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Students get lessons in health at fitness fair

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Jill Jayne leads a group of students in some dance moves as part of her Jump with Jill program at South Fayette High School Wednesday. Jayne mixes music and dance with nutritional facts to teach children about health and wellness.

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Students from middle schools around the Pittsburgh area gather in the South Fayette’s gymnasium to try different foods that give them healthier snack options. The Switch drink, a carbonated juice beverage, was a popular tasting table giving students the flavor and carbonation of soda without added chemicals or sugar.

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Jill Jayne holds up a low-fat milk carton decorated with sunglasses and a necklace to tell middle-school students to choose healthier food options during the Fit n’ Fare assembly at South Fayette High School.

South Fayette Middle School student Lizzy Henry said she tries to eat healthy most of the time, but it isn’t always easy. When asked if eating healthy is fun, her reply was an honest “no.”

She, along with about 500 other eighth-grade students from seven middle schools, ranging from South Fayette School District to Aliquippa to three Propel charter schools, gathered Wednesday in the South Fayette High School gymnasium to take part in an interactive health and fitness program offered through UPMC.

The program was the second in as many years according to Tricia Wood, director of food and nutritional services at South Fayette. She also is on the UPMC committee that promotes the program “Make Me Whole … Body, Mind and Soul.”

The program emphasizes the importance of healthy snacking, eating and exercise. During the three-hour program, students watched nutritional and fitness presentations, visited 15 separate vendor stations that offered healthy foods like chips and fruit, and enjoyed an interactive fitness concert.

Winifred Torbert, program director from UPMC, said, “We want them to enjoy eating properly and to snack responsibly so they are not taking in too much sugar in the summer. I’m hoping what they learn in the school year they use in the summer so they can live healthier lives.”

Torbert said South Fayette district officials, including Superintendent Billie Rondinelli, are supportive.

“They encourage healthy lifestyles for all of the students,” Torbert said. During the first program the previous school year, Torbert said 210 students attended, with more than double the number attending Wednesday. The first program included nutrition and wellness with exercise added this year.

Luckily for Lizzy, she is naturally thin, as are her three friends – Kate Russo, Hanna Schmitt and Francesca Siudela – who were waiting in line for a few of the nutritional offerings from vendors.

Francesca said she is able to maintain her petite figure through all types of dance. She enjoyed the presentations and displayed a wrapper from a cereal bar she consumed.

The four South Fayette eighth-graders said while none battled a weight problem, they did have a few friends who were somewhat overweight. They all agreed they encouraged those friends to eat healthier.

If her mother offers Kate’s family a less-than-nutritional meal, she said she would say, “This is gross. I’ll make something else.” One of her favorite vendor freebies Wednesday was a bag of healthy chips.

“I try to be a better eater as it makes my body healthier,” Kate said.

Lizzy enjoyed the strawberry mango sidekick snack before admitting to snacking on chips and fruit at night.

“Learning to eat healthy will affect you in the future,” Lizzy said of what she learned from the presentation.

Torbert said the program is actually a four-part series encompassing nutrition, mental health and well-being, exercise and dental health, all to encourage youngsters to eat well to live longer.

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