Kids in the Kitchen comes to Rochester
By:
Updated: May 11, 2011
After school is snack time for many children, but the choices they make are sometimes not the healthiest ones. The Junior League of Rochester aims to change all that with their program, Kids in the Kitchen.
Julie Marsiglio is President of the Junior League of Rochester.
She said "They're doing different stations on healthy eating and showing how you can put together a great snack really quick that's healthy for you. Instead of putting pepperoni on that pizza maybe putting turkey pepperoni or mushrooms."
In this session, children at the Genesee Street Boys and Girls Club learned how make 5 different snacks.
They included pizza, a healthy tortilla, and a yogurt cup topped with granola and fresh fruit.
That last one is Ziere Patterson's favorite. He said "
its good to eat good fruits and vegetables
The 9 year-old student at school 20 says his Mom already makes a version of it at home for him and his brothers and sisters.
Tha'ts exactly what Marsiglio is hoping will happen with the other snacks, and the other student's families.
The league targets children in this age group, ages 7-12, before unhealthy trends become habits.
"Childhood obesity is on the rise as we all know, and the earlier that you can reach children the better chance they have of developing long term healthy eating habits," added Marsiglio. "It's not a habit for 6 weeks or 8 weeks but for a lifetime."
Fitness and nutrition is also important, so the league gives the kids a gift that helps them keep it in the front of their minds.
Marsiglio said "When they leave they have a bag with healthy snacks. It also has some pamphlets of tips and also some exercise information in there as well."
Kids in the Kitchen is a national program the Junior League of Rochester hosts several times a year.
