Moms don’t receive enough recognition for all of the wonderful and extraordinary things that they do, but we want to change that! Moms Who Rock will honor moms who are making a difference by creating a healthier home and community. We will share their stories and showcase their talents that have made them rock stars. Being a mom is a full-time job, and these moms have gone above and beyond and deserve recognition for all of their accomplishments.

The first recipient of our Moms Who Rock award is – Jen Palkovic!

Please watch this video to see why…

Making exercise fun and living a healthy lifestyle are the keys to preventing obesity and the health issues that follow. Childhood obesity is a disease that is preventable. With its rate increasing, promoting healthy living within your family is becoming more and more urgent, which is what we here at the Skinny Gene Project are all about. Playgrounds and parks help promote well-being by enriching your children’s mental and physical health. Playgrounds provide a place where children can have fun while they exercise, and they also create a space where the community can come together. Rolling Hills Park is located in Rancho Penasquitos, an area in San Diego. The park has become the central hub for the neighborhood with its convenient location next to the local elementary school. The Palkovic family loved to go there with their two daughters, Isabella and Sienna, and still frequent the park with Isabella. After the sudden death of Sienna, the Palkovic’s wanted to honor their daughter’s life and give back to the community that united to support them during their tragedy.

Sienna’s PlayGarden

Sienna loved the outdoors and Rolling  Hills Park was her favorite place to go. Jen Palkovic took it upon herself to form a committee whose mission was to renovate the outdated and unsafe park in memory of Sienna. The love and community effort put into this project will make the new playground completely unique. Even Sienna and Isabella’s friends are supporting the project in their own special way – some of the “Super Kids” have even donated their birthday or Holy Communion money. With the creation of Sienna’s PlayGarden, the Palkovic family and anyone who knew Sienna will feel her love and her light when they are in the park, and that is something that will live on forever. They are calling it a “PlayGarden” because the outcome will be a nature-inspired playground with ornamental trees, a community garden, and butterfly accents throughout.

Jen’s goal is for the park to commemorate Sienna’s playful, loving nature and create a happy place for Isabella to go to “be a kid” and lead a healthy life surrounded by friends. Isabella has also been a big part of the project by helping with the art and helping design the logo.

Facing the most difficult heartbreak that a parent can experience, Jen is putting her heart and soul into this project to help with the healing process.  She and her committee are renovating this rusty old park to create a safe place for the neighborhood kids. Their addition to the community is truly amazing, and will provide a new place for kids to have fun and be active.

Jen is emulating the values of healthy living that the Skinny Gene Project promotes; she is a Mom Who Rocks!!!

___

The Skinny Gene Project is proud to support the Palkovic family and Sienna’s PlayGarden. To learn more about or donate to this much needed community project, please visit www.siennasplaygarden.isabellasgiraffeclub.org.

I remember holding my daughter for the first time and looking into her eyes. Although small, her eyes told a story filled with infinite possibilities. I saw motherhood as being a lifetime of firsts – first words, first steps, first recital – each one flooding my heart with abundant joy and love.

First dance recital

As my “baby” turned into my “little princess”, I could see the change in her eyes.

Now when I look into her eyes, I can still see her beauty growing inside, but most importantly, when it comes to looking for a glimpse into what her future can be, I see that her brown eyes are right there, staring back at me.

My daughter is at a highly impressionable age, in which almost every experience doubles as a possible influence. Limiting her TV to PBS and videos has not been a strong enough gatekeeper to thwart the efforts of kid-targeted advertisers. Short of blindfolding my daughter in the grocery store, or leaving her behind, it’s hard to prevent her from being bombarded by the countless kid-targeted products, placed perfectly at her eye level – of course. And if the pressures on TV and the in-store advertisements weren’t hard enough, I have to compete with the greatest threat of all – kid-to-kid, word-of–mouth advertising.

The kids on the playground and in the classroom are like parakeets, repeating whatever they hear at home and sharing their likes and dislikes, which influences how my daughter perceives different foods. I’m constantly being told by advertisers, other parents, even my own daughter what I should be buying.

Wait a minute, Mr. Advertiser, unless you plan on contributing to her college fund and the weekly grocery budget, you don’t get to have a say in how my child is raised.

