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O bserver • F ebruary
Meals That
Make The
Grade
Mealtime T ip s Help Fam ilies
Earn Top Marks for National Nutri
tion Month
M arch is N atio n al N u tritio n
Month and the National Pork Pro
ducers Council (N P P C ) is offering
families across America nutritious
solutions to their most common meal
time dilemmas.
“ P re p a rin g h ealth ier m eals
doesn’t mean giving up flavor or
convenience," says Karen Kalsem,
manager o f youth communications
for the Pork Information Bureau
( PI B ) o f the N PPC . "There are many
great-tasting recipes that are low in
fat, require no more than six ingre
dients and take less than 30 minutes
to make.”
Kalsem recommends starting the
healthy shape-up with flavors fami
lies already love. Fam ily favorites
like pork chops take on a new taste
w ith low -fat to p pings such as
applesauce, barbecue sauce or salsa.
For exam ple, com bine chunky
applesauce with cinnamon red hots
for Apple Cinnamon Chops. K id s
w ill like the taste, and parents w ill
appreciate a hearty meal with just 8
grams o f fat per serving.
Food For Thought
Parents have many challenges
when it comes to feeding -- and
pleasing — an entire fam ily, includ
ing finding foods to appeal to their
kid s’ tastes.
Here are three top parent con
cerns about nutrition anti some
simple ideas to address them:
How can I cut excess fat
in my family's meals?
Choose Low -fat C o o k in g Meth
ods -- Eliminate extra fat in meals by
using a cooking method that re
quires little or no added fats like
stirfrying, roasting or broiling foods.
Lo o k for Lean Meats -- Learn
what to look for in the meat case at
your supermarket or grocery store.
For example, select the leanest cuts
o f pork available by looking for the
word “ loin" on the label (i.e. pork
tenderloin, center loin chops, sirloin
roasts).
A dd Flavor, Not F a t--G iv e your
recipes some zest by flavoringdishes
with herbs and spices. Invite your
children to grow their own herb
garden to contribute to family meals.
How can I get my kids to eat
more fruits and vegetables?
Spread with Savvy — Instead o f
using butter or margarine on dinner
rolls, serve nonfat fruit spreads, such
as apple butter or cranberry relish to
complement a healthy and delicious
meal
D ip Y o u r Dessert -- Fresh fruits
make a fun and delicious dessert
when dipped in a mixture o f re
duced-fat whipped topping and low-
fat fruit yogurt.
Play W ith Y o u r Food — give
your kids permission to play with
fresh fruits and vegetables to create
kid-friendly sidedishes. Experiment
with ants on a log (celery sticks
spread with peanut butter and topped
with raisins) or grape caterpillars
(green grapes strung on a tooth
pick).
How can I get my kids to try a
greater variety of foods?
K id -F rie n d ly Shapes and Sizes
-- Kinds love to eat foods that are cut
into fun and manageable shapes and
sizes. For a tasty change o f pace,
serve kabobs made with pork cubes
or thread skewers with fruit for a
colorful dessert.
G o F o r The G reat 8 -- I f your
kids like pork chops, they w ill enjoy
the Great 8 cuts o f pork, which offer
the same great taste. A11 o f these cuts
- from tenderloin to sirloin roast --
fall between a skinless chicken breast
and thigh in terms o f fat content.
Hands-On helpers - One o f the
best ways to get kids interested in
trying new foods is to get them in
volved They are much more likely to
eat something they helped prepare.
Let them mix ingredients, sample
spices and taste test along the way.
n m w ji
S «x. W i «
19, 1997
Award Winning Program Brings Message Of Safety
Unintentional injuries are the
leading cause o f death in the United
States among children.
According to statistics, each year
approximately 7,200 children ages
14 and under are killed and 50,000
ch ild re n are in ju red se rio u sly
enough to require medical treat
ment. Many o f these deaths and
thousands o f injuries are prevent
able when children are taught basic
emergency procedures and personal
safety skills.
In keeping with its commitment
to chi Id health and safety, the North
west Osteopathic Medical Founda
tion w ill hold its eleventh annual
K id Safe program for children ages
five to 12, on Saturday, March 8.
This free public program, which
expects to reach more than 1,000
children and their families, w ill be
held for 9:00am to 2:00pm at two
sites; Lent Elementary School, 5 105
S E 97th, Portland, and John Wetten
Elementary School, 645 Chicago
Ave., Gladstone.
