Close to 100 Coupeville elementary children and parents recently decided to “get smarter” about their own health by attending at Wellness Fair put on by event chairs Andrea Capiola and Michele Renninger, RN.

Renninger, who is also manager of Whidbey General Hospital’s Life Center for Essential Wellness, used Petri dishes to demonstrate the spread and colonization of germs. One showed a fingerprint before washing, one after (with a lot more bugs!). She also performed the glitter handshake experiment. This demonstrated how far what is on your hands can go in a matter of minutes.

Also from WGH, there was Janie Keilwitz, RN, who explained sugar content in common foods such as soda, juice and yogurt. To demonstrate the effect of preservatives in fast food, she displayed a one-year-old Chicken McNugget still in perfect form.

Hospital Dietitian Erin Simms explained the various food groups and foods to include at their meals to meet their nutrient needs as growing, active children. Her display of food models helped to demonstrate appropriate portion sizes and cue kids into the current “portion distortion” of packaging and serving sizes often offered to them.

Maria Reyes from WGH’s Medical Ambulatory Care Oncology Clinic taught the kids how to play safely in the sun by providing sunscreen. The kids also decorated hats to wear out in the sun during the walk-a-thon.

Pat Strong, an occupational therapist from WGH’s Rehabilitation Services Department, had many interactive games to assess motor function and to provide parents with ideas to improve fine and gross motor activities in the home setting.

Hospital respiratory therapist and Tobacco Treatment Specialist Katherine Riddle had a lung display where kids could inflate a healthy lung and a “tobacco lung” to see how tobacco changes the way it looks, feels, and functions. She also had a “tar jar” which showed how much tar can be found in a lung from smoking, and Mr. Dip Lip which showed what smokeless tobacco does to tongue, teeth, and gums of a “dipper” of tobacco.

The hospital’s Emergency Medical Services Department brought the “boo-boo” truck (ambulance) and gave tours and safety tips.

Other organizations that participated included a Department of Health representative who showed how to make healthy trail mix snacks and provided Whidbey bike and trail maps. Rebecca Amens painted faces to get kids in the spirit of the event. There were also representatives from the Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue and Citizens on Patrol.

Many kids and especially parents asked lots of questions and commented that it was a fun way to learn how to be healthy.