I felt like my voice was quickly becoming out numbered. If advertisers are spending more than $2 billion a year to target children, I’m going to need some reinforcements. That’s also when I realized one very important thing. Yes, there are many negative distractions vying for my daughter’s attention, but at the end of the day, her eyes are still on me. I get to decide what the next move will be. My decision was simple, reassert my role as CEO of my household, as the Head Product and Produce Inspector, as Chief Health and Wellness Ambassador, in other words- MOM.

I have a family history of diabetes, both type 1 and type 2, but I’ve decided to pass on a different family tradition. One in which we live to prevent diabetes, not find ways to live in spite of it. The studies show that 1 in 3 children are projected to develop diabetes in their lifestyle, losing up to 23 years of life. But when I look into my daughter’s eyes, I’m reminded of the vow I took in my heart to love and protect her. And right now, statically, diabetes is her biggest threat.

You’ve probably heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, I believe this has never been more true than today. I feel so grateful to have other friends and family in our lives whose actions reinforce our values of living a healthy lifestyle. My daughter’s eyes might be on me, but she’s also looking to see who else supports the values and ideal that I put forth.

(*Please click on each of the 10 numbers below to see the pictures.)

Since my daughter was born, we tried to be a living example of what it means to live a healthy lifestyle. Each week we have a family day, which generally incorporates both family fun and physical activity.  We also make a conscious decision to expose her to various forms of competitive events. Since before my daughter was 2 years old, she’s been going with us to cheer on our friends at their marathons. When we can’t cheer them on in person, we show her photos of the event and talk about their accomplishments.

My daughter goes to see Jarod run his first marathon

“Come on guys, let’s run like Lindsay.”

Last month, I signed us up for our first Mother-Daughter 5k. Two weeks prior to our race, we cheered on her “Auntie” Lindsay at her first ½ marathon. My little runner’s eyes beamed as she watched Lindsay run towards the finish line. In that moment, my daughter idolized Lindsay, and my heart was happy. I knew that a new connection had been made, linking my daughter’s understanding of what exercise is and why we do it, to an actual desire to grow and develop as a runner.

So proud of her Auntie Lindsay for doing a 1/2 marathon

After Lindsay’s ½ marathon, my daughter couldn’t wait to participate in her own race. She asked several times a day, every day, for two weeks, “When do I get to do my race Mommy?” Then she’d tell my husband, “Daddy, you have to cheer like Jarod (Lindsay’s husband), and say wooooo really loud. Okay Daddy?”

The day before the race, my daughter and I went to the pre-race expo and picked up our bibs. As we stood in line, my little runner told everybody within an earshot how she was going to “win” her race tomorrow. She’d say, “Are you running tomorrow, cause I am, and I’m gonna run super fast, so I can win.” Seeing her excitement filled my heart with joy.

Picked up our bibs and are ready for our race.

After what seem like months to my mini-me, the day of our Mother-Daughter race finally came, but the circumstances were less than ideal. A huge storm came through San Diego that weekend. This part of sunny California was, well, anything but sunny.

The night before, I watched as the rain pelted against the window and the trees swayed. I didn’t want to get the mail in that weather, much less do a 5k. We had a little dress rehearsal, trying on several combinations of fleece jackets and rain gear. I tossed and turned throughout the night, worrying if I was making the right choice by subjecting her to such inclement weather. But then I remembered the cover of the Parents magazine that I just saw, “Raising a kid that won’t give up”.

Maybe this race can be much more than a lesson about physical activity and living a healthy lifestyle. It’s an opportunity to show my daughter that life is anything but easy, but we have a choice. We can cower and hide from adversity, or we can decide to dance in the rain. When we properly equip ourselves, we can fight through whatever we are going through, and come out a winner at the end.

Showing our medals.

On the big day, I quickly put in an appeal to God as we pulled away from the house. “Lord, I can handle the cold, but I don’t know if I can put my daughter through this rain.”  Despite my growing anxiety, we headed towards the race, knowing I reserved the right to pull out of the race if I didn’t feel it was safe to continue. As soon as we approached the parking lot for the event, the rain stopped. I looked to the skies and smiled in gratitude.

My daughter talked about how excited she was during the car ride, but as soon as the wind hit her face, she began to get scared. “Mommy I want to go inside.” “Oh honey, we can’t go inside”, I said. “The race is outside. Don’t be scared. It’s just the wind, and you’ll warm up as soon as we get moving.”

