Demand is growing in the Charlotte region for a new program teaching kids how to fix their own healthy foods – requests are now coming from organizations serving adults with developmental disabilities and pediatric cardiology patients.
Kids Heart Felt Health uses high school honor students to teach elementary and middle school students how to fix their own favorite foods such as pizza in a fun, heart-healthy manner. The program was begun by Claudine Lovitt after her own daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
“After a recent article about our program appeared in the media, I was contacted by the Clinical Director of Quest Provider Services,” Lovitt said. “They work with adults with developmental disabilities – developmentally they are at the same age as our regular students, elementary to early teen age. They have asked us to do our six-week program for adults at their facility. We are very excited to be able to extend our program to this community of people – something I had never imagined when I conceived of this program.”
“This hands on program sounds excellent,” said Corri Digilio, Clinical Director for Quest Provider Services in Charlotte. “We believe this will be extremely beneficial to the individuals we serve as we promote their optimal independence, which includes making them aware of healthy lifestyle choices.”
Lovitt has also been contacted by a local pediatric cardiologist group about working with them and their patients, although details have not been announced.
“We’re excited about being able to raise awareness that heart disease develops over an entire lifetime, starting in childhood, and puts possibly the entire population of children at risk – not just obese and overweight kids,” Lovitt said. “We welcome inquiries from other groups interested in learning how to fix heart-healthy foods.”
Kids Heart Felt Health Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, which means donations to it are tax deductible. A portion of the proceeds of the program will be donated to fund research for the cure for Type 1 diabetes, Lovitt said.
For more information or to register for future programs, visit the organization’s website at www.kidsheartfelthealth.com.
