ODS. Healthcare from your head to your toes.

Working with We Can! to make our children healthier

ODS is proud to partner with We Can!™ (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition), a national movement designed to give parents, caregivers and entire communities a way to help children ages 8 to 13 stay at a healthy weight through improved food choices, increased physical activity and reduced screen time. Created by the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s medical research agency, We Can! provides families and communities with science-based educational materials and curricula to prevent children from becoming overweight and obese.

Why work with We Can!?
ODS is committed to helping people get and stay healthy — and healthy behaviors established early in life can have lasting positive effects. ODS chose to partner with the National Institutes of Health’s We Can! program because it is unique among existing youth obesity-prevention initiatives in its focus on reaching parents, families and caregivers as a primary group for influencing young people.

We Can! resources

We Can! fact sheet. This two-page overview of the program includes background information, materials and resources, as well as tips on how to get involved with the program.
We Can! brochure. This informative brochure provides basic information about the program and how families can take action to improve their health by maintaining a healthy weight.
Go, slow and whoa foods. This tip sheet explains the difference between these foods. Go foods are foods you can eat almost anytime. Slow foods are foods you should only eat sometimes, and whoa foods are foods you should avoid or only eat for special occasions.
U R what U eat. This kid-friendly, easy-to-read chart will help children understand go, slow and whoa foods.
Parent tips: healthier eating while saving money. This resource helps parents choose healthier foods when shopping and save money at the same time.
Food comparison chart. This chart shows how healthier choices can save both calories and money.
Parent tips: making healthier food choices. This resource provides an overview of go, slow and whoa foods, healthy food substitutions and portion size.
Cooking with children. This tip sheet offers suggestions for how children can help in the kitchen. Cooking with your kids is a good way to help them develop healthy eating habits.
Snacks — 100 calories or less. These tasty and easy snacks can satisfy your hunger between meals. They fit right into a healthy eating plan and each has 100 or fewer calories.
Physicians’ role in preventing overweight and obese children. This tip sheet provides an overview of We Can!, as well as tips on how health professionals can become involved in the program.
Ninth Inning Nutrition This baseball themed game pitches health and nutrition related questions to the user. Answer the questions correctly and the user will advance through the game, answer the questions in correctly and the user will strike out.
Rocket Fork and Plate This interactive space game has the user build an ideal healthy plate by hitting the foods of their choice with a fork shaped rocket. When the food is selected it appears on the plate. When the plate is filled it will provide feedback on the choices and ask the user to select another food item if the plate is not filled with a balanced meal.
Meet the Fats These animated interactive fat characters describe how they affect the human body. The brothers, Sat and Trans, defend why they taste good but explain why they are not good for the body. The sisters, Poly and Mon, show why they are the healthier choice
Fueled for Fun This animated game requires the user to select nutrient rich foods so the game’s characters can run fast. The healthier the choice, the faster the characters run.