NNB News

By Libby Hendren

St. Petersburg—Many families struggle trying to eat healthy and exercise with their hectic schedules, but making some simple changes like reducing salt intake can help save thousands of lives each year.

A January 2010 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found slashing salt intake by 3 grams or 1200 mg per day would reduce the number of cases of coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart attack. Reducing salt intake would potentially save 90,000 lives a year, especially among African-Americans, who have high rates of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Fit Active Black families or FAB helps families learn how to make healthy choices with free nutritional advice and exercise programs.

“FAB is a federally funded program. And what it aims to do is reduce diabetes and childhood obesity in the African American population here in South St. Pete,” FAB Families Project Manager Keisha Bell said.

FAB offers about 20 programs through its seven partnerships lead by the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg. Adults and children can check out nutrition and exercise classes in South St. Petersburg six days a week.

Those seeking help managing their diabetes, weight or salt intake can attend classes and get nutritional advice geared towards their needs through one of the FAB partners, the Johnny Ruth Clarke Health Center in Midtown.

“What we push here is health eating, and we try to get them to change to eating more vegetables as well as fruits and whole grains,” Registered Dietician Carey Barnes said.

Barnes said she encourages clients to use spices instead of salt for flavor and tells them to watch their carbohydrate intake. She suggests they use measuring spoons to measure a half cup to a cup of each food for their meal plate to help make sure they’re not eating too much.

“I always encourage them to buy measuring spoons because the carbohydrate counting’s not going to work, weight management’s not going to work if they’re not doing portion control. If they’re eating too much, they’re not going to lose weight,” Barnes said.

A healthy lifestyle is a balance of eating right and exercising. FAB offers a variety of classes from the electric slide to Zumba.

“We’re looking to try to do things out of the box, to create fun ways to exercise because we’re trying to reach people who typically wouldn’t exercise, just to get moving, do better, you know, health wise,” Bell said.

To make it fun for kids, FAB offers a Kid FABulous 12-week academy for children struggling with their weight.10-year-old Jeniece Talbert is taking part in the program’s third session. She said within a few weeks of starting the program, she made some changes.

“[I] don’t eat junk food everyday, and I’m not eating ice cream anymore. I’m eating frozen yogurt,” Talbert said.

Each week, the kids take part in a two hour class learning how to make nutritious meals and snacks, stretches, strength training, and aerobic exercise. They’re given homework to keep track of their progress and books to guide them during the week when they’re away from their instructors.

Jeniece’s mother Bridgette said the kid program affected the entire family’s outlook on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

“Dad’s happy, and when we fall off track, dad says, ‘Are you guys forgetting about FAB,’” Talbert said.

To learn more about the FAB programs and its partnerships, log on to www.stpetefabfamilies.com.