EXTRA HELPINGS

‘Portion Size Me' tween dishes with locals

Marshall Reid, a 12-year-old who was bullied two years ago because of his weight, managed to slim down and has since written a book about his experience, titled “Portion Size Me.” Marshall gave tips to other youngsters this week in Marion County about healthy eating.

Published: Thursday, November 1, 2012 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 11:50 a.m.

Who says one kid can't change the world? Anyone who does so has never met Marshall Reid.

This 12-year-old from North Carolina is on a mission to change the world — one kid at a time.

So far, he's co-written a book, been on television a dozen times and schmoozed with Barack and Michelle Obama.

And that's just the first two years.

Marshall's message is simple: Kids CAN take control of their weight and what they eat.

Two years ago “when I was in fifth grade, I was being bullied,” he says, citing his weight. “I got mad and went to my mom and said, ‘I've got to do something.'

“I decided to change, to do the opposite of what the guy did in that ‘Super Size Me' movie. I did a portion-size me and ate only healthy food for 31 days.”

He lost 17 pounds that month. And two years later he's dropped six BMI (Body Mass Index) points, out of the “obese” category.

“I'm still in the overweight category, but I'm working on it,” he says.

Essentially, there are six steps — or goals — he and his mother, Alex Reid, outline in “Portion Size Me: A Kid-Driven Plan to a Healthier Family:” Eat as many real foods as possible. Read ingredients. Pause before you eat. Get moving. Help out in the kitchen. Watch portion sizes.

Marshall dedicates the book “to kids who have been put in my situation and have been bullied to the point of embarrassment and disbelief in themselves. I have done this ... to encourage you to stand up and be confident in yourself. It's OK to be happy; you're allowed.”

Marshall, his mother and his sister, Jordan, were in Ocala last week, courtesy of the Marion County Children's Alliance Nutrition Workgroup.

As part of Red Ribbon Week activities, they made stops at Marion Oaks Elementary School, Howard Middle School and the Boys & Girls Club.

He presents his message in a tasty way: a competition he calls Snack Wars. Four youngsters are drafted from the group and presented with an array of foods typically found in the kitchen ranging from fresh broccoli to potato chips.

They are given 12 minutes to create a healthy snack from the larder.

“Who likes to eat?” he asks students during the Boys & Girls Club stop. “Well, this is something where you get to have fun and then you get to eat what you make.”

“This has been an amazing transformation for the whole family,” she says.

Her eyes tear slightly when she recalls that she made baby food for her two children; “somehow I became a convenience food parent,” she says.

Jordan, 15, also is proud of her younger brother.

“I'm very happy he was able to set a goal for himself and make it happen,” she says.

Jordan, too, has a project, mom says: an Internet game in which kids win fruit and vegetable seeds for planting at their schools to grow their own produce.

Anything to help.

Childhood obesity, says Brianna Liles, a nutritionist who chairs the Nutrition Workgroup, is about the same rate in Marion County as it is nationally, about 67 percent of kids are either overweight or obese.

The Portion Size Me tour was the kick off for the Childhood Alliance's annual Get Fit recipe contest, where Marion County students are encouraged to develop healthy recipes that are compiled into a book for distribution in schools. Rules for the recipes will be distributed in schools later this year, and will be judged in February with winners announced during National Nutrition Week in March.

Moreover, Liles adds, Marshall's visit helps serve two goals of the Childhood Alliance this year: healthy nutrition and anti-bullying. She loves that he talked to local students as peers, telling them “that anybody can get into the kitchen and create healthy things to eat.”

“It's all about learning,” Alex notes. “We're learning every day to make changes, long-term changes.”

Back home, Marshall is on his school district's health committee as a seventh-grader, Alex says. He recently suggested schools move flavored milks from the start of the lunch line to the end of it. As a result, more students are selecting white milk, she adds.

