Doctor Yum’s Pajama Party Teaches Kids about Breakfast

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Kids making Fritattas in their PJ’s

Zane heads up the Smoothie Station

Zane heads up the Smoothie Station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past weekend our the staff of Yum Pediatrics volunteered for the Doctor Yum Project’s first cooking class in our new Instructional Kitchen. Doctor Yum’s Pajama Party was cooking class for kids age 7-12 to learn the importance of a healthy breakfast and to learn some cooking skills and recipes to make a great breakfast at home.

Using our new Multimedia set up, we first discussed the pitfalls of of most breakfast choices:

  • Not enough protein
  • Too much sugar
  • Not enough fruits and veggies

The kids learned about how eating breakfast can make them perform better in school. They learned about how protein is a great source of energy and helps every cell in our body to repair and function. They then learned about how most kids get 2-3 times the recommended amount of sugar in a day, and how breakfast can be a large contributor to excess sugar. We discussed how important fruits and veggies are, how many servings are recommened and how easy it is to get some of those servings in at breakfast.

We made 4 recipes with the help of our Yum Pediatrics staff (all of us in matching mushroom pajamas!) Zane headed up the breakfast smoothies station, showing kids how to add veggies and like kale and carrots to a fruit smoothie. I made mini fritattas packed full of veggies and Carmen made kiwi strawberry fruit pizzas. Kids samples a crockpot oatmeal with apples and cinnamon, too. 

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Nurse Carmen and Cindy with Dr. Fernando

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Preparing veggies for the Fritattas

Our first class was a great sucess and we are hoping to offer more classes in the future. Visit doctoryum.com to find out about more classes and camps at the new kitchen!

 

Yum Pediatrics Veggie Coloring Contest

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Yum Pediatrics, the office of Dr. Nimali Fernando, and the entire Yum Pediatrics team are always trying to come up with ways to inspire kids to eat nutritious foods. That’s why we are pleased to announce our first ever Veggie Art Contest. Throughout the entire month of March you can submit your children’s artwork to a Yum Pediatrics panel of judges for display and a grand prize.

The topic is “What is your favorite Vegetable?”

Kids of all ages can submit artwork highlighting their favorite vegetable. The artwork can depict them eating the vegetable, growing it, or any other theme involving the vegetable.

Kids will be judged by the following age categories:

1) 4 years and under
2) 5-7 years
3) 8 years and older

We will be judging on creativity and artistic use of materials. A variety media (paint, pencil, crayon, marker, mixed, etc.) will be accepted.

Kids can submit works size 8.5 x 11 inches to 16 x 24 inches

Artwork can be submitted by March 31st in person or by mail to:
Yum Pediatrics
10482 Georgetown Drive
Suite B
Spotsylvania, VA 22553

Please include this paperwork which you can obtain by clicking here:

A winner in each category will be announced the first week of April.

Winners’ artwork will be framed and displayed at Yum Pediatrics or The Doctor Yum Project Kitchen. Winners also get a personalized cooking lesson with Doctor Yum at the Doctor Yum Project Kitchen!

Also, visit us our table at the Fredericksburg Health and Wellness Expo on March 29th where and kids can work on their art and submit their finished pieces.

A Morning that will Change The Way Your Kids Eat

Yesterday, Yum Pediatrics and The Doctor Yum Project hosted a one-of-a-kind workshop with two amazing speakers, Dina Rose, PhD. and Melanie Potock, MA, CCC-SLP.

Melanie Potock, Dr. Dina Rose and Dr. Nimali Fernando

Melanie Potuck, Dr. Dina Rose and Dr. Nimali Fernando

These two nationally-known speakers came to our Instructional Kitchen to talk to area parents about how to establish healthy eating habits. Dr. Rose  just released a fantastic new book, It’s Not About the Broccoli, which we have on the wellness shelves in our waiting room (take a look next time you are in!)  I love their practical, hands on advice which takes the pressure off the daily nutritional battles we all fight as parents, and gives us a wider perspective on raising kids with healthy habits. We have discussed them previously, mainly articles that they wrote at artandinterior.co on this same topic.

 

Melanie Potock gives a great talk on the 7 senses

Melanie gives a great talk on the 7 senses

Melanie Potock of My Munch Mug. began the workshop with her talk, “Eating with 7 Senses. ” It was a thought-provoking talk about all the senses we use when we eat. She offered practical tips on how to set kids up for success with eating, including proper seating, how to introduce new tastes, and how to look at the whole child when approaching feeding.  She was just fantastic.

Dr. Dina Rose also spoke about establishing healthy eating habits by focusing less on day to day nutritional intake and instead looking at the broader goal of establishing healthy lifelong eating habits. Her unique perspectives were really well-received by the 40 guests who attended our workshop, and there were a lot of great questions from the audience. Jabberwocky, a local Fredericksburg bookstore was on hand to sell signed copies of Dina’s wonderful new book, It’s Not About the Broccoli.

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Dr. Dina Rose’s new book “It’s Not About The Broccoli”

I shared some of the things that I do with the Tiny Tasters from doctoryum.com and my cooking classes to inspire them to cook and taste. Special knives, chopsticks, aprons and more. We discussed food passports and my “Yum Score“, which encourages kids to try food.

We were so happy to see many of our “Yum Pediatrics” patients at the event. We hope to offer more of these types of experiences for our patients and the Fredericksburg community.

Many thanks to Melanie for coming out from Colorado and to Dina for visiting from New Jersey. What a treat! Thanks to the Harvest Market for providing a beautiful spread of healthy food too!

Harvest Market Spotsylvania Virginia

Thanks Harvest Market!

Stay tuned for our upcoming events!

-Nimali Fernando, MD MPH