Eating and nutrition one focus of adolescent girls' workshop

Nov 13, 2008 (The Salina Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- PWRN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Raisins. Pop one in your mouth -- poof, it's gone. Mindlessly shake a few more into your palm. Repeat.

That's how most of us eat. But to get the room full of young girls focusing more on how they eat, Jeanne Byquist proposed an experiment. Handing out Dixie-cup-sized portions of raisins, then she told each girl to take a single raisin and place it on her tongue.

"Where is it the sweetest? Where is the taste the strongest on your tongue?" Byquist asked. "The important thing is to experience our eating."

Gobbling our food too fast is just one habit that can sabotage healthy nutrition and exacerbate problems many young women face in early adulthood, such as eating disorders and an obsession with an ideal "fashion model" figure, Byquist, a dietitian at the Tammy Walker Cancer Center in Salina, told the group Wednesday.

The program was funded through a grant from the Salina Education Foundation in partnership with the Salina Regional Health Foundation, which supports Salina Regional Health Center. The goal for educators and health experts was to promote healthy lifestyles among adolescent girls.

Seventh-graders from Lakewood and South middle schools attended the seminar -- "The Power of One: Standing Together" -- at First Covenant Church, 2625 E. Magnolia. The presenters gave hourlong sessions about proper nourishment, relationships and sexuality, the power of friends, and finding direction and guidance in life.

The students also took part in a session on yoga as well as eating a catered lunch with healthy food choices.

"We felt like seventh grade was where they really needed to be respecting themselves, making good decisions and healthy decisions for themselves," Byquist said.

Another session with the students is planned for April.

The self-esteem-boosting component of the project carried through with a slogan printed on the back of the presenters' T-shirts: "In A World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Yourself."

Obsessively conscious

Mackenzie Morris, 13, and Mackenzie Stultz, 12, both Lakewood students, acknowledged that today's media -- movies, TV shows about celebrities, even teen magazines such as Seventeen and Teen Vogue -- make some teens obsessively conscious of their body image.

"We're learning to watch what we're eating and what's healthy for us and what could hurt our bodies and make us weaker," Morris said.

With Byquist, the students answered a questionnaire gauging their knowledge about food facts and fallacies. One of the questions was whether all fat in foods is unhealthy. Not true, Byquist said.

"Fat is really important, it makes your hair look shiny, it makes your skin soft and smooth. It makes your food fill you up better," she said. "You're going to be more satisfied (and generally eat less) with the low-fat yogurt versus the fat-free."

n Reporter David Clouston can be reached at 822-1403 or by e-mail at dclouston@salina.com.

To see more of The Salina Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.salina.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Salina Journal, Kan. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index