So it’s been a slow week, but I’ve had NuVal on the brain, and I’ve also been paging through a lot of fashion magazines. What does this result in? Lots of weird doodles of foods as fashion models. Here are some of my favorites (with their NuVal scores)!

Besides this, we’ve been chugging away at school. Quite a few people have remarked lately that they’d use NuVal more if it was available in the lunch line, so that’s food for thought. (haha get it? FOOD for thought?

Yours,
Lydia

Have you read your school’s Wellness Policy? While most schools are required to have a policy in place, some have policies that need to be updated while others simply need to enforce their policies to reflect our changing times. With the rising childhood obesity epidemic, many school officials and parents are asking some tough questions in regards to policies, like, ”does my school have the best policies in place to ensure a healthy environment for students to learn and grow?” We’ve put together a few questions to ask at your next school conference, school board meeting, or PTO meeting.

School Wellness Policy Questions:

• Does your school provide a copy of its Wellness Policy to parents?
• Where can I find the Wellness Policy?
• When was the last time the Wellness Policy was reviewed and/or updated?
• Does the Wellness Policy address vending machines in the school?
• Does the Wellness Policy address healthy fundraising for the school?
• Does the Wellness Policy address classroom celebrations?
• Does the Wellness Policy address rewards? Does it limit the use of food or beverages as a form of reward?
• Does the Wellness Policy address physical education and recess time? How much time is allowed each day, each week for these activities?
• Do all kids have access to water at lunch or throughout the day? Are personal water bottles permitted in the classroom? In the lunchroom?

While all these topics may not be covered in every school’s Wellness Policy, these are great topics for discussion with your child’s school leaders, classroom teacher and school’s PTO/PTA.

Here’s an example of a typical School Wellness Policy:

Rewards. All school sites within the district will limit the use of foods or beverages as rewards for academic performance or good behavior (unless this practice is allowed by a student’s individual education plan or behavior intervention plan), and will not withhold food and beverages (including food served through school meals) as a punishment. Rewards and incentives will be used that do not undermine the health of students and/or reinforce unhealthful eating habits. Non-food rewards and incentives will be used as the first choice to encourage positive behavior.

Celebrations. Schools should limit celebrations that involve food during the school day. Classroom celebrations, should encourage healthy choices and portion control.

Fundraising. Fundraisers that involve the sale of food must be approved by the building administrator. To support student health and school nutrition-education efforts, schools will encourage fundraising that promotes the sale of non-food and nutritious food items. Schools will encourage fundraising activities that promote physical and or academic activity.

What are your thoughts on School Wellness Policies? We’d love to hear from you.

Are you a bike advocate?  Do you enjoy biking on MN trails, encourage your children to bike to and from school, or want safer accessibility for all bicyclists and pedestrians on MN roadways?

The second annual Minnesota Bike Summit on Capitol Hill on March 5th, 2012 wants to bring together advocates to educate our legislative leaders about BikeMN’s 2012 Legislative Agenda.  The Minnesota Bike Summit is an event sponsored by BikeMN (Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota) – an organization committed to providing leadership and a unified voice for bicycle education, advocacy and efforts to make Minnesota more bicycle friendly so that more people will ride bicycles more often. 

View event flyer

Advocating to…

Fund a State Safe Routes to School Grant Program. Increase the opportunity for children to be physically active before, during and after the school day. Support state bonding initiative to fund State Safe Routes to School program

Authorize the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) State Bikeway. To plan the route and work with other state and local units of government on the implementation of Minnesota’s first state bikeway. From Itasca State Park to the Iowa border this state bikeway will impact the health of individuals, communities, the environment and the economy.

Register today to attend the second annual Minnesota Bike Summit on Capitol Hill!

Help make history with the authorization of Minnesota’s first State Bikeway and by becoming the first state to support Safe Routes to School with state funds. Share with friends!

For more information, visit BikeMN.  Be sure to follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed of legislative updates as they pertain to BLEND initiatives.

I was talking to my teacher Mr. Oistad and he said he wanted to give me a quote. The quote is “I like NuVal.” So there you go! Teachers like NuVal too! In fact, I feel like a lot of teachers have been talking to me about my NuVal blog lately, so I decided to ask a few how they felt about NuVal.

Mr. Brady, another one of my teachers said, “I do realize that when I eat my clementine it’s a 100 so it’s healthy and when I eat my two apples a day – they’re a 96 – that that’s healthy too.” As he was telling me this he was selecting a donut, and he said “Oh that’s too big” then picked a smaller one!

