Gracie Rice is worried about her grandson.

It’s not as safe to let children run around with their friends as it used to be, the Bowling Green woman said, so her grandson doesn’t get the type of exercise that children got years ago.

“He stays in the house a lot. It’s causing him to gain weight,” she said. “We have many children who are overweight in the black community.”

Rice decided to attend the Family Teaching Kitchen at Parker-Bennett-Curry Elementary School. The event is part of Light of Chance’s Get Set Go Wellness Program, which encourages children in kindergarten through eighth grade to become more active and healthy through nutrition and physical activity. Thursday’s event, which was geared toward families, was presented by Light of Chance and Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana.

“We’re trying to show them healthier ways of eating. We want to get the parents involved,” said Eric Logan, executive director of Light of Chance. “Hopefully, this will be a healthy start. We’re trying to do it on a quarterly basis. Chef David (Owens) has agreed to be the chef for this program.”

Owens does catering services, restaurant consulting, school consultations and cooking demonstrations, and is the author of the children’s cookbook “Brocklee and the Little Chef.”

“It educates and motivates kids on how to eat healthy. Fruits and vegetables fill the body and brain with nutrition,” he said. “It’s almost like pulling teeth to get them to eat right. We have to train the children by letting them see us eating healthy.”

Healthy eating is about more than obesity, Owens said. Some people are what he calls “skinny fat.”

“They eat fast food all day and don’t know they have a problem,” he said. “Their insides are like folks who are overweight. They have heart attacks later in life.”

Owens knows about being overweight. He once tipped the scales at 355, but has since lost 145 pounds by changing how and what he eats and by exercising.

“Over the course of a year, I started organizing my animals, quit eating fake food and stopped eating mystery food,” he said.

Many people eat meat three or four times a day, which is too much, Owens said. The animals that people eat don’t usually eat the same things or live together, and the body doesn’t digest them the same way.

“The only time they meet is right here,” he said, pointing to his stomach.

So he has days during the week that he eats one type of meat or no meat at all to aid in digestion.

“I can tell my best days are when I eat fish,” he said. “I spend two days not eating meat at all. I let my body rest.”

He doesn’t deprive himself of dessert, such as a doughnut, if he really wants it.

“I have to have it but I have to half it, and I eat a lot of fruit with it,” he said. “I’m not starving because I’m eating in moderation and in rotation.”

This means he practices portion control. He talked to participants about making correct portions of cereal by pouring the whole box in a mixing bowl, using sandwich bags and putting one portion in each bag, and putting the portioned bags back in the box. When people eat cereal, they take out one bag for one portion.

“We have to watch the way we eat cereal. We’re eating too much in a bowl,” he said. “The commercials say that cereal is part of a nutritious breakfast. The problem is that we don’t know how to eat in moderation.”

It is better to eat small meals and snacks such as nuts, popcorn and pretzels instead of eating huge meals, Owens said. “Starvation is not a way to make you lose weight,” he said. “You have to portion everything on your plate.”

Owens said he likes to know what’s in his food and doesn’t eat much fast food, such as chicken sandwiches.

Eating health food doesn’t have to be expensive, Owens said. People can do fine by eating regular fruits and vegetables.

“It’s a myth that eating healthy costs more,” he said. “Organic fruit is fine, but it’s overpriced in some situations. Sometimes they label something organic that’s not organic.”

Owens suggested people eat fresh pineapples four times a week because it helps break down food. Spinach is a colon protector, and broccoli is a superfood because it has a lot of nutrients. He demonstrated how to make a tasty, healthy broccoli slaw using fresh ingredients, including broccoli, pineapple, red onion, cilantro and coleslaw dressing.

“Don’t throw away the (broccoli) stem. It’s where all the nutrients are. It’s broccoli gold,” he said as he shredded the broccoli in a bowl. “You can use the base of broccoli to make broccoli soup or put it in salad.”

He showed the audience how to properly cut oranges, apples and onions.

“When you cut an onion, cut it in half and place it face down,” he said of how to have a tear-free experience with onions. “Trim it. Cut into your onion. Go around the little ridges. What this is allowing you to do is cut your onion with good composure.”

Owens also suggested sprinkling juice from a fresh orange on sliced apples to keep them from browning. On Thursday, he served the apples with a bit of lemon pepper sprinkled on them.

“You can leave it in the refrigerator for a couple of days, and it will not turn,” he said. “It will be crisp, and it will be sweet.”

Lavette Dice of Bowling Green brought her daughter, London, 7, and her son, Gavin, 4, to the event. She said she enjoyed watching Owens make the broccoli coleslaw.

“I would never have thought of putting broccoli, onion and pineapple together or eating pineapples four times a week,” she said. “I really enjoyed myself. I’ll be coming to the next one they have.”

Her children like to cook, Dice said.

“I like to make pizza,” Gavin said.

“Sometimes I cook food for my brother,” London added.

Rice said the discussion about fresh food being healthier wasn’t new for her. Although various members of her family like fast food, she prefers fresh food.

“I eat real food. I like real food. Since we didn’t have options when I was growing up, we had to eat it,” she said. “We ate from the garden, so my palate knows all about fresh food.”

Still, she learned many tips that can help her and her family.

“What he shared about broccoli and pineapple is fantastic,” she said.

– Written By Alyssa Harvey, The Daily News, aharvey [at] bgdailynews [dot] com