Classes Teach Moms, Kids to Eat Healthy

One mother vowed to stop buying soda. Another promised to dance with her little girl each day. Still another else pledged to turn off the television set and take her son to the park. The mothers made their resolutions Wednesday at a class to learn to raise fit and trim children.

The class was sponsored by the Dallas County office of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. The program, known as WIC, provides food stamps, health care assistance and education to new and expectant mothers.

Part of an initiative called "Fit Kids Happy Kids," similar classes are being held throughout the Southwest, including Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma, to curb childhood obesity rates.

"The earlier you start the development of these healthy habits, the better it is," said WIC dietitian and instructor Cindy Wachtler. "If you just start with changing one little thing, maybe that thing will stick and make a difference."

Experts say rising obesity among young children can eventually lead to adult obesity and higher risk of diabetes, heart problems, arthritis and other disorders.

Overweight toddlers are five times more likely to grow into overweight 12-year-olds, according to health researchers.

The government says 17 percent of children nationwide are overweight, more than twice the 1980 rate.

Several mothers admitted Wednesday they and their children all need to learn better eating habits.

Wachtler and nutritionist Maria Mossman acted out a skit about "Christina," a single working mother who makes bad health choices for herself and her children but mends her ways.

More than a dozen mothers chimed in on cue with advice, chanting "Don't do it, Christina," when she snacked on chocolate cake or soothed her children with cookies and video games. They said "Do it," when she bought fruits and vegetables, took kids to the park and trashed the junk food.

Keisty Sample, 27, of Dallas, said she enjoyed the program and has tried to apply its lessons with her 5-year-old daughter Zaria.

"She likes junk. She likes chips," Sample said. "But I have gotten her to love peanut butter sandwiches and grilled cheese instead."

Zaria nodded when asked if it was hard to eat right. She said her favorite food was pecan pie, but knew she couldn't eat it all the time.

The program was based on a curriculum developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for use in WIC offices across the southwest, said Sondra Ralph, the agency's regional director for food and nutrition service.

The USDA also produces free bilingual children's books about healthy living and distributes them at the classes.

Low-income parents often face added hurdles to maintaining healthy habits with their children, Wachtler said.

Many poorer neighborhoods lack full-scale supermarkets that stock fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods, she said. Parents who don't drive or work long hours find it harder to shop, cook or play at the park, she added.

Elizabel Martinez, 21, is pregnant, works as a receptionist and raises 3-year-old Jason. As Jason raced around in a Dallas Mavericks jersey, she said its not hard keeping him active. But she takes the time to maintain a healthy lifestyle, working out after work, cooking a healthy dinner and taking Jason to the park at least twice a week, she said.

"It is not hard once you are used to it," she said. "It's making the change that's hard, that fast change."

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On the Net:

USDA Information and statistics: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/default.htm

"Fit Kids Happy Kids" information and materials: http://www.nal.usda.gov/wicworks/Sharing_Center/statedev_obesity_FitKids.ht ml