Preston Vetter of Amherst turns 'blender crazy' after sampling the Tropical Go Bananas Smoothie from the Fun 2B Fit recipe repertoire
For immediate release: April 25, 2007
Contact: Virginia McAuliffe - (716) 857-6273
Buffalo, NY - "Preston came right home after the first day of Fun 2B Fit in second grade and asked if we had a blender. When I said that we did he said that he wanted to use it to make a healthy smoothie! I thought this was great," said mom Valerie Vetter. "Now, when I go to the store he gives me a list of what he needs so that he can make the healthy snacks that he wants to make ... he gets the ingredients right off of his Fun 2B Fit recipe cards. no substitutions!"
As a second grader last year at Willow Ridge Elementary School in Amherst, Preston participated in Univera Healthcare's Fun 2B Fit healthy lifestyle initiative. Preston and the rest of the second graders at Willow Ridge participated in 12 weeks of taste testings where each week, students sampled healthy, kid-friendly recipes such as the Tropical 'Go Bananas' Smoothie, Shepherd's Pie, and Pizza Party. Students are encouraged to at least try all the foods each week and receive a laminated recipe card to take home so they can make the recipe with their family. In art class, the students decorate shoe boxes and use them as special recipe boxes to house their Fun 2B Fit recipes. The students also receive a lime green, kid-sized chef apron to encourage them to cook with their parents and help with food preparation.
Univera Healthcare's Fun 2B Fit program is a school-based program focusing on second, third and fourth graders and their families. Fun 2B Fit encourages children and their families to make healthier food choices by trying new foods, increasing their level of physical activity, shopping for healthy foods and preparing meals together.
"I think Fun 2B Fit is such a great program and I am very passionate about it," said Valerie Vetter, who is also the Willow Ridge PTO President . "It really has a huge impact on the kids and they really enjoy the recipes. They all talk about it in the cafeteria at lunch time."
On April 4, the third grade students of Willow Ridge participated in a 45-minute program including a physical activity lesson entitled Why It's Fun 2B Fit. Students and teachers, along with a Fun 2B Fit fitness instructor, participated in a 30-minute workout developed especially for kids that incorporates easy, fun dance moves and stretches. During the workout, students were taught the various muscles of the body and their function, and discussed the importance of physical activity and how it can be made fun and easy to do at home with family members. Students are sent home with a parent tool kit, containing a magnetic grocery pad for the refrigerator with pre-printed healthy items on each tear-off page, a magnet with everyday tips on how parents can keep their kids healthy, a Healthy Family Pledge to be signed and displayed in the home, and the tool kit itself is a sling-style backpack that can be reused as a gym bag, or to take on family outings.
The fourth grade Fun 2B Fit component involves an interactive field trip to a local Wegmans grocery store. The Eat Well. Live Well. 4th Grade Tour is a two-hour tour of Wegmans based on the Food Guide Pyramid. The tour is intended to be the first step in developing good eating habits by introducing children to a variety of healthful foods in a fun and interactive way. Fourth graders at Willow Ridge went on the tour in March of this year.
"The Fun 2B Fit program has had a positive effect on the entire family. We have all tried the different healthy recipes together and we spend more time together cooking in the kitchen now," said Valerie. "We really enjoyed it too!"
The Fun 2B Fit program was created by Univera Healthcare to combat childhood obesity and is based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the New York State Learning Standards. According to the American Obesity Association, of six to 11 year olds, 30% are classified as overweight and 15% are considered obese.
Over 8,000 Western New York students at 35 schools have participated in Univera Healthcare's Fun 2B Fit program. Fun 2B Fit is being offered to select schools in the Western New York area after a successful pilot program was conducted in 2005.
Univera Healthcare's Fun 2B Fit has been honored with two awards for Publication Excellence (APEX Awards), two international MarCom Creative Awards, a Civic Empowerment Award from the Greater Buffalo All-America City committee, an Award of Distinction from the Video Communicator Awards, a World Wide Web Health Award, and the American Academy of Pediatrics newsletter CQ, a national publication, acclaimed Univera Healthcare for this innovative program.
Fun 2B Fit program partners include Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., a 69-store supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland; Body Shaping By Sandy, which offers group fitness classes, personal training, weight-loss programs, and corporate fitness in the Western New York area; the Healthy Community Alliance, a non-profit corporation created to facilitate partnerships among citizens, facilities, and community groups to address health and human service needs which are viewed as priority areas in portions of Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Wyoming counties in New York state; and Lifetime Health Medical Group, which provides primary healthcare for more than 100,000 patients in Buffalo and Rochester and in Buffalo, operates seven sites and is the area's largest primary care medical group.
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