We're featuring the many inspiring faces of the Good Food Force, an online network of moms and dads taking action to build healthier communities. This week, meet Liz from South Carolina! (And join the Good Food Force here!)
We asked Liz to tell us a bit about herself and her work:
I am a mother of three young children. Once I realized how many "treats" my children received from other people outside of the home, I had to speak out against it. Well-meaning adults don't realize the abundance of treats that kids receive - at extracurricular activities (candy at dance, karate, swimming; sports drinks at team sports); on errands (pharmacy, bank, post office); at school (teachers' reward box; parents on birthdays; classroom volunteers; bus driver); at restaurants (Oreos or mints automatically added to the kids' meal) - sometimes several in one day. So I started writing letters and asking people and businesses to stop giving treats to other-people's kids, noting we can't know if that treat fits into that kids' diet that day.
I also joined the "nutrition parent-teacher organization (PTO) committee" at my children's elementary school, ultimately co-heading it and widening the focus to "health and wellness." In that committee, we promoted healthy eating in the school such as by making sugar displays (comparing sugar content of different foods) that the school nurse hung; requesting (so far unsuccessfully) that the PTO market the unhealthy-food fundraisers directly to the parents only and not to the children; and purchasing Nutrition Action Healthletters for teachers and staff. Recognizing that physical activity is an important component of health and helping to make our committee's message more palatable to people who otherwise might be offended by our request for limiting unhealthy food and marketing to students, we also organized "walk and bike-to-school days." These were hugely successful with well over half of the students participating, and strong community support including "Coffee with a Cop," the mayor team greeting the students, and an after-school meet and greet promoting healthy eating and physical activity.
I was fortunate to find local support for these efforts, including Eat Smart Move More South Carolina (and our local chapter, Eat Smart Move More York County), South Carolina Safe Routes to School, and Alliance for a Healthy Generation. And my co-chair on the PTO health and wellness committee is a registered dietitian and I again am fortunate to have someone smart and passionate to work with.
I maintain a Facebook page that promotes elementary school age kids' healthy eating and local physical activities called "Tega Cay Healthy Kids." My family likes to check out all the local outdoor activities so I post what I find (and often pictures of my kids doing it, like when our city recently opened a new disc golf course, and my family became regular users of it).
What advice do you have for other parents passionate about healthy kids and food?
Treat people with respect because they, too, care about the kids. By giving or marketing unhealthy food to the kids, they are not deliberately contributing to our nation's 33% obesity rate or children's pre-diabetes or diabetes, heart disease or tooth decay. They may not realize that, as role models, they influence the kids into thinking it ok to eat the junk food the adult is giving them or fast food he/she is promoting - even if their parents direct them otherwise when they get home. I make requests instead of demands. I recognize that people have constraints, like when one classroom volunteer's boss instructed her to give the candy to the students. (In that situation, I respectfully contacted company management with a letter and two phone calls, and they agreed to stop using candy as the product they were "selling" to kids using fake money to teach them about finances.)
Treat people with respect because they, too, care about the kids. By giving or marketing unhealthy food to the kids, they are not deliberately contributing to our nation's 33% obesity rate or children's pre-diabetes or diabetes, heart disease or tooth decay. They may not realize that, as role models, they influence the kids into thinking it ok to eat the junk food the adult is giving them or fast food he/she is promoting - even if their parents direct them otherwise when they get home. I make requests instead of demands. I recognize that people have constraints, like when one classroom volunteer's boss instructed her to give the candy to the students. (In that situation, I respectfully contacted company management with a letter and two phone calls, and they agreed to stop using candy as the product they were "selling" to kids using fake money to teach them about finances.)
Thank you for all you do, Liz! How can people connect with you?
Connect with me by ”Liking” the Facebook pages "Tega Cay Healthy Kids" and "Eat Smart Move More York County."
Be sure to sign up for the Good Food Force update and Facebook community to join our ongoing conversation around building healthy kids and communities.
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