I pinned her bib, #678, to her Hello Kitty rain jacket, and we were off. The first part of the course was the hardest, because my 32 pound child had to fight her way against 40 mile an hour winds. I held her hand tightly in my grasp; it was almost as if I were afraid the wind might take her away.

Before I knew it, my little competitor had turned her focus from the blistering winds and fringed weather to people in the race that she wanted to catch up to or pass. One was a little girl that was almost 2 years her elder.

A friend she met along the way.

Including the inevitable potty break – she is 4 after all – we crossed the finish line, hand-in-hand in less than 50 minutes.

It’s funny, because now when my little 5ker tells her story, she doesn’t bring up the cold weather or wind. She says, “I crossed the finish line with my mommy.”

When I see the world through my daughter’s eyes, I see plenty of negative temptations, but I also see hope. She is surrounded by so many people, parents, aunties and uncles, neighbors and friends, all helping to challenge what has become “the norm” and instead promote living healthfully.

As for me, our first Mommy and Me race is a day I will never forget. Thinking about what she accomplished, walking (evening running) her first 5K before the age of 5, fills me with tremendous amounts of love and pride.

I look back smiling, because it turns out it did shine brightly that day. It just wasn’t in the sky. It was on her face.

ABOUT ME: My name is Marlayna. I’ve recently shared my story about why I chose to LIVE MY LIFE WITH INTENTION- my life’s journey towards becoming who I am today (click here to read it). I’m a mother, wife, friend, and a diabetes prevention advocate. I occassionally blog about living a healthy lifestyle.

Honestly, I feel like a day of gratitude isn’t enough (especially if Hallmark has coerced someone into it). Afterall,  being a mom can be a 24/7, 365 day, up at 6, down at 9 (if you’re lucky),  no-sick day, vacation day optional, kinda gig.

As CEO of our household, we’re  given the most important and rewarding job, which comes with long-term job security.  We do more things in 24 hrs than some people do in a month. Watch this clip and you’ll see what I mean!!!!

I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t really understand the importance of Mother’s Day until I started raising my own toddler.

Now when I hear people say things like, “We never know the love of the parent until we become parents ourselves” (which I believe is by Henry Ward Beecher), I actually know what they mean. Then again, I can also related to the “great poop conversations” that seem to take place everywhere I go.

It’s actually kinda funny when you think about it… You know you’ve graduated from college when you receive your diploma, but you know you graduated into motherhood when you are comfortable swapping poop stories. Prior to becoming a mom, when the inevitable poop chat that came up at baby showers, that was the queue to leave the room.

There is no doubt… motherhood is a club, a sorority, a sisterhood all of its own. We rely on each other for advise, encouragement, and reassurance that we aren’t messing up our kids too badly.

During the month of May, let’s remember to praise and show our appreciation to ALL MOTHERS!  An act of kindness, recognition for a job well-done, or maybe a glass of wine at the end of a long day goes a long way.

It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes the support of your “sisters” to make sure it is done correctly!

I want to say THANK YOU to all of our Skinny Gene Mommas, for all that you do!  

As I said, I think Mother’s Day should be for the entire month of May…..

To say thank you for all you do, we want to honor all of our Mother’s that work so hard to provide their children with a  happy and healthy home. 

1^st– For the entire month of May, we are giving you a FREE 12-month membership to our Skinny Gene Online Community. Just Click Here to learn more and accept your gift!

2^nd– I think a little comic relief is the best remedy for a hard day. Please join me in sharing some funny stories about motherhood.  Got a funny forward? Read a funny blog? Did your child do something that cracked you up?  Let’s give each other a little laugh!!! Add your stories to the comment section below!!!

To start us off, here’s an email a friend forwarded to me awhile back. ENJOY!!! 

….

My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we are in the library, the grocery store or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old.

And you never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It’s always fully cranked. There have been several embarrassing times that I’ve wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco.

Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you’d been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall:

”Mommy, are you gonna go potty?   Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy?  Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now?  Mommy, what are you doing?  Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?”

At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom w hen I walked in. Several stalls were full … 4? 5?  Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity.

Cade continued, ”Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren’t you?   Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy!   Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty?  Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh … Mommy!  I’m trying to see In dere.

Oh! I see dem.  Dat is a very good girl, Mommy.  You are gonna get some candy!”

I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me.

