The Fall River Children In Balance (CIB) program that is replicating the Shape Up Somerville childhood obesity prevention project held its eighth "Farmers' Market" event at the Fonseca Elementary School on May 20, 2010. The event featured fresh produce and a chance for parents and children to learn to prepare healthy dishes using fruits and vegetables. Parents and children were also invited to dance to the tune of the song "Y.M.C.A." in the gymnasium and to attend a community marketplace with displays by a dozen local agencies. Ten families also received two free bags full of healthy food in a door prize drawing. Click here to see the  video of the event. Click to see photos of similar events at the Doran Elementary School, the Greene Elementary School, the Letourneau Elementary School, the Silvia Elementary School, the Tansey Elementary School, the Viveiros Elementary School and the Watson Elementary School. The Children In Balance project promotes Healthy Activity Active Time (HEAT) Clubs that are are run in twelve after-school programs.  For further information about the project, contact Project Manager Marcia Picard at 508-324-2228.

(Top row, left and center) Children In Balance project director Marcia Picard talks with Administrative Apprentice Dan Mulvey and Principal Carrie Glenn before welcoming nearly two hundred children and parents to the event. (Top row, right) Carla Morris and Caree Smith talk with Mass In Motion Coordinator Julie Kelly about a proposed new walking path around Cook Pond in the Community Marketplace room where they visited resource tables from Fall River organizations. (Middle row, left and right) Diabetes Association Director Michael Ramos and his wife, Suzanne, lead Erika Andrade, Sarah Coelho and Kayleen Santiago in twenty minutes of active dance moves during the fitness portion of the event. (Middle row, center) Jessica Iamele and her son, Christopher, check out the fresh fruit offered by Maria and Anthony Coutinho of Coutinho Orchards in Berkley, MA. (Bottom row, left and right) Jose Santiago and his son, Kenneth, pay close attention as University of Massachusetts Extension Nutrition Education Program nutrition educator Lindsay Magan demonstrates an easy way to cut a red pepper for a stir-fry dish as educators Allie Lawlor and Lauren Coll look on. (Bottom row, center) Nutrition educators Jessica Turner and Lindsay Magan pose questions to students who have been participating in the school's HEAT Club activities.