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Lisa Mollure’s fourth-grade class at Saint Gabriel School, 2917 Dickinson St., is one of the lucky groups of kids targeted by the Independence Blue Cross Foundation’s Healthy Futures initiative. This year and for the next two, they’ll be subject to a three-pronged wellness effort that takes aim at childhood health.
“Eat Right,” “Get Fit” and “Stay Well” are the names of the three avenues where the IBC Foundation will team up with local organizations to affect South Philadelphia students’ dietary habits, fitness imperatives and health maintenance. The foundation has put together a three-year and $3- million approach to programming in more than 20 schools in Southeastern Pennsylvania, including eight in Philadelphia County.
One of the “Eat Right” community supporters, Greener Partners, visited the Grays Ferry Independence Mission School May 28 to exult the wonders of berries. And the students were thrilled. Helen Nadel, an education specialist with Greener Partners, brought fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries for tasting. It was her second visit to the site as she previously offered squash, greens and a balsamic vinaigrette recipe.
As part of the “Seed to Snack” program, she provided a 90-minute informative lesson and an exciting finale snack to compel students to opt for fruit and vegetables over chips and candy.
“They smell like they’re from the farm,” one student eagerly reported when Nadel asked for first impressions of Dixie cups that contained one of each berry.
“They smell delightful,” another said.
After each berry was tasted, Nadel instructed students to record three descriptive words.
“Tasty, juicy and delicious,” one student said about his strawberry.
“Disgusting and sour,” another added, describing his blueberry.
“Everybody’s got totally different taste buds,” Nadel encouraged even the naysayers. “The important thing is that we keep trying [new foods]. If you don’t like it this time, you might like it next time. Typically it takes eight to 14 times of trying it.”
“The fourth graders are at that perfect age to understand nutrition but not too old to be set in their ways,” Maureen Furletti, the IBC senior foundation analyst, said.
She also reported that 43 percent of children aged 6 to 12 are obese or overweight in southeast Pennsylvania, with the figure rising to 50 percent in Philadelphia.
In an effort to improve the dialogue around child wellness, the Foundation called on Drexel University to process data collected from the three-year process.
“We’re trying to do it the smart way by including Drexel so that we can get some metrics from the program about how it works and add to the literature about public wellness,” Furletti noted.
The Foundation was formalized in 2011 and the Healthy Futures initiative began in October of ’12 and reports a reach of nearly 1,000 fourth graders and, by extension, their families.
The berries lesson concluded with a smoothie snack that Nadel made with orange juice, bananas, yogurt and a little spinach. Each student walked away with a recipe to take home. Directed to raise their hands if they liked their smoothie and every student responded favorably. When asked for some reaction words, they shouted “tropical,” “delicious,” “fruitilicious” and “smooth.” Another called out “I don’t even taste the spinach!”
The Philadelphia Union have been tapped for the “Get Fit” portion of the program, and they visited St. Gabriel May 27 to excite learners about healthy lifestyles and getting enough good foods and sleep. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia also have been called on to speak to the “Stay Well” arm of the initiative.
But another teammate in the “Eat Right” element is Kelly Herrenkohl, the Vetri Foundation’s director, who is eager to team up with Healthy Futures and expand the scope of their “Eatiquette” program.
“We partner with local schools to help them bring scratch cooking to their cafeterias,” she said.
For some students, it may be the healthiest meal of their day or week. Many South Philadelphia homes suffer from a simple lack of access to healthy foods.
“If you’re a low-income family trying to make it work in a place where there’s not a lot of access to healthy food, you can buy a lot more calories of junk food with a dollar,” she noted.
Herrenkohl also reported that “most kids who eat school lunch eat about 50 percent of their calories at school and that’s assuming that you’re eating dinner at home.”
And as Furletti admitted, as a mother, sometimes “it’s just easier to order the pizza or go through the McDonald’s drive-thru than to cook a fresh meal.”
The Vetri Foundation’s lunch program guarantees a well-rounded meal with a protein, a grain, a fruit and a vegetable and milk. The program also brings cooking instruction into classrooms.
“Imagine 25 students in a classroom and they all have a cutting board with a plastic knife with a potato or a tomato. They’re touching it and tasting it,” Herrenkohl said.
The goal here is to encourage local youth to head to their corner store to ask “Can I buy onions and potatoes?” instead of Doritos.
Aleshia Smith, a school-certified and CHOP registered nurse, has visited St. Gabriel as part of the “Stay Well” initiative. She also functions as a sometime school nurse but also teaches lessons on hand-washing and healthy food choices.
“We talked about hand hygiene and keeping our germs to ourselves and germ transmission,” she explained.
She said cell phones and remote controls are often culprits for under-cleaned germ collectors responsible for illnesses, something that can be fixed with scrubbing with soap for 20 seconds before rinsing; avoiding the “t-zone” with dirty hands (eyes, nose and mouth); and using anti-bacterial wipes to wipe down desks, doorknobs and bathroom faucets at home.
Other lessons have included “eating healthy, making sure we get our five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, choosing healthier choices for meal times,” often using what they brought for lunch that day as real-life examples, Smith explained.
Furletti and the IBC Foundation see this captive audience as ideal for increasing health awareness in the area and are proud of who’s agreed to help.
“We’ve assembled a really great cast of folks helping out with this program,” she gushed. “These kids are our future and we want them to avoid diabetes and stay healthy and strong.”
Staff Writer Bill Chenevert at bchenevert@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
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