An Official Kids Mag HEALTHY Q&A
By Dave Woods
dwoods@officialkidsmag.com
Official Kids Mag caught up with four cool kids recently at Chickadee’s Fresh in Siloam Springs. We recruited the kids and their adult to check out a guide to eating healthy and a way to make mealtime fun. Some yogurt, fruit and crunchy granola made for a great way to spend a couple of hours. We didn’t think kids liked yogurt so much!
Sage F.
OKM: Tell me about the time you had a Chickadee. Was it any fun?
Sage: Oh yeah. It was really fun and delicious.
OKM: What was fun about it?
Sage: Just cutting up the berries and stuff.
OKM: Do you like fruit?
Sage: Yeah I do. There was yogurt and Granola.
OKM: Do you know what yogurt is?
Sage: Kind of.
OKM: That’s OK, I’m not sure I do either. What did you learn about healthy eating?
Sage: I think that it was healthy because it didn’t have sugar you could pour on it. But it was sweet because of the berries.
OKM: Is that something you could make at home by yourself?
Sage: Yeah.
OKM: What do you want your friends to know about trying something like that? It’s not really kid food… or is it?
Sage: It’s really fun to make it and you can have a lot of fun eating it too.
Jasper F.
OKM: Do you know any good jokes?
Jasper: Knock, knock.
OKM: Who’s there.
Jasper: Smellma.
OKM: Smell ma who?
Jasper: Smell ma poo! Get it?
OKM: I got it.
OKM: Tell me about the time you had with your sister and brother and mom the other day?
Jasper: It was really fun. I enjoyed cutting up fruit.
OKM: What did you like?
Jasper: Cutting up the bananas with the banana cutter. It was just fun.
OKM: Do you eat a lot of bananas?
Jasper: Yeah.
OKM: Do you eat a lot of yogurt?
Jasper: Yes, I love yogurt.
OKM: What do you like about yogurt
Jasper: I just like it. It’s yummy.
OKM: What do you want your friends to know about eating lots of fruit?
Jasper: We grow strong and we don’t get big and fat and stay healthy.
OKM: What do you want people to know about eating healthy?
Jasper: Just do it.
Sophie D.
OKM: Did you have fun at Chickadee?
Sophie: I liked that you could choose whatever kind fruit you wanted and set it up your own way.
OKM: What fruit did you pick?
Sophie: I picked bananas, blueberries and strawberries. My favorite is probably peaches. No peaches that day?
OKM: Do you like yogurt?
Sophie: I like yogurt a lot for breakfast.
OKM: How did you decide how to put it together? Was it fun?
Sophie: Yeah.
OKM: Did you have fun with your friends?
Sophie: Yeah. Getting to be with my friends making stuff.
OKM: Was it fun to be in a magazine? Think you will be famous?
Sophie: Maybe.
OKM: Get some autographs?
Sophie: Maybe.
OKM: Why do you think it’s important to eat healthy?
Sophie: So you can keep growing and it makes your body feel good.
Pax F.
Pax: Hello, sir.
OKM: What’s your name?
Pax: Pax.
OKM: That’s a cool name. How old are you, Pax?
Pax: Five.
OKM: Are you in school. What grade?
Pax: Kindergarten.
OKM: I loved kindergarten. Where do you go to school?
Pax: Northside Elementary.
OKM: Did you have fun the other day? What was fun about it?
Pax: Eating it!
OKM: How did it taste?
Pax: Good.
OKM: What was your favorite part?
Pax: Yogurt. It fun to make, but it got a little messy.
OKM: What did it look like when it was done.
Pax: Amazing.
OKM: Will do it at home sometime?
Pax: Yeah.
OKM: What fruit was your favorite?
Pax: The strawberries.
OKM: Good job, Pax.
Pax: Thanks Mr. Dave.
Grow food
Rochelle F.,
a mom and “grow food” advocate
Sage, Jasper and Pax’ mom, Rochelle F., knows the importance of healthy eating.
“I think the more green food that you eat from a vine, the ground or a tree, the healthier your body can be,” the licensed massage therapist said. “The vitamins are important. The stronger you grow the better your brain can work because you have the right nutrients in your body.”
Rochelle said she often explains the benefits of healthy eating to the three boys.
“We talk a lot about ‘grow food’ at our house,” she said. “We have ‘grow food’ and ‘sometimes food.’ Junk food is ‘sometime food.’ We talk about what we have on out plate and when we eat a meal, and why we eat what we eat when we come home from school.”
Healthy eating is always a good idea, but kids don’t live on “grow food” alone.
“It’s OK to have a cookie sometimes,” she added. “But, maybe we should have fruit and peanut butter or fruit and yogurt, too. We often have granolas and yogurt, but we don’t always have fruit in it. I think adding the fruit they really enjoyed it. If you add a fruit it’s a good sweet. It’s a grow sweet. It’s not a sometimes sweet.”
