August 19, 2011, Vol. 9 Issue 7

Dear Friends,

First of all, let me say I LOVE summer. I’m sitting on my deck writing this, and the temp is comfortable, no humidity.  We in the Northwest have been spared the heat that much of the rest of the country has been experiencing. Nonetheless, we weren’t sure there for a while, say, late June, early July — when the furnace would still turn on in the mornings — that summer was ever going to arrive.

I can hardly believe kids are already back in school in some parts of the country.  I don’t recall ever going back to school before Labor Day. I do, however, recall three little brown bags lined up on the counter with our names on them — school lunches for Barby, Ricky and Jeffy. The sandwich I remember best was peanut butter, lettuce and mayo on white bread (wrapped in wax paper), and I think we got an apple and I’m sure there was a cookie in there. We each had some change to buy our milk, and I know for sure that those little brown bags were filled with love.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that there’s a severe problem with childhood obesity today in the United States. There’s one dedicated crusader out there making a difference and, if you haven’t heard of her, I’m happy to introduce you to Jill Jayne, a dietitian who also happens to be a musician. She’s the Rockstar Nutritionist combining her knowledge and talents with a whole lot of spunk to make nutrition education rock.

Jill Jayne, MS, RD

The One and Only Rockstar Nutritionist

The childhood obesity problem is often blamed on junk food, screen time and inactivity. Jill Jayne, the Rockstar Nutritionist, looks at the problem a little more broadly. “It’s about how kids are consuming,” she says. “They’re watching a lot of media and eating a lot of junk food and not getting enough exercise, so I took the same tools normally used to sell junk food and keep kids sedentary and turned them into powerful tools for teaching healthy habits. I get them engaged and moving. I believe people learn best by doing….and rocking out!”

Jill believes that people want to be healthy, but this desire competes with the other zillions of expectations life brings. As an RD and a musician, she decided to take all she knew about rock ‘n roll with all she knew about effective nutrition education, and put them together with a whole lot of pizzazz.  “I’m bringing my ’A‘ game to apply the effectiveness of the fast food jingle to health education: nutrition education through entertainment. People want to be entertained, so,” she says, “why not give them a show?”
“In our brains, music and movement are very connected.  The same parts of the brain that are controlling how we listen to music are also controlling movement. By encouraging kids to move to the music, we’re actually teaching in a more effective way.”
A big part of what she does is called social norming. “If we can make healthy food cooler than unhealthy food, kids will follow like the Pied Piper. I want the show and the experience to be part of the childhood experience. It should be normal that healthy is fun.”
She started in 2006,  by opening a nutrition street show for kids in Central Park, accepting tips for enduring the heat. Today, that production morphed into what is now known as Jump with Jill, and has reached 170,000 kids across the United States.  In fact she has 3 shows:  Jill & Jam for preschool, Jump with Jill for elementary, I Will Not Be Bought for teens, in addition to which she offers professional speaking at conferences and workshops for grown-ups. She has been featured in national media outlets including NPR, PBS, The Washington Post, and industry trade publications.
It’s all about age appropriate, interactive nutrition education, so whether she’s cavorting with kids or rocking out with teens, she takes her audience on a journey of food, fitness and fun.  As for adults, she will take any conference from boring to blast-off, while educating and mobilizing your community or organization to better health. Part speech, part performance, Jill makes sure her audiences get the facts about nutrition but in a way that they will surely remember.

Videos say it best, so here are short descriptions with video clips. I encourage you to watch the video clips. Words just can’t describe these programs.

PRESCHOOL: Jill & Jam

The preschool healthy habits live show and CD describes a preschooler’s day of healthy habits in song. The nationally touring show is based on the newly released audio CD “Goin’ on a Journey: Songs for Every Body.” The Journey is packed with educationally sound pop hits that cover body awareness, trying new foods, making your choo choo go on healthy foods, dancing The Water Polka, wearing sunscreen, brushing your teeth, recycling, using the potty and falling fast asleep.

Watch the Video here. 

ELEMENTARY: Jump with Jill

Jump with Jill is a live rock ‘n roll concert and CD for elementary kids that makes nutrition rock. The national touring show is based on the wildly popular audio CD, “Get Me Goin’,” transitioned with kid-appropriate explanations of the song content. The movement-inducing, all-original music covers topics like respecting your body, eating breakfast, drinking more water, getting enough calcium, exercising, examining food packages more closely and eating less junk food.

Watch the Video here.

TEENS: I Will Not Be Bought

I Will Not Be Bought is an interactive, music-based performance focusing on the influence of advertising on body image, nutrition, substance abuse and peer pressure, that tours through middle and high schools nationwide. The Rockstar Nutritionist can explain the intentions and tools of advertising through a medium that teens readily connect with and respond to: rock music. Jill serves as an educated, relevant source for reading between the lines of teen-targeted advertising to help them make healthy and informed choices.

Watch the video here.

And one more video . . .

PROFESSIONAL SPEAKING

You can learn more about applying Jill’s skills to your conference or community event if you check out her professional speaking video on our website where she offers the antidote to Boring Conference Syndrome (that would be Jill Jayne), or give me a call at 503-699-5031, and we can discuss all the details.

DESSERT — It’s on the Grill & Peachy Good

Last Saturday evening, while our guests sat around the table on the deck, I made grilled peaches for the first time, and it was like finding a new place to sit in heaven.  Our guests scarfed them up as fast as I could get them off the grill.  This is a lovely, healthful dessert, and it’s so good, your guests will want to lick the raspberry sauce off their plates. I did!

I found the recipe for Grilled Peaches with Fresh Raspberry Sauce in the Dash Recipes insert in my Sunday newspaper but the real source is www.epicurious.com. Here’s the link to the recipe.

The raspberry sauce is extremely simple to make in a blender.  And for the peaches, you simply brush with melted butter mixed with some brown sugar and grill for about 8 minutes. Try it and let me know how you like it.

Meantime, lick up those last precious rays of summer and leisure and store them up for the cooler months ahead.  As always, until next time, take care of yourself for your well being and those you love.

Yours truly,

Barbara

PLEASE NOTE: The information shared in this e-news is designed to help you make informed decisions about speakers and the programs they offer. It is not intended as a substitute for any treatment prescribed by a doctor. If you suspect you have a medical problem, seek competent medical help.