MOM PROMOTES NUTRITION OLA LOA FOUNDER URGES PARENTS TO FEED THEIR CHILDREN MORE FRUITS, VEGETABLES.

Byline: Sharon Cotal Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Tami Hulcher is on a mission - a crusade to encourage parents and their children to put away the chips and soft drinks and eat more fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water.

The Canyon Country resident left a 12-year career with Universal Studios to create Ola Loa Inc., an organization dedicated to health education, nutrition and wellness. The name means ``long life'' in Hawaiian.

``I go into the schools and I try to educate the parents about good nutrition. I say 'try,' because a lot of people are not open to changing their lifestyle,'' Hulcher said. ``They don't want to hear that they have to give up the hamburger five times a week and the boxed macaroni and cheese.''

The Ola Loa president and chief executive officer is leading a free health education seminar, ``Getting Your Kids to Eat Right,'' at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the multipurpose room at Cedarcreek Elementary School, 27792 Camp Plenty Road, Canyon Country.

The mother of three, who describes herself not as a crusader but as a concerned mom, starts the seminars with alarming statistics - 70 percent of children have beginning stages of hardening arteries by 12 - and then educates parents about how to improve their children's diets.

``That's a huge chunk of American children who have hardening of the arteries very early in life,'' Hulcher said.

Hulcher then discusses fats, sodiums, sugars, food additives and focuses on solutions for eating healthy. She teaches parents how to read food labels and how to become more aware of the dangers of toxins in foods, she said.

``If I can reach the parents, I can influence what they purchase and bring home, and that will determine a lot of what kids eat,'' Hulcher said. ``Usually after the seminar, people want me to come to their house and clean out their cupboards.''