Where is a screaming new born when you need her?  Good grief!!  This was really getting embarrassing.  I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting.  Trying to divert him, I said, ”Why don’t you look in Mommy’s purse and see if you can find some candy. We’ll both have some!”

”No, I’m trying to see doze stinkies… Oh! Mommy!”  He started to gag at this point.   ”Uh – oh, Mommy.  I fink I’m gonna frow up. Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!!  Dat is so gross!!”

As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall.  I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject.  I began to reason with myself:  Okay… there are four other toilets.  If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone.

”Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now?  I want you to be done going stinkies!  Get up! Get up!”  He grunted as he tried to pull me off.   

Now I could hear full-blown laughter.  I bent down to count the feet outside my door.

”Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy?  You wooking under da door? What were you wooking at?  Mommy?  You wooking at the wady’s feet?”

More laughter…I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation.

”Mommy, it’s time to wash our hands, now.  We have to go out now, Mommy.”  He started pounding on the door. ”Mommy, don’t you want to wash your hands?  I want to go OUT!!”

I saw that my wait ’em out’ plan was unraveling.  I sheepishly opened the door and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. 

My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, where’s the fine print on the ‘motherhood contract’ where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy?

But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I’d sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.

 The McDonald’s Dollar Menu, El Pollo Loco’s Loco Value Menu, Taco Bell’s Why Pay More value menu and  the Wendy’s Super Value Menu are all great for our pocketbooks, but what about our waist lines?  When it comes to eating out, everyone would like a deal, but after reviewing the $1 menus at several fast food restaurants, a deal may not be what our body really wants….or needs!

When it comes to fast food, the tricky part is figuring out if a true “value” is being offered, or if it’s an “eat now, pay later” kinda thing? 

Fast food is notorious for being two things, cheap and loaded with fat – especially our heart’s enemy, saturated fat.  Although the cost of the food may leave you with a few extra dollars in your pocketbook for the week, the high fat content can really do some damage on the scale and to your long-term savings. 

What if $1 today would cost you (not your insurance) more than $10,000 in the future? Not sounding much like a value now, does it?

The American Heart Association recommends eating foods with less than 25- 35% of calories coming from fat, eating foods with calories from fat >35% can greatly increase your risk of heart disease, especially if you have high blood pressure or extra weight!  Heart Disease is the #1 killer in the US, and one of the most expensive diseases to treat. Yikes!

So, knowing that we want to keep the % of calories from fat below 35% (ideally below 30%), here’s what I found out about the real value offered at these fast food giants…..

Let’s start with Wendy’s. The Wendy’s Super Value Menu has some delicious items, such as the Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, 5-piece Chicken Nuggets, French Fries, and 3 types of Chicken Go Wraps, but on average 46% of the total calories of all of these “value” items comes from fat!  This (meaning the 46%)  is 150% of our desired maximum calories from fat, which should have 30% or less of the total calories coming from fat.

So these $1 dollar deals are not the best, but what can you order that won’t put your heart and health in danger?  The Grill Chicken Go Wrap has the lowest % of calories from fat at 36%, this would go nicely with a side salad, mandarin orange cup, or baked potato that would decrease the meals fat composition closer to 30%. 

America’s favorite fast food chain, McDonald’s, received the wrath of the media with the documentary “Super Size Me”, but also responded with an attempt to make their menu items “healthier”.   But how did they do?  Yes, they are using healthier oils, trans fat free, and have added the Apple Dippers, yogurt parfaits, and a variety of  salads to the menu, but what about the Dollar Menu?  The lunch (or non breakfast) menu contains one sandwich, the McDouble, which has 44% calories from fat, again 150% of our desired maximum calories from fat (which should be less than 30%) and don’t forget the fries, another whopping 45% calories from fat! 

The dollar menu does include healthier options of the side salad and Yogurt Parfaits, both great choices all around! 

This topic could go on and on, including the Jack in the Box Value Menu as well as the Taco Bell Why Pay More Menu, both containing multiple items with 50% calories from fat! 

When eating out, you must do your homework!  Look for key words such as grilled and baked and ask for no mayo or dressings!  Looking for healthy dining choices marked on the menu or check out www.healthydiningfinder.com to find the best choices on the run!    

