What's your resolution?

Happy New Year! What's your (hopefully healthy!) resolution for 2010?

Tips for eating healthy and well in the winter months

As the holidays wind down we tend to think about eating healthy again. Here are a few tips to get you started on eating healthy in 2010!
• Eat Locally, Eat Seasonally. The fresher the healthier. Try some of these local options:
• Winter Squash
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Potatoes
• Turnips

• Pack your shopping cart with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans. Apples, cranberries and pears combine easily for a tasty salad or fruit crisp.

• Stop eating when you are full. Have your leftovers boxed up, or put them away for tomorrow’s lunch. Listen to your body.

• If you cannot pronounce the ingredients, pass it up—a sure sign that the item is not nearly as good for us as the manufacturer would like us to believe, that includes many of the foods that look healthful at first glance.

• Recipe modification for healthier eating
o Instead of using 1 egg, use 2 egg whites. This will save 42 calories and 6 grams of fat.
o Serve a Turkey dog instead of a regular hot dog and save 80 calories and 8 grams of fat. Turkey bacon instead of regular bacon saves a whopping 250 calories and 20 grams of fat!
o Simply substituting Lean Ground Beef (92% lean, 8% fat) for Regular Ground Beef will save 180 calories and 22 grams of fat!

(Thanks to Erika Devore of KC Healthy Kids for these healthy eating tips!)

Healthy Holiday Recipes and Ideas

What do you do to stay healthy during the holidays? Share your recipes and healthy tips below.



Here are a few links to healthier holiday recipes to get the discussion started:
The Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/holiday-recipes/NU00645
The American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1254937725680Start!%20Holiday%20Booklet%2010-09.pdf
Eating Well
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/holiday_collection_1
The Food Network
http://www.foodnetwork.com/holiday-central-healthy-tips/package/index.html
The University of Iowa's $30 Healthy Holiday Meal serves Eight People
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/NR/rdonlyres/B0E406BC-9CC3-4713-B3B2-3221A7699B18/113589/TurkeyDinnerRecipeswithnutritionfacts.pdf

November/December 2009 Newsletter

HKI Newsletter November December 2009

October 2009 Newsletter

HKI Newsletter October 2009

View map of Community Gardens in Rosedale

We now have a map of the locations of community gardens in Rosedale. Check it out!
http://tinyurl.com/y8t2tpz

Make Thursday Count!

Make Thursday Count! Ride your bike on Southwest Boulevard to be counted in the National Documentation Project.

Get out of the car and bike to work

http://www.kansascity.com/340/story/1485704.html

If you’ve ever biked to work, or even just thought about biking to work someday, Thursday is your day.

That’s because on Thursday, it counts. Or, at least, may count. Kansas City is taking part in The National Documentation Project.

On Thursday and next Saturday, city workers and volunteers will be out on the streets, trying to figure out exactly how many people in this city use their feet for more than pushing the gas and brake pedals on their cars.

Thursday will be focused on biking and walking for work transportation. Saturday is more about biking for recreation. They’re both vitally important to the short- and long-term health of this community.

The point of this effort nationwide is to simply get baseline numbers. The counters want a normal number of bike riders.

But as Kansas City lacks any real biking infrastructure, more is needed here.

A decent number of bikers can help Kansas City join the rest of the world by adding more bike lanes and hiking/biking trails.

At the very least, higher numbers tell city officials there is a reason to stop ignoring this issue.

Today in Kansas City, the argument is that no one bikes or walks so there’s no need for more lanes or trails.

The counter argument: Biking in Kansas City right now isn’t safe, so people don’t ride.

It’s all nicely circular — and a great way to frustrate progress. But there’s no reason to believe Kansas Citians are significantly different than residents of other American cities.

Opponents of a biking infrastructure maintain Kansas City’s sprawl makes it too big and too difficult to bike or walk. It’s made for cars, or motorcycles.

Beyond the size, remember July? Too hot to be outdoors. Remember January? Too cold.

Consider Chicago, however, with 315 miles of bikeways, about 10 times what’s offered in Kansas City.

Or consider Minneapolis, where 2.4 percent of all commuters bike to work, according to the same 2007 U.S. Census Report that noted 0.0 percent of Kansas Citians bike to work. The national average was .4 percent.