<p>Who says one kid can't change the world? Anyone who does so has never met Marshall Reid.</p><p>This 12-year-old from North Carolina is on a mission to change the world — one kid at a time.</p><p>So far, he's co-written a book, been on television a dozen times and schmoozed with Barack and Michelle Obama.</p><p>And that's just the first two years.</p><p>Marshall's message is simple: Kids CAN take control of their weight and what they eat.</p><p>Two years ago “when I was in fifth grade, I was being bullied,” he says, citing his weight. “I got mad and went to my mom and said, 'I've got to do something.' </p><p>“I decided to change, to do the opposite of what the guy did in that 'Super Size Me' movie. I did a portion-size me and ate only healthy food for 31 days.”</p><p>He lost 17 pounds that month. And two years later he's dropped six BMI (Body Mass Index) points, out of the “obese” category.</p><p>“I'm still in the overweight category, but I'm working on it,” he says.</p><p>Essentially, there are six steps — or goals — he and his mother, Alex Reid, outline in “Portion Size Me: A Kid-Driven Plan to a Healthier Family:” Eat as many real foods as possible. Read ingredients. Pause before you eat. Get moving. Help out in the kitchen. Watch portion sizes.</p><p>Marshall dedicates the book “to kids who have been put in my situation and have been bullied to the point of embarrassment and disbelief in themselves. I have done this ... to encourage you to stand up and be confident in yourself. It's OK to be happy; you're allowed.”</p><p>Marshall, his mother and his sister, Jordan, were in Ocala last week, courtesy of the Marion County Children's Alliance Nutrition Workgroup.</p><p>As part of Red Ribbon Week activities, they made stops at Marion Oaks Elementary School, Howard Middle School and the Boys & Girls Club.</p><p>He presents his message in a tasty way: a competition he calls Snack Wars. Four youngsters are drafted from the group and presented with an array of foods typically found in the kitchen ranging from fresh broccoli to potato chips.</p><p>They are given 12 minutes to create a healthy snack from the larder.</p><p>“Who likes to eat?” he asks students during the Boys & Girls Club stop. “Well, this is something where you get to have fun and then you get to eat what you make.”</p><p>The four competitors begin grabbing bread, peanut butter, grape jelly, Goldfish, raisins, sliced turkey, apple sauce. Oddly, the broccoli is untouched. Minutes later, Henzay Johnson, 13, is declared winner for his banana-salad-PB&J crackers snack.</p><p>Lonnie Bennette, 12, put together a fruit salad.</p><p>“It just came to me,” he says later. “I like to eat fruit salad.” </p><p>Alex Reid takes pride in her son.</p><p>“This has been an amazing transformation for the whole family,” she says.</p><p>Her eyes tear slightly when she recalls that she made baby food for her two children; “somehow I became a convenience food parent,” she says.</p><p>Jordan, 15, also is proud of her younger brother.</p><p>“I'm very happy he was able to set a goal for himself and make it happen,” she says.</p><p>Jordan, too, has a project, mom says: an Internet game in which kids win fruit and vegetable seeds for planting at their schools to grow their own produce.</p><p>Anything to help.</p><p>Childhood obesity, says Brianna Liles, a nutritionist who chairs the Nutrition Workgroup, is about the same rate in Marion County as it is nationally, about 67 percent of kids are either overweight or obese.</p><p>The Portion Size Me tour was the kick off for the Childhood Alliance's annual Get Fit recipe contest, where Marion County students are encouraged to develop healthy recipes that are compiled into a book for distribution in schools. Rules for the recipes will be distributed in schools later this year, and will be judged in February with winners announced during National Nutrition Week in March.</p><p>Moreover, Liles adds, Marshall's visit helps serve two goals of the Childhood Alliance this year: healthy nutrition and anti-bullying. She loves that he talked to local students as peers, telling them “that anybody can get into the kitchen and create healthy things to eat.”</p><p>“It's all about learning,” Alex notes. “We're learning every day to make changes, long-term changes.”</p><p>Back home, Marshall is on his school district's health committee as a seventh-grader, Alex says. He recently suggested schools move flavored milks from the start of the lunch line to the end of it. As a result, more students are selecting white milk, she adds.</p><p>“This,” his mother says, “is what he does.”</p><p><i>Contact Rick Allen at rick.allen@starbanner.com.</i></p>