Mrs. Fredrickson, a social sciences teacher and my Student Council advisor said. “I love it actually because it is making me say ‘Yeah if I’m going to eat that and spend the money, I’m going to eat something that actually has some value for my body.’ Especially grocery shopping. It has changed my choices.”

“I was very impressed that the NuVal scores were in the staff vending machine. Because of that I chose Doritos over Cheetos.” Mrs. Benson, an English teacher said. (See?? The Doritos being a 23 is a big deal!!!)

R.K. Anderson, also an English teacher told me, “I wish we had a NuVal score for more things.” Which is actually a pretty common statement. Many people I talk to say they want NuVal in our lunch lines.

So there you have it! Teachers are aware of NuVal too and they generally have fairly positive things to say about it!

Yours,
Lydia

P.S. Since we’re talking about teachers, maybe you want to take this surprising NuVal quiz! Play Nutrition by the Numbers game and see how you score!

How do we as a community bring about positive change? When the goal is healthier communities, then honest and timely conversation between concerned citizens, health professionals and law makers is essential. That’s why the BLEND team will be attending the Heart on the Hill event on March 7, to advocate for public policies that will help improve the health of all Americans.

Heart on the Hill is an event sponsored by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association committed to addressing Minnesota Public Policies that include preventing and reducing childhood obesity.

Prevent and Reduce Childhood Obesity

read full document here

• Improve the availability of healthy foods in Minnesota’s schools and reduce availability of unhealthy foods. Lay groundwork for stricter standards for competitive foods.

• Increase the opportunity for children to be physically active before, during and after the school day. Support state bonding initiative to fund State Safe Routes to School program.

At the Heart on the Hill event, BLEND will have a chance to visit with legislators and encourage their support of a $3 million initiative for the state Safe Routes to School program. Minnesota’s Safe Routes to School program, administered by Mn/DOT, provides grants to school districts and local units of government totaling about $1.5 million/year. The program is funded as part of the federal transportation allocation to Minnesota. The Safe Routes to School program seeks to increase physical activity among school children and decrease transportation costs.

BLEND encourages school districts, cities, counties and other supporters of Safe Routes to School to pass a Resolution of Support. Please print and sign the Resolution of Support document today and send back to us!

For more information, visit Heart on the Hill. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed of legislative updates as they pertain to BLEND initiatives.

Need a fun and healthy way to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your family? We have an idea that your kids will love, as they get to help plan and prepare a meal that is both memorable and healthy. Chances are your kids will ask to do this again next year. What is a Heart Healthy Valentine Meal exactly?

Your challenge is to create an entire meal of red, pink and white food items. We encourage you to let your kids use their creativity, as well as use this as an opportunity to try new foods. Here are some ideas to get your started:

Red apples, craisins, tomatoes, and feta cheese are perfect salad ingredients over red leaf lettuce and cabbage varieties. A balsamic vinaigrette will be pink. While not in the color scheme, two cashews facing each other will form a heart on the top of each salad.

White fish or chicken will work well, and the fillets can be topped with a red pepper or paprika heart. You can even surprise everyone with an edible flowers on top the meat; here’s a list from the U of M on edible flowers available in Minnesota.

Red potatoes with skins on, parsnips, and rutabagas work for vegetables, while strawberries and yogurt will work for perfect dessert or drink ingredients.

If you have some fun ideas to add to this list, please share them in the comments section. We’d love to hear about your Heart Healthy Meal! Make sure to take a picture of your creation and post it to our Facebook page!

Did you know that just 30 minutes of walking, five times a week, is enough to improve your overall health and prevent disease? It’s true! The health benefits of walking are far-reaching. Watch this video to learn more - 23 and 1/2 Hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health? – by Dr. Mike Evans

Click here to view the embedded video.

As a coalition, BLEND strives to encourage all ages to participate in daily physical activity to get healthy and maintain good health. BLEND doesn’t stop there. BLEND works to engage and educate families, schools, medical professionals, health care advocates, and city officials to rally behind effective programs such as Safe Routes to School - and, to inform local policy-makers (school board members, city council members, and local and state legislators) about the need to consider people’s health when making decisions that affect the entire community.

NuVal® is being brought up in conversation! This very morning I bought a green apple out of a la carte (96 by the way) and was walking up the stairs when WHAM! One of my peers started talking about how his egg-sausage-muffin-thinger was way healthier. He was joking of course, there is no way that could have a higher NuVal® score than my apple (then again, Doritos ARE a 23…) but I was DELIGHTED! NuVal® being used conversationally is a step towards NuVal® being used in life!

