Packin’ healthy body images

Parents: don’t reach for that frozen dinner yet, or send the kids off to school with the always-easy sandwich, soda and bag of chips.

Girls Inc. of Orange County is teaching girls about healthful lifestyle choices, such as what to pack for lunch. From nutritional education and physical fitness to positive body image, the eight-week program is aimed at stemming obesity among young girls in Orange County.

The 16-session Fit Girls and Family program inspires girls to take healthful recipes home to the family cook. Chef Jamie Gwen stopped by Girls Inc. headquarters in Newport Beach Monday to show more than 70 girls what goes into a healthful meal, and how delicious the outcome can be.

“There’s nothing better than empowering strong little girls,” Gwen said as she lay raviolis onto a bed of lasagna. “I think its important to do this so they are inspired to take what they’ve learned home.”

“My mom’s a vegetarian, so this has helped out a lot,” chuckled Brenna Barrios, a confident 13-year-old who has been in Girls Inc. since she was 5. “This class really helps me benefit.”

Making healthful meals and snacks like summer salad, roasted pound cake, trail mix and fruit kebobs are not all that’s on the Fit Girls agenda. Participants learn to evaluate food labels too. And they are learn- ing that being active is not just about playing sports.

“We try to make fitness fun, we try to make it a habit, not something that’s a chore,” said Kimberly Harnish, elementary programs coordinator for Girls Inc. “Hopefully they’ll get these habits ingrained in their life and continue on with it.”

Like the girls in it, Fit Girls is a young program. Started in 2005 through a grant from the California Endowment and supplemented by the George Hoag Family Foundation, Pacificare, Kaiser and the Healthcare Foundation of Orange County, the curriculum is now finding its stride.

This is the first year Fit Girls and Families has incorporated teaching an active lifestyle to summer enrollees. Add donated ovens, stove tops, a dishwasher and microwave from Friedman’s Appliance Center and the program leaves little to be changed for next year, said facilitator Gloria Fanti.

“I think having them be in charge of their bodies and their health only can help them gain confidence now and in their future,” Harnish said. “And having the ability to make that right choice will give them that confidence.”

Fit Girls and Family is available for girls ages 4 to 12 and concludes Aug. 30. For more information, call (949) 646-7181.