Inuvik (May 03/04) - Knowing healthy and eating healthy are two different things. While most kids seem to understand what nutritious food is, they aren't always eating it.

"Parents are role models for their children," says Crystal Karakochuck, a Canadian Pre-Natal Program nutritionist based out of Inuvik Regional Hospital.

"What's available in the fridge is what (the kids) will eat."

And that's where Karakochuck and regional nutritionist Kirsten Farago can help, by teaching parents how to stock their refrigerators with healthy food.

"We're here to help give reliable information," says Farago.

Karakochuck focuses entirely on pre-natal and post-natal nutrition for mothers and babies up to one year old. Most of her work is done through Healthy Babies programs offered in communities throughout the Beaufort Delta region.

Through the Canadian Prenatal Program, Karakochuck and her support staff teach mothers how to cook healthy meals to keep their bodies healthy through the pregnancy.

Prevention is key!

Farago picks up where Karakochuck leaves off, teaching school-aged children and adults.

She helps an average of 30 clients a month, educating them and developing diets tailored to their health goals or medical needs.

She goes to schools to educate kids about diseases like diabetes, basic nutrition principles and where to find hidden fats and sugars in their food.

"Diabetes and heart disease are preventable and don't have to be growing in the epidemic proportions they are," says Farago.

"(Teens) can make their own choices so it's the perfect time to help them."

Kids seem to understand

All Beaufort Delta schools now have a no junk food policy in place. So lunches and snacks have to contain only healthy foods.

Vegetables were the first answer most kids came up with when asked what they thought were nutritious foods.

"Kids understand, but they're always shocked when I show them the fat and sugar in a pop," says Farago.

Nearly half of the contents of a can of pop is sugar.

"They soak in all the information you give them. If I can prevent them from becoming one of my clinical patients then that's great."

Students seem to have adjusted to the new rules.

"It's good because it helps us in sports," says Robin MacWatt, a 12-year-old from Sir Alexander Mackenzie school in Inuvik.

MacWatt says she never brings junk food into the school, but admits she sometimes misses having it around.

Most Northern kids are more active than southern kids, says Farago. She says they get involved with a lot of sports and are often out on the land.

"You can eat well, but you also need to be able to use it and burn it off," Farago says.