K id Safe offers hands-on train
ing for children in C P R , First Aid,
Electrical Safety, Fire Safety, Bike
& T ra ffic Safety, C a llin g 9 1 1„
Stranger Danger, Poison Preven
tion, Personal Safety, Baby-sitting,
Drug and Alcohol Awareness, and
Disaster Preparedness. In addi
tion, children may obtain their
owriregulation fingerprints and ID
photos, tour emergency vehicles,
visit a “ Little Hospital” setting
and take home a “Trail Guide to
Safe ty.” Taught by qualified
healthcare professionals and pub
lie safety officials, K id Safe offeis
children the opportunity to interact
with these individuals from who
they may one day need assistance.
A program o f the National Child
Safety Council, K id Safe is offered
in the greater Portland metropoli
tan area as a public service o f the
Northwest Osteopathic M edical
Foundation. Through the years,
more than 5,500 metro
ch il
dren have participated in this pro
gram. Patents must pre-register
their children by calling 699-5366.
Children under ten must be accom
panied by an adult.
The Kid Safe program helps children ages five to twelve learn personal safety skills.
A J h u le l O f ( o u r a g e A n d Haiti h
bv
M arian W hich i E delman
When Martha Watford’s husband
was killed, she didn’t know how
she’s support herself and her four
children. But through her faith in
God and her fighting spirit, she gath
ered up the courage to make a good
life for her fam ily, and in the process
has helped thousands o f children get
a head start in life.
"Our marriage was a real partner
ship, and he was the real bread
winner until he was shot and killed
in a senseless act of random vio
lence," says Martha, director o f L a
Peninsula Head Start in the South
Bronx. N Y “We shared in every
aspect of marriage, including the
housework and nurturing of the ch il
dren. When he was taken from us. I
was lost. I was not prepared to be
come the sole bread-winner of the
family. I knew I had to take control
of our lives or my children would
suffer greatly, and I asked God for
strength and guidance and began to
think seriously about what to do.”
That guidance came in the form
ofadvice from members o f the board
o f La Peninsula Head Start program.
“ They encouraged me to apply for
the job o f Head Start director when
the position became available,” says
Martha, who was a teaching assis
tant with the New Y o rk public
schools system at the time and had
served as chairwoman o f the Parents
Advisory Committee for two years.
She was hesitant to accept the
challenge at first, but she remem
bered the opportunities it provided
for her own children. So she took
what she thought would be a one-
year leave o f absence from her teach
ing assistant job and opened her first
Head Start program with 30 ch il
dren in the basement o f a church. In
the 30 years sincere then, Martha
has been the director and her Head
Start programs have served more
than 15,000 children, many o f who
visit from time to time to thank er for
the difference Head Start made in
their lives.
"Many o f us can say that we hon
estly don’t know where we’d be with
out Head Start,” she says. “ The Head
Start fam i ly surrounded me and gave
me the inner-strength to know what
1 had to do to keep my fam ily to
gether. Their support gave me what
I needed to feel good about myself, to
go back to school, and to realize
what my calling was. It also helped
my children academ ically. Head
Start is important for children and
families, because it gives people the
opportunity tobecomeself-sufficient,
and it concentrates on self-esteem."
Today, martha runs five Head
Start programs in the south Bronx,
which serve more than 750 children
and families “Unfortunately,” she
says, “we are only serving 30 to 40
percent o f those eligible for Head
Start, because o f limited funding.
That is especially sad when you con
sider the number o f single-parent
headed households in areas ike the
South Bronx. There are m ary poor
children and families whose lives
would be turned around if He: d Start
were available.”
Nationally, the numbers are no
better Last year, only about a third
of the eligible children were served
by Head Start despite the felerally
funded program's extraordinary 25-
year record o f successfully prepar
ing poor children for school
The good news, though, is that
Martha's important work fas not
gone unnoticed. Last year tl e fed
eral government awarded her a grant
that will allow her to exteid her
program to 51 additional children.
Also, the robin Hood Foundition in
New York C ity gave Martha a "he
roes" award this year. And the White
House invited Martha to W e llin g
ton. D C to witness the signing o f
the Head Start Expansion bill. A f
terwards, she had the opportunity to
tell the President about the work she
was d oing-an d all the work that
needs to be done—to secure a better
future for the children o f the South
Bronx and for all the children o f
America.
“ That was one o f the most re
ward ng experiences o f ¡ny life,"
Martha says. “ I never creamed I
would have the opportunity to share
my worx and my ideas with the
President. It’s been quite a journey.
I hope the journey neve- ends, and as
the Bible says, “ If I ran help some
one along the way, then my living
shall not be in vain."
And it’s a genre Martha can be
proud of. She faced the kind o f ob-
s'acles that destroy fam dies and used
hem to improve the lives o f hun
dreds o f families. She has taught us
that sometimes the solutions to our
own problems can be found when we
each cut to others
Marian H 'right Edelman is presi
dent of the Children's Defense
Lund.
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