STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Haley Willison puts a big bowl of sugar on the table and gives each of the 13 children seated around the table a spoon.
Then she gives each a cup with a picture of a drink on the outside, including Gatorade and Sprite.
“Sugar might taste good, but it’s one of our thumbs-down foods,” the clinical dietitian for St. Luke’s says, turning her thumb down. “We don’t want to have it all the time, do we? Now, can you guess which of these drinks has the most sugar?”
The children set about measuring the number of teaspoons of sugar contained in each drink into their cup.
When they’re done, the little boy with the SoBe holds up a cup that’s half full of sugar.
At 21 teaspoons, it contains the most sugar by far. Gatorade, by contrast, has 14 teaspoons in 16 ounces; Arizona Tea, 13, and Coca Cola, 10 teaspoons.
“Would you drink this?” Willison asks the children, holding up a cup of sugar.
“Yes!” a few chorus, seemingly unimpressed that the drinks contain sugar.
“Can we have ice cream in the summer?” asks one worried child, afraid Willison is going to put the kibbosh on her favorite summertime treat next.
Willison facilitates YEAH! (Youth Engaged in Activities for Health), a program that St. Luke’s Children’s offers free to families with children ages 6 through 16.
The program at St. Luke’s Wood River is for children and their families who have been referred by their physician because of obesity and other problems that can be addressed by increased activity and better eating habits.
But this year YEAH! is going beyond the hospital walls to the HUB at the Community Campus, addressing youngsters who participate in afterschool programs offered by the Blaine County Recreation District.
“It’s a really neat program,” says Jenna Vagias, who has observed the program as part of her role with BCRD. “Children are learning about the different food groups, exploring healthy drink options, experimenting with different vegetables and learning about intuitive eating. They also get hands-on opportunities to try different foods and learn to make healthy snacks, such as fruit and veggies dips, flavored water and veggie quesadillas.”
On this particular afternoon, Williston is attempting to show the youngsters that they can get good taste without using sugar.
”Someone asked about fruit. It has sugar, too, doesn’t it?” she says. “But yes, it’s okay.”
Then she pulls something out of her shopping bag.
It’s bushy. It’s green. It’s a vegetable. It’s spinach.
The youngsters take turns cutting banana slices, which they add to coconut milk, pineapple and the spinach. Then someone gets the coveted duty of pressing the button on the blender.
“I don’t like the look of it,” one boy says, as he looks at the green drink.
“Two thumbs up!” a tiny girl runs up to Williston, her thumbs in the air.
Williston coaxes the disapproving boy into trying a sip and watches as he flashes a surprised look of approval.
Then she asks the youngsters to raise their hands if they can think of something else that would be good to put in a smoothie.
“Watermelon,” says one.
“Tomatoes. We could add a tomato,” says another.
“We didn’t put any sugar in this, but it’s sweet, isn’t it? Next time you’re making a smoothie, say, ‘Hey, Mom or Dad. Let’s throw some spinach in it because that makes it healthy,’ ” she tells the children. “It looks a little scary. But it’s good for you.”
Williston says taking the YEAH! Program to the HUB is part of St. Luke’s effort to do more community outreach.
“Last week we diced zucchini and added it and spinach to a quesadilla. Kids will try something if they get to cook it,” she says.
Evan O’Leary, a Wood River High School senior who is assisting with the HUB kids, concurs:
“The kids love the program, and they’re going home and letting their parents know, ‘Guess what I learned today?’ It has a lot of value to it, as it teaches kids good nutrition.”
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Contact Haley Willison at willisoh@slhs.org or 208-727-8356.