbabwe every child has the right to education.  All children are included in this clause regardless of the fact that they have special needs or not. Special needs education refers to children who have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children of the same age. Many children will have special needs of some kind at some time during their education. (http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/what-are-special-educational-needs).  The UN General Assembly held in March 1994 outlined in relation to standard rules on the equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities: “Education in mainstream schools presupposes the provision of interpreter and other appropriate support services. Adequate accessibility and support services, designed to meet the needs of persons with different disabilities should be provided”

In order to ensure that children with special needs have access to the same level of education as a child otherwise classified as normal child inclusive education has been adopted.

UNESCO views inclusive education as implying four key terms:

1. “It is essentially a process of looking for the most appropriate ways of responding to diversity, as well as of trying to learn from differences.
2. It is linked to the motivation and development, through multiple strategies of students’ creativity and their capacity to address and resolve problems.
3. It comprises the right of the child to attend school, express his/her opinion, experience quality learning and attain valuable learning outcomes.
4. It implies the moral responsibility of prioritising those students who are at risk of being marginalised and excluded from school, and of obtaining low learning outcomes.”

Despite being more vulnerable to developmental risks, young children with disabilities are often overlooked in mainstream programmes and services designed to ensure child development. They also do not receive the specific support required to meet their rights and needs. Children with disabilities and their families are confronted by barriers including inadequate legislation and policies, negative attitudes, inadequate services, and lack of accessible environments. If children with developmental delays or disabilities and their families are not provided with timely and appropriate early intervention, support and protection, their difficulties can become more severe, often leading to lifetime consequences, increased poverty and profound exclusion. All Early Childhood Development, Education and Human Rights actors should therefore commit to advancing not only the needs of children but also give special attention to the area of inclusive education. 

As part of Nhaka Foundation’s contribution to supporting inclusive education and ensuring that children with special needs are able to achieve their full educational potential we are committed to assist this cause by facilitating the identification, assessment and documenting of children with special needs in the areas that we work in. Nhaka Foundation undertakes to support District Officers in the Department of Social Services to assist children with special needs access education. Finally, we also seek to raise awareness in communities on the right to education for all children including those with special needs and the importance of allowing these children the same opportunity to reach their full potential as their able bodied peers.

Lets all work to promote the interests of EVERY child!

Best wishes,

Charity