Without a safe biking environment, even people who might prefer to commute or run errands by bike are afraid to risk it.

Especially in a time of green initiatives and health initiatives, Kansas City must do a better job backing alternative transportation. Help make that case Thursday: Get out of the car for a day and ride a bike.

The counting will take place at 10 locations, including bridges from the northland into downtown, along Southwest Boulevard and on trails and paths. Counters will be out next Saturday as well, to see how popular biking is for recreation.

If better bike and pedestrian access is important to you, Thursday and next Saturday are the days to convince this city it’s time to change.

Posted on Fri, Oct. 02, 2009 10:15 PM

The times, they are a changing....

Check out this favorable op-ed in the Kansas City Star on making Kansas City a more bicycle friendly region.
http://www.kansascity.com/340/story/1456365.html

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/rosedalehki) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rosedale-Healthy-Kids-Initiative/139207838377)

Toward a more bicycle-friendly region

The just-added — and long-awaited — mile of trail loop near the northern edge of Shawnee Mission Park could be a metaphor for biking efforts in the metro area.

The new addition offers riders a way to avoid a steep climb. And for years, those pushing to make this a bike-friendly city have been huffing and puffing their way uphill.

But now, with a bit of a shift in thinking, smoother gliding appears possible.

Some good news for Kansas City bicycle riders: A changing attitude about how to best move forward emerged this summer.

After three decades of dreaming about spider webbing the metro area with trails like the Gary L. Haller Trail, there seems to be a growing commitment for practical, cheaper ways to get bicycles moving safely around the region.

One of the problems with biking in Kansas City has always been the cost of trails.

In Johnson County, progress has been purchased with a dedicated tax for more than 20 years.

The county expects to pay about $100,000 for a mile of trail, if it doesn’t have any complicating issues. Bridges, culverts or shoring up soft land can greatly increase costs.

Now Kansas City has started trying to figure out how to make existing stretches of asphalt more bicycle friendly.

In a just-submitted stimulus grant application, area communities and the Mid-America Regional Council are asking for funds to begin adapting area streets to include bike lanes for this greenest of transportation options. And the Rosedale Development Association is advocating adding bike lanes to the edges of Merriam Drive and Lane to create a bike commuter route from Johnson County to downtown.

As Wendy Wilson, executive director of the Rosedale group, noted: “Maybe at some point in the future, we elevate the lanes, make them as fancy as they are in Europe. But for right now, we’ve just got to make it safe for the people who cycle.”

And that cause can be greatly aided with something as simple as paint for dedicated lanes.

Instead of waiting for money to roll in for trails, the new emphasis is to create a more bicycle-friendly region by painting bike lanes, changing sewer grates and adding signage.

It’s the sort of thinking that should lead to action, even without stimulus money. The costs of this practical approach are low enough that they demand follow through.

The big plans for a connected cycling system began to emerge in the mid-1980s, but got little traction.

The new, practical (much cheaper) thinking now on display is very welcome, and should lead to better cycling across the region.

Posted on Sat, Sep. 19, 2009 10:15 PM

Welcome!

The Healthy Kids Initiative is a faith based advocacy effort to reduce childhood obesity in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City by promoting active living and healthy eating. We are advocating for a number of strategies including community gardening and increasing access to healthy foods; increasing out of school activities for Rosedale youth; safe routes for pedestrians, including designated pedestrian and bicycle routes and Walking School Bus routes to the elementary schools; and increased involvement of the faith community both in the neighborhood and these strategies.

We have held two community forum events, a kickoff at the garden in May, which featured local DJ Miles Bonny, Unified Government Commissioner Ann Murguia, and Dr. Joseph Donnelly from the University of Kansas Medical Center; and an alternative Healthy Kids Carnival in July, which was organized jointly by the parent committees of Rainbow Mennonite CDF Freedom School and the Healthy Kids Initiative, and was a benefit for Rainbow Mennonite CDF Freedom School. We are planning a fall event focused on pedestrian issues.

The Healthy Kids Initiative was formed as a partnership between Rosedale Development Association, the Rosedale Ministerial Alliance, KC Healthy Kids and the University of Kansas Medical Center. We are funded in part through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.