“Bits and Bites”
Healthy Eating and Activity Teams
June 2014
Summer’s Here … Don’t Be A Couch Potato
Turn off the tube
Limit your television viewing to only about two hours a day and do jumping jacks
during commercials. (Make it a game or a contest.)
Make exercise a family affair
When you're finished eating dinner, instead of sitting around watching TV, turn it
off and go outside for a walk, play catch, shoot some baskets, take the dog for
walk, or think of another activity that the whole family will enjoy doing together.
Plan Activities
Planning some activities ahead of time can help prevent the temptation to sit
around the house all day. Set a time each day to go outside and play. Planning
downtime when the sun is at its peak is a good idea.
Check out free day camps
Lots of community organizations offer day camps during the summer that keep
kids active for little or no cost. Look into programs offered through the Boys &
Girls Clubs of America and the YMCA. Day camps also offer kids who don't have
the luxury of a yard a safe place to play with friends.
Make it fun
Plan a variety of activities so that learning skills can be use to compete in
organized sports. Try swimming and bike riding for younger kids and summer
sports like baseball and tennis for older ones.
Keep toys handy
Keep a stash of balls, racquets, jump ropes, hula hoops and such in your garage to
guarantee you will always find something to do.
Get friends involved
Doing it alone can become boring for some, so invite some neighborhood buddies
over and see how fast they come up with active things to do.
Physical Activities Guidelines
Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that children and young adults do at least
60 minutes of aerobic, muscle strengthening, and bone strengthening activity a
day. Here are examples of activities that meet the guidelines.
Moderate–intensity aerobic

Active recreation, such as hiking, skateboarding, rollerblading

Bicycle riding

Brisk walking
Vigorous–intensity aerobic

Active games involving running and chasing, such as tag

Bicycle riding

Jumping rope

Martial arts, such as karate

Running

Sports such as soccer, ice or field hockey, basketball, swimming, tennis
Muscle-strengthening

Games such as tug-of-war

Modified push-ups (with knees on the floor)

Resistance exercises using body weight or resistance bands

Rope or tree climbing

Sit-ups (curl-ups or crunches)

Swinging on playground equipment/bars
Bone-strengthening

Games such as hopscotch

Hopping, skipping, jumping

Jumping rope

Running

Sports such as gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, tennis
Source: health.gov/PAGuidelines
Quotes of the Month
“The first wealth is health.”
-
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Water is the most neglected nutrient in your diet,
but one of the most vital.”
- Kelly Barton
Recipes for the Month
Spring Salad Greens with Other Spring Veggies
Serves 4
4 cups of fresh, organic spring salad greens (Olivia’s or other)
½ pound of asparagus
Fresh radishes, thinly sliced or in chunks
¼ cup fresh chives, chopped fine
¼ cup pistachios
Fresh goat feta cheese (optional)
Avocado
¼ cup olive oil
Juice of one lemon
Sea salt
Sprouted pea shoots or sprouted clover seeds as garnish
Rinse asparagus, then grasping the tip and the tail of the stalk, gently break off the
tough end, and discard (or use in soup). Bring water to a boil in a flat pan with lid.
Once boiling, add asparagus stalks and cover to bring back to a boil (1 minute).
Once boiling again, remove lid and when asparagus is bright green (about 1
minute), pour off water and quickly add cold water. Drain after a few seconds, cut
into 1 inch slices and set aside to cool. When cool, add everything to the greens
and lightly toss. Garnish with sprouts. Serve immediately
Linda Keller, Adventures in Wellness 2013
Brought to you by the Rural Health Education Network of
Schoharie, Otsego, and Montgomery Counties