I have actually seen a couple changes in our eating habits over the past week. For example, I forgot breakfast one morning and I was fishing around in the a la carte line when lo and behold I saw two of my friends doing the same thing! They were going from item to item and checking out whether or not they had high scores. They wanted something healthy for breakfast, so they were comparing yogurt with cereals and apples and other things! They eventually decided to go with some cereal and I was very excited. I just re-read that sentence and jeez I am turning into a foodie or something.

Another example of healthier living is the people at my lunch table. One of my friends has started to bring in vegetables and salads for lunch, which isn’t exactly using NuVal® in our schools, but it’s using the principles. She says she feels a lot better during the day because of the food she’s been eating. I think that’s what NuVal’s® all about! Feeling healthier by making better food choices.

I like how NuVal® has brought this topic of healthier eating into the conversation at our school. People are thinking more about what they eat which I believe is a good thing. Awareness is the first step, and I think the next step is action. NuVal® is facilitating both of these.

Feeling Positive!
Lydia

P.S. Check out another NuVal® video! Enjoy!  And, if you’d like to see my other NuVal® video’s, click here!

Click here to view the embedded video.

To read the rest of Lydia’s NuVal blog posts, click here.

Chad Johnson - Wellness & Fitness Director

Hello again loyal BLEND followers!  

It’s Chad Johnson from the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA, and I hope you are enjoying this unique “winter” weather!   I know all of you winter sports gurus are a little down this winter, but instead let’s enjoy the fact that we can spend more quality family time outside without having to put extra layers on.

I mean its February in Minnesota, and how often can you say “I just played disc golf and cross country skied in the same day?”  Well if you come to the Plaza Park Bank Family Snow Games on February 11th, this can become a reality!  This event will be centered on Cross Country Skiing and Frisbees! 

The Plaza Park Bank Family Snow Games will take place on Saturday, February 11th, from 9:00am-1:00pm at Riverside Park in St Cloud, MN.   We will have equipment for cross country skiing, disc golfing and other fun games and activities!  Don’t worry about getting too cold because we will have warm beverages and oatmeal in the warming shelter.  We will also be giving away awesome prizes including snow tubing passes to Powder Ridge, snow tubes, Skatin Place party passes, and much more!  Register today, because the first 300 will receive a FREE LONG SLEEVE SHIRT! 

The Plaza Park Bank Family Snow Games is a part of the Bernick’s Family Fitness Series which is sponsored by Bernick’s in conjunction with the St. Cloud Times and 104.7 KCLD.  If you are unaware of the series, the Bernick’s Family Fitness Series goal is to continue improving the health and wellness of our community through a series of fun, educational and activity based seasonal family friendly events.

My goal for this whole series is to have fun activities that all ages and skill levels can enjoy!  It is so important for our community to get out and be active all year long, and this series will hopefully assist.  Keep an eye out for the other events of the series.   The more events you participate in, the greater your chances are to win one of the GRAND prizes at the conclusion of the Health Partners Wishbone Walk/Run in 2012!  Visit the YMCA website to see all prizes, to register and read more about the Bernick’s Family Fitness Series!

2012 Bernick’s Family Fitness Series:

• River Ride Bike Event, May 19th 2012
• Family Field Day, August 11th, 2012
• Health Partners Wishbone Walk/Run, Thanksgiving Day, 2012

So if you have nothing going on February 11th, bring the whole family out to Riverside Park and have a little fun while it is still nice outside!  Hope to see all of you out there supporting our community’s health!

Thank you and good luck!

Chad Johnson
Health and Wellness Director
St. Cloud Area Family YMCA
chadj@scymca.org

Okay you guys I’ve gone from bad to worse on my citrus consumption. Remember last week when I said pineapple was a 99 and I was addicted? I think pineapple was just like a gateway fruit and now I’m onto oranges (100). I had 2 yesterday alone and it’s getting pretty crazy.

Besides that though everything’s pretty peachy keen (excuse the horrible fruit pun). The second semester is gearing up and we (students) are eating just as much as ever. I thought I’d do a bit of a video blog this week so you could check out my lunch period (which is 2nd lunch by the way, the best one to get!) It wasn’t hard to get opinions about NuVal®, and I tried to encourage honesty. The responses to my questions were all way different, but the optimist in me would like to point out none of them were “What’s NuVal®?”

Click here to view the embedded video.

I actually ate school lunch twice this week, and I did pick carrots over smiley fries, but I also picked the “un-NuVal® scored” applesauce out of pity. Maybe that’s a bad way to choose food, but it looked kind of lonely without a number!

Until Next Week!
Lydia

Click here to read all of Lydia’s previous blog posts on NuVal at Sartell School.