Youth Advocacy Programming


Powerful Youth Mini-Grants
Click the link for the application in your area:

-Healthy Portland Powerful Youth Mini-grant RFA

-Healthy Casco Bay Powerful Youth Mini-gant RFA



It’s about THE PhActivity
Ø Tobacco Free Living
Ø Healthy Eating
Ø Physical Activity


Why:
Because…
o it’s fun!
o we are in charge of our health
o we have voices that need to be heard
o we want to look, feel, and perform great
o we are smarter than corporate advertisers
o health is freedom and being free is important now!





Freedom from Tobacco:
So here’s what the Tobacco companies say they are selling… A product that makes you look sexy, helps you fit in, have fun, and goes great with sports!

Ok, now here’s the reality…
· Yellow teeth and fingernails, or nasty smelling breath, hair, and clothing are “not” sexy!
· Even if you chew tobacco... disgusting sores on lips and gums, and hairy tongue, are not on the “sexy” list either!
· It’s hard to fit in with the crowd or have fun when you’re hacking, wheezing and sick more often than friends who don’t smoke! And it’s even harder to fit in with the crowd from a hospital bed!
· Smoking actually lowers your endurance and ability to play sports… by firing up a cigarette you could be warming the bench!
· Even chewing tobacco hurts your game, by lowering your endurance and affecting your heart rate.

Tobacco is the only product sold “legally” that, if used the way it’s meant to be used can harm or kill you!

Tobacco kills more people every year than AIDS, alcohol, automobile accidents, fires, homicides, illegal drugs and suicides combined!

Tobacco Web Sites:
Tobacco Facts: http://www.ymn.org/tobacco/facts.shtml

Do some searching of your own: www.thesmokinggun.com

Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org

(Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U.) website) www.tatuusa.org

Florida’s TRUTH campaign www.thetruth.com

Get Outraged www.getoutraged.com

Question It www.questionit.com

Youth Media Network www.ymn.org



Healthy Eating:
Looking for healthy eating information? Well you’ve come to the right place!
If you’re like most of the youth in America, you’ve probably had a lot of people throw all different kinds of healthy eating information at you. Most of them giving you really complicated details, and using big words… Right? Well it doesn’t have to be that complicated… and here’s where we make it simple.

Follow the food guide pyramid!

Why?
§ Because it will help you eat the food your body needs and eat the right amount of it.
§ Because it’s free information by a group of professionals who have studied healthy eating for years around the world… Not from some guru or so called “expert” who just wants a popular diet to make buck!
§ Because you’ll look and feel great!

Things to remember
§ When it comes to sugars, sodas, and fast food, the pyramid doesn’t say you can’t have any. It’s only saying to have them every now and then. Try snacking on healthier foods like fruits and veggies and drinking water.
§ A piece of fruit is just as easy to carry around as a can of soda or bag of chips and it will give you longer lasting energy!!
§ When the pyramids talks about breads and pasta (you know carbohydrates)… they mean “whole grains”. Like whole wheat and oat breads, pastas, and cereals. The brown or darker ones. They taste great and are better for you. (Just make sure they say 100% or whole wheat).


Drink less soda
o You’ve probably seen a lot of commercials that make soda look cool, and fun. But what they don’t tell you is that soda weakens bones, rots teeth, can help make you overweight, and doesn’t really give you the energy you’re body needs.

o Try eating real fruits/veggies and drinking water. You’re energy will stay up way longer, and your body will thank you for it!

Drink more water
o Wanna drink the best sports drink ever? Yup you guessed it… its water… good ol’ H20! Most sports drinks you see advertised are only needed for a short time after heavy exercise. “Not for everyday use all the time!” They also have a lot of sugar your body doesn’t need.
o So if you think your being healthy by drinking sports drinks on a regular basis… you’d be doing a lot better if you were grabbing water.
o Especially tap water… you know out of the faucet! Let’s think about it: It’s free, it helps keep your energy up; helps you think, feel, and look better; and hey… it’s free!! Save your money for something you really want!

Physical Activity goes with Eating
o Food is fuel for your body, and if you don’t burn it off… you put a lot of stress on your body you don’t need.
o If you don’t burn the calories you eat up, they stay in your body as fat, and you can become overweight, put stress on your heart, and get sick more often!!
** You can also get more information in detail at these sites.

Healthy Eating Web:

An interactive site with milk mustaches, famous celebrities, games, contests, and recipes. You will also find a personal trainer for nutrition and fitness advice. http://www.whymilk.com

The food timeline… ever wonder what people where eating back then? http://www.gti.net/mocolib1/kid/food.html

Great Health site with nutrition info for kids, teens, and parents http://www.kidshealth.org/index_noflash.html

Kids food cyber clubhttp://www.kidfood.org/kf_cyber.html

Kids nutrition web site http://www.nutritionexplorations.com/kids/main.asp

Dangers of soda (dangers of liquid candy) http://www.saveharry.com/liquidcandy.html

Physical Activity
Notice it doesn’t say exercise or sports??
That’s because you don’t have to be a natural athlete or go to an expensive gym to be physically active. There are a bunch of ways to fit in physical activity and get your self to look and feel great! Doing things like walking, dancing, hiking, swimming, or even skateboarding can help you get the activity you need. Basically it can be anything fun that gets you up and moving.
So get up, get active, and have fun doing it!!

Why Physical Activity?
Here’s what being physically active can do for you…

** Get more great information at the web sites listed.Health site with information for parents, kids, and teens.Fun interactive fitness site from the CDCA site dedicated to making PA fun, and exciting.Nova Scotia teen site promoting physical activity and health