2015 Obesity

July 11, 2015: Obesity

Today we focused on Obesity, with particular attention to the concept of calories and the avoidance of sugary drinks. We started off the pre-walk lecture with a demonstration to jump right in – literally! – to the concept of a calorie. With some awesome volunteers to help, we showed how it takes 15 jumping jacks to burn just 1 calorie… meaning that it would take 2100 jumping jacks to burn off all 140 calories in just one can of coke !! We discussed the importance of balancing out the calories we consume in our food with the calories we burn to avoid becoming overweight. In particular, we stressed eliminating sugary-drinks to avoid an excess of empty calories, and, in turn, avoid obesity.

We discussed some of the immediate and long-term health risks associated with being overweight, including Type 2 Diabetes, Asthma, Heart attacks, and infertility. To help make the idea of the excess and danger of sugar in sweetened drinks real, we then passed around some containers of sugar to show exactly how much sugar (9 1/3 teaspoons!) is in one can of coke.

We distributed reusable water bottles to each participant (perfect for filling up with great NYC tap water!), and set off for the walk. Community members who participated in the 10-week Nutrition Class offered through the Little Sister’s early this year received a sticker so they could be identified as sources of additional information on nutrition and healthy eating.

We walked down 3rd Avenue and then up 103rd Street. Unfortunately, the community garden we planned to stop at was locked, but we continued walking to our next destination – even a bigger “community garden”: Central Park! Walking through the English Rose garden, and stopped for an apple and banana break in the center of the garden by a small watering pool in the shade. After looking at the lili pads and fishes in the water and collecting our banana peels and apple cores to compost later, we headed onto the final leg of the trip.

We walked by the Italian Garden next and saw the Untermeyer Fountain spraying water high into the sky. Walking around the Harlem Meer, covered in a carpet of duckweed, we ended the walk just as the day was really heating up on the other side of the Meer. Checking the counter we turned on at the beginning of our walk, we found that we burned 313 calories on another great walk of the season !

Quiz

Curriculum

Stats
Date: July 11, 2015
Adults: 26
Children: 36
Total: 62

Miles: 1.89 miles
Calories: 313 calories*
Time: about 2 hours

Co-leaders: Jude Appiah, Georgia Bancheri, Claire Castellano, Stella Chong, Cappy Collins, Katie Litman, Deysi Martinez, Emma Murphy, Ahsiya Zurita

*http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm
“Walking, under 2.0 mph, very slow,” 155lbs = 140 kcal/hr

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