Teen girls learn to eat healthy during trip to supermarket

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - For a group of teenage girls in New Jersey, lessons about their long-term health began in the meat section of the supermarket.

As they gathered around a shopping cart full of protein options, a student dietitian told them to avoid artery-clogging bacon and salami, to stay away from frying and to eat more lean protein like fish.

The advice most enlightening for the girls: trim the fat from meat and the skin from chicken before cooking to reduce fat and calories. Some, like 15-year-old Andrea Hagins, didn't like that tip.

"The skin makes the chicken taste good," she said. "If it's better to help my health, I should try it out."

If teens can establish healthy eating habits now, they can reduce their risk of obesity and developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease, said Gerri McKay, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

"Our goal is to empower the young women to clearly use the (nutrition) label to make the choices," said McKay, whose students led the teens around the store. "What they're doing today as adolescents is going to directly affect their health as adults."

With help from the nonprofit New Jersey-based Women's Heart Foundation, teens from Trenton Central High School are learning the basics about a healthy lifestyle that could serve them for decades.

Instead of a daily physical education class, sophomore girls can opt for "Teen Esteem," a three-year-old program that provides exercise space in their own special room for circuit training, cardio dance, karate and a trainer who works with them on exercise balls and free weights.

They also receive instruction about nutrition and cooking and hear lectures about topics like body image, date rape and bulimia, said their teacher Constance Kelley.

About half the students at the school come from low-income households, a group that is at risk for obesity and disease, said Bonnie Arkus, director of the foundation and a registered nurse.

"We want to give them adult responsibilities and knowledge to make the decisions that they have to make," said Arkus, who is often at the school, making breakfast for the girls before they begin their day.

After her mother died of heart disease in 1986, Arkus began focusing on women's health. She later created the foundation, which received a one-time grant of $350,000 from New Jersey's Office on Women's Health.

"I set about to change how health care is delivered to women," said Arkus, who quit her full-time nursing job. "We're starting to understand heart disease. Wellness is the best approach for women."

For the teens, wellness and prevention means paying more attention to their health during a critical period during their youth, she said. Part of the approach gave them hands-on lessons at the place where many of their meals begin , the supermarket.

McKay's dietitian interns sat in five stations , protein, dairy, grains, produce and snacks , throughout an Acme supermarket in Lawrenceville to talk to the teens about the benefits of low-fat milk, lean meats and whole grains and how to select fresh fruits and vegetables. Another 50 girls watched similar demonstrations at a nearby supermarket.

Michelle Quinones read a nutrition label with them, emphasizing serving size, fat, sugar and dietary fiber.

"Fiber is good," she said. "We want fiber. It actually keeps you full longer. It helps your digestion."

After a presentation about produce, Kyran Williams, 15, said she doesn't eat many fruits and vegetables at home.

"In my household, we really aren't that healthy-eating people," she said. "I learned a lot that I didn't know."

Keyana Montique, 15, said she plans to cut the fat off meat before cooking it and read nutrition labels, especially about serving size.

"I never paid attention to it (a nutrition label) until now, how much sugar is in things, serving size," she said. "I'll tell my mom we need to shop better."

Kelley said she has seen changes in the girls.

"I've seen a difference, especially in motivation and their attitude," she said.

Girls who took the supermarket tour in previous years say they continue to use the tips and many have lost weight.

Ana Maldonado, 18, a peer leader for the sophomore class, said she now eats less fat and less salt. She also cut out soda and fast food and has lost 10 pounds.

"This is going to be a life experience I can share with my cousins," she said. "I could be healthy."

Instead of potato chips and french fries, she snacks on fruit and yogurt.

Another student, 15-year-old Giselle DelValle, said she has lost 30 pounds.

"I eat more vegetables and fruit instead of eating fried food and junk food," she said. "I read the nutrition labels. Now I know if something has too much salt, I don't eat it."

On the net: Women's Heart Foundation. http://www.womensheart.org

By JANET FRANKSTON LORIN, The Associated Press
Source: www.phillyburbs.com