Oh, and don’t fall into the label trap! Nutrition labels can be very misleading. Remember to look at the cute little line “Calories from fat”, it is hiding below the total calories, to see what percent of the calories in your food is coming from fat.  Our goal is to have the calories from fat be less than 20-30% of the total calories.   The other line that says total fat, followed by daily value % is usually a small number that doesn’t tell us what we really need to know! 

Still a little confusing? Here’s an example…. Quaker Corn Bran cereal has 90 calories per 3/4 cup serving – 10 of the 90 calories are from fat, therefore we can conclude this in an excellent choice of cereal with a total of 11% calories from fat!  The confusing part of the label says the cereal is 2% daily value of fat, but that is based on a 2000 calorie diet – but it’s not specific to you!  Another reason this cereal is a great choice is the 5 whopping grams of fiber, but we can talk more about that later!

If you have questions about reading labels and finding  the % of fat, please email me at healthyhome@jmossfoundation.org.

By Emily Barr, MS, RD, CNSC

Methodist Healthcare Ministries (MHM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving low income and uninsured families that would not qualify for federal or state programs that would provide such care. MHM invests well over $30 million annually to provide quality healthcare to the communities surrounding their 3 primary clinics. The Skinny Gene Diabetes Prevention Program will be implemented in two of these facilities, Wesley Health and Wellness and Dixon Clinic.

The Wesley Health and Wellness Center provides care for one of the most under-served populations in San Antonio. The area has nearly 100,000 individuals (90% Hispanic), of which more than half are 185% below the federal poverty guidelines. The Dixon Clinic provides medical and counseling services to a community on San Antonio’s east side, which has a large African-American population.

In 2009, Kevin Moriarty, President and CEO, expressed to the Skinny Gene Project his great concern for the growing obesity and diabetes epidemic that was affecting their communities. MHM has excellent programs in place to help their patients control their diabetes, but they realized a more aggressive approach would be needed  to fend off this disease. To better serve their communities, Kevin decided to take it take it one step further and implement a program that focuses on diabetes prevention.

As of April 2010, we are proud to announce that the Skinny Gene Diabetes Prevention Program is successfully being implemented at MHM. Over the next 12-months, our bilingual nutritionist (Nancy Juarez), under the supervision of our Senior Registered Dietitian (Emily Barr,MS,RD,CNSC), will be working one-on-one with a total of 15 patients to help them adopt healthy lifestyle changes and prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Here are some of the new members of our Skinny Gene Family, San Antonio!

We’ve asked Nancy to share her experiences with us. Here’s what she had to say….

Methodist Healthcare Ministries (MHM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving low income and uninsured families. Their first and utmost interest is to provide the best quality healthcare they are able to offer to their patients. They provide medical, dental, and social services, along with a variety of activities, for the families they serve. They provide after-school care for children, whose parents work late, as well as computer and fitness classes for various ages ranging from children up to seniors. In the short period of time that I have worked in the MHM facility, it has opened my eyes to many possibilities and shown me the kind of help this organization can provide to its patients. Not only is there a sense of community, but there is also a real sense of family. A considerable number of families that benefit from MHM’s services are extremely grateful. If it wasn’t for MHM, these families wouldn’t have access to essential medical care, as well as the expensive medicines required to treat significant conditions and diseases. MHM has top-of-the-line equipment, which makes it possible for them to provide the best quality of care to each of their patients.

As a Skinny Gene nutritionist, I have been very lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with MHM. Since diabetes is a huge issue affecting millions of Americans in South Texas, this program will help these families by teaching them to make better food choices in order to achieve a longer and healthier life. We are currently making a difference in the lives of 15 individuals who are a part of our inaugural program at MHM. I am personally working with each of these wonderful people who are all grateful to Methodist for putting our Skinny Gene Diabetes Prevention Program in their lives. Each patient has an immediate family member or relative that has been diagnosed with diabetes, and after seeing the impact the condition has on their lives, want to prevent it from affecting them or their children.

Prior to this program, these patients (all at-risk of developing diabetes) had never been instructed by a personal nutritionist or dietitian on what they should or shouldn’t eat to lead a healthy life. Having the opportunity to have a nutritionist to guide them along the way to attain their goals is a dream to them.

All of these wonderful people are extremely motivated and excited to make very good use of what is being taught to them.

