Aug. 18--SULPHUR SPRINGS -- A "body slam" was the snack of choice for about 20 elementary school students after listening to professional wrestler Titus O'Neill talk about healthy eating.
"You eat wrong, you'll get bigger and bigger and out of shape," said O'Neill. "All those dreams of being a professional athlete are not going to work."
Students made sandwiches by filling leaf lettuce with turkey, onion, tomatoes, kosher salt and pepper. It was part of their ongoing lessons on healthy eating and the official kick-off for the Healthy Futures Task Group in Sulphur Springs.
The Tampa YMCA received a grant of about $80,000 from the Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, which will help support the task force. The group plans to survey Sulphur Springs and develop an action plan to promote healthy eating in the community.
Mini-grants are awarded to programs that focus on nutrition and physical exercise. Programs might include community gardens or tennis camps for at-risk youth.
"The community determines what it needs," said Blue Foundation's assistant director, Susan Wildes. Sulphur Springs already had some programs under way that laid a foundation for the health initiative, she said.
The YMCA sponsored an 11-week summer program at Sulphur Springs Elementary School that included one hour each week on nutrition.
"It's a preventative," said chef Erik Youngs of Education Group 101, which taught nutrition and cooking classes for the students. "It's about making a change in the community not just here. If we change one person, we win."
Skittles candy is one of 11-year-old Edlenna Sheridan's favorite snacks. But at the summer program she learned to make a "hot dog" with a banana, peanut butter and strawberry jelly. "It was good," she said. "It was a healthy snack."
Aaron Moore, a 15-year-old sophomore at Chamberlain High School, volunteered with the summer program's nutritional classes. The focus was on getting the students to eat fresh foods, he said, and not just "grab a bag of potato chips."
The Blue Foundation grant is part of a statewide initiative known as Embrace a Healthy Florida that seeks to address the problem of childhood obesity. Other task forces have formed in Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee and Miami. A group in Pinellas County, not yet identified, will also receive a grant.
Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652.
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