BY ELLEN LYNCH
When Joy Feldman was walking through an airport years ago to catch an early morning flight, she had one of those “aha moments.”
Feldman noticed that so many travelers were loading up on sweets, sugary sodas and sports drinks with a seemingly neon glow. And children were consuming doughnuts ”“ lots of them ”“ with creamy frosting, sprinkles and jelly fillings ”“ all before 7 a.m.
After the proverbial lightbulb went off, Feldman knew she needed to teach kids they truly “are what they eat.” So as the plane engines revved, so did her creativity: Feldman came up with a book concept, “Is Your Hair Made of Donuts?”
Now Feldman, a nutritionist from Rhode Island who founded the not-for-profit The Picture of Children”™s Health, tours the country with her books, message and signature hat that is quite literally made of doughnuts.
As she aptly tells people, the health of our hair is a direct reflection of what we eat.
She recently teamed up with the Food Bank for Westchester and the town of Greenburgh to deliver this very important message and to launch Eat Healthy New York. More than 100 students from the Richard J. Bailey School in Greenburgh were part of our kick-off, and similar events were held at schools and community centers in Yonkers and Mount Kisco. The Food Bank provided bushels of fruits and vegetables to the school with the help of our Kraft Mobile Food Pantry.
Why is this nutrition message so important? Over the past 30 years, the childhood obesity rate has tripled and the number of kids who are considered obese is now well over 12 million, according to the American Heart Association. Obesity is a national epidemic and leads to other serious ailments including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancers and hypertension. For the first time in our country”™s history, children face a shorter life span than their parents.
While these facts are astounding, if not frightening, the good news is that we know educational intervention works. By teaching children the ABCs of nutrition and the importance of including a healthy staple of fruits and vegetables in their diets, we can improve their lives. These diseases are preventable, and by reaching them at an early age, we can save between $4 billion and $12 billion in health care costs.
At the Bailey School event, town Supervisor Paul Feiner “deputized” the fifth-graders who recited the Eat Healthy NY oath. The expectation is the students will share these lessons with family and friends.
At the Food Bank, weӪre serving as catalysts to raise nutritional awareness and are playing a vital role in spreading this important message. In addition to delivering 1,200 pounds of fresh produce each week through our Green Thumb program, we provide healthy recipes to encourage families to try new things, and we champion the importance of healthy eating on a regular basis with nutrition classes at our Kids Caf̩ and through our JSY program (Just Say Yes to Fruit and Vegetables). ThatӪs why we partnered to bring the Eat Healthy RI program to NY. The program has had great success in Rhode Island where 120,000 students in 407 schools, community organizations and businesses participated this year. We intend to extend our program to school districts across Westchester and hold the vision to make it a national program. ItӪs not easy competing with popular culture, advertising and creative packaging; nor is reaching for an apple over a candy bar. But the fifth-graders at the Richard J. Bailey School will tell you, itӪs the smart choice.
To learn more, log onto www.isyourhairmadeofdonuts.com
Ellen Lynch is the executive director of The Food Bank of Westchester. To learn more, visit foodbankforwestchester.org or call (914) 923-1100.
