Revitalize your shopping routine to eat, live healthier

With summer coming to an end and the school year just around the corner, it’s time to incorporate heart-healthy snacks into your family’s eating plan. The American Heart Association helps make this simple and easy.

Get the kids involved! Turn off the TV and video games and start by creating your grocery list together. The American Heart Association’s free online grocery list builder at heartcheckmark.org is a fun way you and your kids can use the computer to browse through more than 800 certified heart-healthy products. Click on your favorite foods and create a shopping list that you can print and take with you to the store. Nutritious grocery shopping just got faster!

Then, at the store, have the kids look for the American Heart Association’s red heart with a white check mark on food packages. It’s a familiar symbol that helps you quickly and confidently select foods that meet the Association’s criteria for heart-healthy levels of fat and cholesterol for healthy people over age 2. While you’re shopping, pick up the ingredients for Peachsicles. With such an easy preparation, this snack is a delicious and nutritious treat the whole family will enjoy making and, of course, tasting.

In addition to snacking healthier, make physical activity a part of your family’s daily routine. Inactivity is a major reason for the rising obesity rates among U.S. children, causing an increase in conditions that usually don’t develop until adulthood such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

You can help children live healthier by following these simple tips from the American Heart Association:

•Set a good example by practicing your own heart-healthy habits such as playing with your kids and eating sensibly. Keep your eyes on serving size!

•Limit television, movies, videos and computer games to less than two hours a day and substitute the rest of leisure time with physical activity.

•Give your children some household chores that require physical exertion such as mowing lawns, sweeping floors and taking out the garbage.

•Take advantage of your city’s recreation opportunities — from soccer leagues to fun runs. Check out the various camps or organizations that sponsor outdoor activities like camping, hiking trips and swimming.

To learn more about reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke through good nutrition, visit americanheart.org or call 1-800-AHA-USA1 for your free copy of the “Shop Smart with Heart” brochure.

Peachsicles

Cool your taste buds with this simple, tasty treat from the American Heart Association’s magazine cookbook “Healthy Recipes Kids Love.”

Serves: 6 — 1 per serving

1 8.25-ounce can light sliced peaches in fruit juice, drained

1 cup fat-free or low-fat plain yogurt

1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (about 2 ounces)

2 teaspoons honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

•Cut the peaches into bite-size pieces. Put 3 pieces in each of 4 paper or plastic 5-ounce juice cups. Transfer the remaining peaches to a small bowl.

•Stir remaining ingredients into the bowl with peaches. Pour into juice cups.

Insert a wooden Popsicle or craft stick into the center of each cup. Cover cups with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, allowing the sticks to poke through the covering. Put the cups stick-side up on a level surface in the freezer. Freeze 3 hours, or until solid.

•To serve, peel or cut the paper or plastic from the frozen pops.

Nutrients per serving: 71 calories, 0g total fat (0g saturated, 0g polyunsaturated, 0g monounsaturated), 15g carbohydrates, 13g sugars, 0g fiber, 1mg cholesterol, 3g protein, 37mg sodium

Dietary Exchanges: 1 fruit

Copyright © 2005 by the American Heart Association. Look for other great recipes at americanheart.org.

Shop smart.

Live well.

Look for the heart-check mark!

The heart-check mark from the American Heart Association takes the guesswork out of heart-healthy grocery shopping.

The simple icon on a food package is your assurance that a single serving is certified to:

•Be low in fat (3 grams or less),

•Be low in saturated fat (1 gram or less),

•Be low in cholesterol (20 milligrams or less),

•Have a sodium value of 480 milligrams or less for individual foods, and

•Contain at least 10 percent of the Daily Value of one or more of these naturally occurring nutrients: protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron or dietary fiber.

Additionally:

•Seafood, game meat, meat and poultry, as well as whole grain products, main dishes and meals must meet additional nutritional requirements.