February 2020…February is observed as American Heart Month, but for Healthy NewsWorks reporters in grades K-8, heart health is a topic they research and write about throughout the school year. This year, many of our core reporters in grades 3-8 will be writing about the health benefits of growing a garden.
Among the facts they are learning, and the sources of their information:
- Eating a wide variety of different fruits and vegetables helps your body get all the vitamins and nutrients it needs to grow and be healthy, according to the National Institutes of Health.
- Gardening can give you a good workout. Kids need 60 minutes of physical activity every day to maintain a healthy weight, strengthen their hearts, bodies, and minds, and build healthy habits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Junior reporters in grades K-2 also learn about heart health as part of the Hearty Kids program, a Healthy NewsWorks initiative. As part of their lessons, they’ll receive copies of a new collection of healthy snack recipes, produced collaboratively by Healthy NewsWorks and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“Kids love learning about the heart,” says Marian Uhlman, executive director of Healthy NewsWorks. “They think it’s amazing that it works all the time, and they get excited to learn that healthy eating and physical activity can help prevent heart disease.”
