Healthy Kids Snacks educational story video #GardenCuizine @CUMaurice #eaglesknowbest #preventdiabetes

Provide Kids Healthy Snacks to Prevent Childhood Obesity and Diabetes

Over the past few years New Jersey's endangered American Bald Eagles have made a strong return, especially in South Jersey, not too far from where I work in Cumberland county. 

American Bald Eagles get illustrated in story telling and are the symbol of strength and power featured in designs on the US National seal, passports and money.

The recovering Bald Eagle population is wonderful news. Especially for bird watching enthusiasts, biologists and environmentalists who knew that Eagles had rapidly declined after pesticide use of DDT in the 1950's through 1972 when it was finally banned. 

According to Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, there was only one Eagle's nest left in NJ by1982. Since then a lot of people have worked hard to save the American Eagle from extinction.

Today, majestic Bald Eagles can be seen soaring throughout the state of NJ, usually near water. The majority fly near their huge nests, built in tall trees, along the Delaware Bay in Salem and Cumberland counties. Eagles lay their eggs right now, from mid February to early March.

Harry and I were thrilled to tour that beautiful area with the group Citizens United Maurice River. The winter morning we went was misty and cold. As we looked across the wetlands, three, white, mute swans photo-bombed my attempt at photographing Eagles! That photo turned out to be one of my favorite pictures, "Misty Mute Swans Soaring South Jersey Wetlands."

Anyway, the CDC story below caught my attention since it includes a wise Eagle. It is taken from one of a series of Eagle books written by Georgia Perez. She features Native American children (who have high risk for diabetes), Miss rabbit, a tricky coyote and a wise Bald Eagle. 

• Mr. Eagle encourages the children to drink water instead of soda and to select healthy snacks like carrots and cherries instead of chips and cookies.

• Eating a healthy diet along with exercise has been shown to help prevent childhood obesity and related diseases like diabetes.

• Bald Eagles know best about good snack choices. We can all learn skills from Mr. Eagle on how to better navigate the environment when others (coyotes) tempt us with tricky treats.

This story inspires me to inquire about being a vendor at the Cumberland County Winter Eagle Festival next February in 2020. Keep learning about Eagles and the importance of protecting their habitat. And, remember that healthy food choices help to prevent childhood obesity and diabetes.

Related Links
Conserve Wildlife Endangered Species

Blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. Tricky Treats video story illustrations are by Patrick Rolo and Lisa A. Fifield. United States Seal image courtesy of Wikipedia. Public Domain.