Kids need to get to know the produce aisle.

More and more children in America are overweight. This, in effect, is giving rise to alarming health issues, such as diabetes and other medical conditions, early on in their lives. Eating healthy is becoming even harder with the rising number of families who cannot afford good food --or food period. There are many programs available that are designed to help stop growing obesity, as well as help children live happy, healthy lives.

The Food Trust
The Food Trust has been in partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to do just that — improve access to healthy food. The Get Healthy Philly initiative has been in place since March 2010. It is working to bring healthier food into Philadelphia’s schools, corner stores, farmer’s markets and supermarkets.

There are 10 new farmer’s markets that opened as part of the Get Healthy Philly initiative, which are all located in lower-income communities in Philadelphia. The Healthy Corner Store Initiative works with over 500 corner stores to stock healthier products in neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia.

Food Trust Communications Manager April White says 23.5 million Americans live more than a mile from the nearest supermarket and struggle to feed their families healthy foods. Families have to travel great distances to the nearest supermarket and pay higher prices for lower-quality food at corner stores.

“Nutrition education and access to healthy, affordable foods has been shown to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity,” White said.

Produce for Kids
One program is Produce for Kids. The idea of the program is to put healthy, fresh snacks in the hands of children who might otherwise not get them. Ninety percent of children in the Reading School District in Reading, Pennsylvania are eligible for free or reduced lunches, so the Greater Berks Food Bank (GBFB) is hoping to not only provide children with more nutrient-rich foods but also give children a better understanding of healthy eating for the future.

“Families living in poverty, looking to stretch their limited food budget, rarely opt for fresh produce, which tends to be relatively expensive. Instead, they choose processed, nutritionally-lacking, though cheaper, foods,” GBFB Manager of Marketing and Development, Doug Long, said.

The food items are all donated from local food distributors and processors for the Produce for Kids Initiative. GBFB has volunteers to pack the produce into bags, as well as distribute it at the school to every student at a selected elementary school in the Reading District.

A Bag of Fresh Fruits
Each child receives a bag of fresh fruits and vegetables when leaving school for the day. It averages one distribution a week during the school year. Last school year, 60,000 pounds of produce were distributed (more than 20,000 bags).

“We are actively looking to expand the program for the 2011-2012 school year,” Long said. “While the produce is donated, we are constantly seeking monetary donations and grants to cover the substantial operational expenses that accompany this program.”

Long says he also relies heavily on its volunteer’s help. For each distribution, about eight volunteers help pack the produce bags in the morning and about eight volunteers help GBFB staff members distribute the bags. To volunteer or donate food or money visit berksfoodbank.org or call 610-926-5802.

End of School Day
“By distributing at the end of the school day, the GBFB insures that every student is receiving the quality foods to take home, so that they can return for the next school day nourished,” Long said.

He thinks obesity among the impoverished youth is often the result of diets filled with highly processed, but less expensive, foods. Healthier, fresh foods are sometimes more expensive, so by providing healthier food options, the GBFB’s Produce for Kids program is helping in the fight against childhood obesity and aiding in long-term healthier living.

Another group that is trying to improve the lives of children is the YMCA of York and York County. For the last couple of years it has been implementing the “Eat Play Breathe York” initiative.

Its mission is to develop and implement policy, system, and environmental changes that promote healthy eating and physical activity along with the elimination of tobacco use.

Improving Nutrition
“Not only are we focusing on improving nutrition, we also intend to increase physical activity through increased dedicated bike and pedestrian paths and decrease tobacco use through policy changes,” YMCA York Branch Wellness and Activate America Director, Cori Strathmeyer, said. “We are not developing programs but, rather, making sustainable policy, systems, and environmental changes.”

She says more and more children are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and other medical conditions that are directly related to physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and obesity.

Shorter Life Spans
“For the first time in history, due to risk factors such as obesity, it is projected that our children’s life spans will be less than their parents,” Strathmeyer said. “That is a frightening prospect!”

It has started the York Urban Garden Association (YUGA), which is providing educational opportunities for city residents and developing an implementation plan for future gardens. It is also working to develop gardening programs for youth, within the school system and the greater community. Another objective is to improve the food in schools. Through the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, one city elementary school will receive fresh fruit and vegetable snacks for each child three times per week.

“It is our hope that these programs will help to provide framework for a future Farm to School Initiative in which local produce is served as snacks to elementary students, as well as served during school meals,” she said.

The York YMCA received a grant from Wal-Mart to help fund aspects of the project. One will be used for the youth of the York City Parks Summer Playground Program, another grant will help the new YMCA Feed and Seed Program, and another is being used to educate a cross section of York County youth at its Camp Spirit.

Strathmeyer says one program is not going to affect much change but a repeated message, as well as easier access to fresh produce will change the behaviors of kids.

“If it is easy for kids to eat fresh fruit every day at school, they will eat it,” she said. “If it is easy for parents to get fresh produce at corner stores, at local markets, at food pantries, in local and container gardens, then they will serve it.”

For more information on Get Healthy Philly, visit www.foodfitphilly.org.