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What 10 year olds can teach us

Eating like an Olympian, and more
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT Myrtle Philip students Jack Morrow and Abby Unruh took part in a class project called "Do you eat like an Olympian," to learn more about nutrition.

Would you let a 10 year old cut your hair? How about plan your weekly menu?

Before answering, let me tell you about the first question, which drove one of my best theatre experiences ever.

At Vancouver's 2008 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Mammalian Diving Reflex — a cool Toronto-based arts group that often celebrates kids — set up Haircuts by Children. In it, 10 year olds from a Surrey school cut and styled the hair of volunteers like me, all of it filmed.

Last year, Mammalian returned to PuSh with Eat the Street. This time, (grade fivers and sixers) were restaurant critics, weighing in on food, service and décor. You could dine with them in Vancouver restaurants and hear what they had to say.

Personally, I love what Mammalian's artistic director, Darren O'Donnell, has to say about kids: they should have the right to vote. I'd add that a 10 year old should sit on every Canadian committee and board — political or otherwise.

And after reading Portion Size Me by young Marshall Reid and his mom, and talking with 10 year olds from Myrtle Philip Community School who were part of teacher Lisa Smart's "Do you eat like an Olympian?" project, I'd say, yes, definitely, let 10 year olds plan your menu. Heck, they should sit on every healthy-eating committee from here to Ottawa.

But let's start with Marshall, whose new book inspired me to look for Whistler's nutrition-smart kids in the first place.

Marshall's story is too familiar. He was overweight. Unhappy. His classmates made fun of him. He couldn't run and keep up with them and play tag.

Fearing his unhappiness would continue, when he was 10 he asked his mom, Alex, if they could be healthy for one month and do the opposite of the Super Size Me documentary, where filmmaker Morgan Spurlock eats at McDonald's for 30 days.

Marshall and his family did — for one month, then another. They kept right on going, and Portion Size Me: A Kid-Driven Plan to a Healthier Family was one of the results.

Full of stories about the Reids' experience — including their failures — and easy-to-digest facts on healthy eating and portion sizes (Marshall and his mom are careful not to "lecture"), the book is a fun and effective way to get on track to good nutrition.

Ditto "Do you eat like an Olympian?", Smart's project for teaching nutrition to her Grade 4 and 5 students. Nutrition is part of the B.C. curriculum starting in kindergarten, but Smart wanted to really bring it home.

"I got to go to the Olympics this summer in London with a friend of mine, and I met the nutritionist for the Canadian triathlon team," she says. "That was inspiring!

"I knew (my class) would be interested in the Olympic aspect because we are lucky here in Whistler. Most of us know or know of Olympians, or are inspired by Olympians."

First, the class investigated the nutritional needs of high performance athletes. They used the Internet for research, but they also had great guest speakers to make nutrition come alive.

Golf pro Alan Kristmanson is a former member of the Canadian national men's basketball team, competing at the Seoul 1988 Olympics, where Canada placed sixth.

"He talked all about nutritional needs, how to keep your body fuelled, the fallacy of sports drinks — all those sorts of good things," says Smart. Alan was joined by two-time Olympian, World Cup medalist and pro snowboarder Mercedes Nicoll, and Nesters Market nutritionist Tracy Higgs.

The kids divided into groups based on the sport they were interested in — everything from hockey to table tennis. After their research, they planned a sample week-long menu for their sport and presented it to a mock Olympic committee composed of Higgs, Nicoll and Smart. Then, using the Canada Food Guide, they investigated their own nutritional needs based on their activity level and age, and compared them to an adult Olympian. Finally, each group wrote a summary.

"It was a really neat project," says Smart. "... I was really pleased with how much they learned."

The kids agree, or at least the ones I spoke with do.

Ten-year-old Jack Morrow plays left wing for the Whistler Winterhawks' Atom A team and he's into ski cross.

Before the project, if you'd asked Jack, "do you eat like an Olympian?," he would have said he was pretty much in the middle. After, he says he is way closer to yes!

"Now I eat more vegetables and a bit more fruit," says Jack, who researched table tennis athletes. "I started having a plate of vegetables every Monday — it's nothing but vegetables. And I eat them the whole week long. For supper I'll have them with something else on the side." Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, pumpkin and beans all figure on Jack's list.

Now, like the Reids, Jack's family is also eating better. Dad, John Morrow, is already a vegetarian, but he's starting to eat more vegetables and his mom, Janet Pashleigh, is too. As for Jack, he notices he's getting much faster in hockey and stronger in ski cross.

"The stronger you are, the harder you can push out of the gate and off the rollers," he says.

Strong is good in Abby Unruh's world, too. Even before the project, this nine-year-old was into nutrition big time. "I like being strong," she says. "(Nutrition) is good for me to stay healthy and it's good for doing gym."

Along with Ryann, Kristmanson (Alan's daughter), Sophie Chalk, Bella Linton, and Abby researched soccer athletes.

"We found out that goalies can have a full-on breakfast and then play a soccer game, but forwards had to eat an energy bar," she says. "So basically if you're doing more exercise and more running you eat less because you have to have energy for the game.

"But I also realized a lot of the nutrition things are fruits and veggies, eggs, carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins C and B12 or whatever. So that project has helped me to learn things about nutrition so I can take those ideas in for myself and use them."

In fact, Abby's whole family is taking them in and using them, too. Mom, Jeanette, who also teaches part-time at Myrtle Philip, says they're having a lot more conversations around healthy eating and making better food choices, all urged on by Abby.

So here's to kids! Never mind letting them plan our menus. I say let them sit on our so-called grown-up committees and boards and get them the vote soon — before we really mess things up.

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning journalist whose kid-haircut was great.