December 2019 … Healthy NewsWorks reporters gave favorable reviews to Southwestern Salsa with whole-grain chips this fall. Pumpkin Yogurt Dip has been another popular snack in past taste tests. So has “Kale-Ci-Yum” Smoothie.
Recipes for the three snacks are included in Healthy Snacks and Quick Bites: A Recipe Book for Kids, which will be given to at least 400 children in Healthy NewsWorks’ Hearty Kids program this year. The book was created by two nutrition experts, Amy Deahl-Greenlaw, RDN, of Healthy NewsWorks, and Elizabeth Coover, RD, LDN, of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
The book is an outgrowth of a community grant that Healthy NewsWorks recently received from CHOP to deepen its Hearty Kids programming.
Healthy Snacks and Quick Bites includes 15 recipes that are easy to make and nutritious and use ingredients that are widely available. For instance, the Southwestern Salsa snack provides foods from three of the five food groups and is a high source of fiber. It is a hit with kids, too. It is a “yummy and healthy snack to eat when you get home from a long day,” one Healthy NewsWorks reporter said.
“We are so grateful to CHOP for providing the support to make this book a reality,” said Marian Uhlman, Healthy NewsWorks executive director. “It will enable our reporters to share the important nutrition messages they are learning through our program with their families.”
In addition to providing financial support to Healthy NewsWorks, CHOP employees designed and printed Healthy Snacks and Quick Bites.
Healthy NewsWorks was recommended for the community grant by Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at CHOP and a 2017 Healthy NewsWorks health leader. The grant also will support the creation of four videos for the Hearty Kids program, which is an initiative to promote heart health awareness for 5- to 7-year old student reporters in kindergarten through second grade.
The young reporters gather facts about heart health and work with their classroom teachers and Healthy NewsWorks staff to help write and illustrate a “junior” section for each school’s respective health newspaper.
Now in its third year, the Hearty Kids initiative also has received support from The Edna G. Kynett Memorial Foundation and other generous donors.
