PARENTS LEARN FOOD TIPS.

Byline: Denisse Salazar

A group of parents at Ranchito Elementary School in Panorama City is understanding the importance of healthy eating for themselves and - more importantly - for their children.

For the past three weeks, about 20 parents have been participating in a class designed to educate them about nutrition, meal preparation and physical fitness.

Martha Kilbourn, a faithful participant of the "Good Cooking/Buena Cocina" class says she is excited to learn to cook healthy meals, especially because her 7-year-old daughter tells her "Mom, I don't want to be fat, I want to be healthy."

Currently, a third of American children and youth are either obese or at risk of becoming obese, according to a report issued by the Institute of Medicine.

In Los Angeles, 25 percent of boys and 18 percent of girls attending public schools in grades 5,7, and 9 are overweight, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

Kilbourn, who has become more aware of making healthy choices says "this class is like discovering how bad it is to eat foods that are not good for you." Since starting the class, she says she has eliminated sodas and added more vegetables to the family's diet.

Rosa Lee, a mother of three, says the class is helping her modify the meals she prepares for her family by selecting low sodium products and using brown rice instead of white rice. "I regret feeding my children foods that are high in sodium such as norsuiza," Lee said with a concerned look.

Bonnie Bailer, director for the Center for Healthier Communities at Northridge Hospital Medical Center says teaching parents about healthy eating is important because "parents are the ones who buy the food, prepare the snacks and control their children's eating habits."

A team from Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles, a nonprofit based in Hollywood, is teaching the parents to select nutritious ingredients for their meals, to read nutrition labels and prepare healthy meals such as rice pilaf with corn and roasted peppers and crepes with fruit.

"If we can get across the basics of healthy eating then they'll be in great shape," said Cynthia Agustin, program coordinator for the nonprofit.

The six-week class is part of the School-Based Obesity and Diabetes Initiative, a pilot project spearheaded by Northridge Hospital's Center for Healthier Communities, which was embraced by several organizations including the Los Angeles Unified School District, Nutrition Network and California State University Northridge, among others.

The reason for the pilot project, Bailer says, is to help combat childhood obesity. The project is in five schools - James Monroe High School, Sepulveda Middle School, Liggett Elementary, Ranchito Street Elementary and Plummer Street Elementary - all in the high-need communities of North Hills and Panorama City.

Bailer says childhood obesity has become a major health threat and parent education is only one component the initiative is using to fight childhood obesity. Other components include in-school and after-school intervention, teacher training and support groups.

The initiative launched last March with parent cooking classes at Sepulveda Middle School and James Monroe High School. Bailer says the classes were successful at both campuses, with one group of 12-15 participants losing 85 pounds in six weeks.

Kilbourn says the class has become a journey. "I want to see what I can accomplish at the end of the class by watching my eating and exercising," she said.

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Photo:

A participant of the Good Cooking class follows cooking instructions from Cynthia Agustin of Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles.

Denisse Salazar valleynews.com