I have something in common with most of these patients—we come from Mexican descent.  As a bilingual nutritionist familiar with their culture and customs, I am able to communicate to them in a way that is meaningful and relevant to their lives. I am very pleased with the progress we have made in the short time we’ve had, but in time the difference will be noticeable and we will have paved the road for a healthier life.

As a mother of a fun and feisty 3-yr old daughter (named Nyiah), I might even venture to say that my perspective on motherhood changes daily.  What my child learns from me, what I learn from my child, what I learn from others- it’s like a constant graduation through life.  

During the last 30 days, I have had the opportunity to experience multiple aspects of motherhood from other mothers’ eyes.  I found that when a mother protects, inspires, and honors her children, she also impacts everyone around her.

Protect– On April 14^th, we launched a 12-month Skinny Gene Diabetes Prevention Program in San Antonio, TX.  We have the honor and privilege of working with these beautiful mothers over the next year. Each woman has a strong commitment to family (and community) and the determination to give her kids a chance to live a healthy, diabetes-free life. (Read More)

Inspire– In the last 30 days I also found Mary (Fit Factor Kids) who is fighting childhood obesity and inspiring children to take the steps towards living an active life. In addition to her kids fitness videos, she launched a walking challenge, “Walk the Tworld” (T stands for Twitter) to encourage families to walk 100 million step in the month of May.  I thought this was awesome, so I wanted to help… (Read More)

Love and Honor: Last month, I took the opportunity to walk in the San Diego March of Babies, in honor of Henry- a precious little boy who knew his mother’s love, although he was never given the chance to see her face.  

With Team Henry walking in Chicago, I thought I’d arrive in San Diego’s Balboa Park and be the sole representative for Team Henry. Boy was I wrong! The thousands of participants weren’t just walking in honor of their “miracles” and “angels”,  but for all babies and children- even our beloved Henry.

As I walked, I was reminded of a few important things that day:  

No matter what the situation is…when you have support, you are never alone.

AND  

There is no strength like the strength of a mother, and there is no love like a mother’s love.

Kids in the Kitchen is an annual event designed to address the urgent issues surrounding childhood obesity and poor nutrition by getting children and their parents excited about leading a healthy lifestyle through interactive, hands-on activities.

It was such a joy to teach the importance of vitamins to more than 1,500 attendees this year. We are always so impressed by the parent’s desire to create a healthy home for their families, and the kids’ willingness to learn a fact or two.

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that each child is given a “bingo card” that requires a stamp from our Vitamin Central booth to win prizes.

While we try to unload as much fun vitamin knowledge as we can, at times we’d notice adorable little eyes fixated on the stamp tucked in our hands– waiting anxiously for us to reward them for finding our booth.

Most of the time, the kids are like sponges, taking in whatever they can. We are frequently shocked by how knowledgeable they are about nutrition, and their love for fruits and vegetables.

Last year, one little boy even asked Kim (our Skinny Gene RN) if Vitamin K, referred to as the “Clotmaster”, had anything to do with platelets. Wow!

This year’s best response came from a sweet little girl. When Kim asked her “Where are your bones?” She confidently replied, “At home.” Turns out she has a couple of dogs.

Kids in the kitchen is fun and rewarding, in so many ways. Our hope is that the kids will leave realizing that yes, food should taste good; but it also has a purpose. Eating colorful, vitamin rich foods is important- whether they want to be strong like Popeye, have good vision like Superman, or just wanna live life and play in the sun.

ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE

One of the most common questions we heard was, “How much Vitamin__ should my kid be getting?” We promised to give you the actual breakdown, so here it is, and a quick reminder as to why your kids need these vitamins.

“How Come?”

Vitamins play an important role in the health and development of our children. Adding vitamin-rich foods into our children’s diet is an easy way to help our children live a long and healthy life.

Our booth focused on a  few of the benefits of eating foods rich in A, C, D (and calcium), E, and K.

Vitamin A: Improves your eyesight and helps your body to fight germs

Vitamin C: Forms collagen, which maintains healthy tissues (muscles and gums). This vitamin also helps to boost your immune system.

Vitamin D: Helps your body to absorb calcium, which grows strong bones.

Vitamin E: Protects your skin from harmful UV rays. This vitamin is also a powerful antioxidant that protects your body from disease.

Vitamin K: Allows your blood to clot, which stops cuts from bleeding. It also helps to bind calcium to the bone.

“How Much?”