NEW NUTRITION STORYBOOK EMPOWERS CHILDREN TO EAT AND PLAY
THE HEALTHY WAY

NORWALK, Conn., Feb. 5, 2007 –Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities announces the release of their third storybook for children, The Healthy Way (Kimberly Press, ISBN: 0-9668611-5-9; $4.95 sc), which aims to teach young children how to incorporate healthy eating and activity in a fun, engaging way.

Taking a cue from the success of the foundation’s water safety educational efforts through the award-winning Stewie the Duck books, in 2006 Stew and Kim Leonard broadened the focus of their non-profit charity to “promoting safe and responsible growth and development in kids through nutritional awareness and water safety.” The foundation changed its name from the Stew Leonard III Water Safety Foundation to the Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities; The Healthy Way is the first educational effort launched to support this new mission.  All proceeds from the book’s sale will go back into the foundation to fund nutrition education programs for children and donations of the books to schools and children’s nutrition tour groups.

Why a Children’s Book about Healthy Eating is Needed
One out of every five children ages 6 to 11 is overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Since the 1970s, the number of children who are overweight has more than doubled among children ages 2 through 5 years-old and almost tripled among school-aged children ages 6 to 19 years-old.

Only two percent of children have diets that meet the dietary guidelines outlined in the MyPyramid food guide; 16 percent don't meet any of those recommendations.

“We wrote The Healthy Way as a tool for parents to begin a dialogue with their children about the importance of eating healthfully, as well as to reinforce other nutrition messages they may get at school or home,” said Stew Leonard, Jr., president of Stew Leonard’s food store and founder of the Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities. “This book is filling a huge need.  We’ve given thousands of store tours at our food store to children, and this book is an extension of the nutrition messages we teach on the tours.”

About The Healthy Way
The Healthy Way is a story about the importance of eating right and being active, told in a way that children age four through seven can relate to.

Johnny is typical of many kids.  He oversleeps and does not have time to eat breakfast, snacks on chips instead of fruit, and drinks soda in place of milk.  Instead of being outside riding a bike or kicking around a soccer ball, he is glued to the television or computer playing video games. When the class goes to a local supermarket for a nutrition tour, Johnny is busier being the class clown than paying attention to their host, Wow the Cow.  But when he can not complete the mile race as part of the class’s physical fitness test, Johnny goes back to Wow the Cow for some advice.  With Wow’s encouragement, some support from his friends, and learning The Healthy Way song, Johnny gets back on track towards healthy eating and being fit.

The Healthy Way focuses on four critical areas that can significantly improve children’s well-being:

• One out of every eight children skips breakfast and 90 percent of children skip breakfast at least some mornings.  Children who eat breakfast are more alert, perform better on tests, have better attendance in school, and are more likely to meet their all their nutritional needs.  The importance of eating breakfast is one of the first concepts introduced in The Healthy Way.
• Seven out of 10 children are not getting enough calcium, found in dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt.  The character Wow the Cow in The Healthy Way encourages children to get three servings of dairy every day to help keep their bones strong.
• Eight out of 10 children do not get enough vegetables and six out of 10 children do not eat enough fruit.  The Healthy Way teaches children how to get enough of these important foods.
• Only one in four children get daily physical education in school, while six out of 10 children do not participate in any physical activity during non-school hours.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting television and video time to no more than two hours a day. The Healthy Way encourages children to turn off the TV and go outside to play.

These messages are reinforced throughout the book and also summarized in The Healthy Way song, sung to the tune of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”

The Healthy Way was written by Stew Leonard, Jr., who grew up in the food business through the fresh food stores founded by his father in 1969 under the family name.  Stew is the father of four daughters, so he knows from a personal and professional angle how difficult it can be to get children to make healthier food choices.  In the process of writing the book, Stew’s daughters – Blake, Alexandra, Chase and Madison -- served as a sounding board to make sure the book would be relevant and engaging to children. 

Joining Stew on the book is co-author Meghan Flynn, a registered dietitian with a certification in Childhood and Adolescent Weight Management.  Meghan has been with Stew Leonard’s for five years, and spearheaded adding nutrition messages to Stew Leonard’s store tours the company provides free of charge to schools and day care centers.  She “road-tested” the book among local school children and asked children’s nutrition experts, such as Dr. Keith Ayoob, a pediatric nutritionist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, to review the book and provide their expert advice. The book was illustrated by Vicky Lowe with art direction provided by 23-year Stew Leonard’s veteran Richard Lung.

How to Get The Healthy Way
The Healthy Way is available at Stew Leonard’s food stores, located in Norwalk and Danbury, Connecticut and Yonkers, New York.  It is also available online at www.stewleonardsgifts.com.  All proceeds from book sales benefit the Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities foundation for ongoing nutrition education initiatives.  In addition, every school group or daycare center that participates in a nutrition tour at Stew Leonard’s will receive a complimentary copy of the book.  Please contact Stew Leonard’s Customer Service to arrange a tour.

Through a grant from Bank of America, The Healthy Way is available free of charge to elementary school students in lower economic school districts. Please contact Meghan Flynn at mflynn@stewleonards.com or call 203.750.6106 to arrange a contribution or a school book reading.

For more information on the Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities foundation, please visit www.stewietheduck.com.