 Obesity is a problem for both children and seniors. The Southern Maine Agency on Aging has a new program designed to help both groups make better food choices. Brian Knoblock spoke with Sharon Schulberger, the coordinator for program services about catch healthy habits. Sharon, tell me about catch healthy habits. Catch healthy habits is a new program here in Maine. The first one started in January of this year. It's a program from OASIS, which is a national not-for-profit organization to better the life for people 50 and over. Through OASIS we received a grant that's funded by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Catch Healthy Habits itself is a program where volunteers 50 and over serve a healthy snack to the children. We teach them a short nutrition lesson and then we have some physical activities with them. We know that the rate of obesity has tripled among children in the last 30 years. We know that it's also doubled among seniors. We want to address the issue of obesity in young children now while they still are not obese. We know that they're much more likely to have diseases such as hypertension, arthritis, heart disease, and diabetes even at a very young age. So the point is to help children now and hopefully get them to develop healthy habits for the rest of their life, is that right? Definitely, a healthy lifestyle. For the volunteers who work in the program, what kind of support do they get? What kind of training do they get? We do have a two half a day training that they receive and then we have a curriculum that's very well spelled out. All of the different steps they need to take for the program. Judy Martin is a Catch Healthy Habits volunteer. Judy, tell me what goes on here in the classroom during the Catch Healthy Habits sessions. The Catch Healthy Habits sessions are divided into three components. We begin with a healthy snack that we prepare and let the children help prepare themselves. Every week it's a different snack all with kind of cute names so that they will remember it today. As a matter of fact we're having what we call a stellar sundae which consists of yogurt, graham crackers, and bananas. Some days we try to get fruits and vegetables together. We have what's called ants on a log which are celery with cream cheese and raisins. Different things like that and they all have different kind of catchy names. That's the first part of the program. The second part will be a little educational component where we tell the kids about different nutritional things that are good, bad, and indifferent. What we call them go foods, woe foods, and slow foods. And we kind of explain the difference between those three components. And then the last part of the session is a 30 minute activity. We'll do different physical activities which can include basketball, working with hula hoops, team sports, team games. There's quite an age difference between the children and the volunteers. Do the children listen? Do they, do they, you're acting as a mentor to them. Do they sort of appreciate your experience and advice? I have had no problems at all. I think they're wonderful. They tend to, I don't know if it's the gray hair or whatever, but absolutely they do. We participate with them too, so I think it gives them an opportunity to see that people with gray hair can get out and play a basketball or do a hula hoop or whatever. But absolutely they do listen. They're very attentive and they're very eager to learn. It's been a great experience. And what's the benefit that you've gotten out of it? Well, it's interacting with younger children, which I don't always have an opportunity to do. It's kept me engaged. I do like to participate in the whole program and I've also learned quite a bit myself from them. It's amazing how they're like little sponges and they do learn and they really give back to you and you learn from them too. And Sharon, if people are interested in volunteering for the program or getting more information, where do they go? Well, if they want to get more information, they can go to www.catchhealthyhabits.org for just some general information about the program. They can also go to ASISnet.org to learn more about ASIS. Right here in Maine, they can call me at 396-6523 or email me at smaw.org, which is SMAAA at SMAAA.org. We need all kinds of volunteers, not only ones to be of direct service to the children with preparing the snacks and the lessons. We also are looking for volunteers who can help us in some of the back office kinds of things like marketing, evaluation and things like that.