Facebook Group Promotes Health

By COLlive Staff

Forget about Mayor Bloomberg banning large soft drinks. Jewish women across the globe are making small but instantly significant lifestyle changes and leading healthier lives.

A group of Jewish women who are conscious of the growing health concerns and risks that have become a major focus in this day and age, have formed a new Facebook group, “Healthy Homes for Jewish Families” to address current health issues.

Through the group’s Facebook page, Jewish women around the world can share their knowledge and inspire others to lead healthier lifestyles.

Malka Michla Perlow, a mother from Crown Heights, founded the group, which has nearly 300 members. Perlow says that for the health-conscious, “extremes are common, and finding a balance is a tremendous challenge.”

“Many parents don’t want to identify as the permissive ones who send their kids off to school with backpacks laden with multi-colored sweets,” Perlow told COLlive. “On the other hand, they don’t want to be one of those strict mothers, who forbid their children to eat nosh and white bread.”

Perlow founded the group after making a big change in her family’s eating habits.

“I wanted to do this for my kids, and I knew that my current lifestyle and food choices were potentially harmful for them,” she said. “This past Purim, I took the plunge and decided to eliminate Red 40 – a harmful food coloring – from my house.”

As she scrutinized labels, she says, she was shocked by the foods that contained it. “Tortilla chips and strawberry flavored yogurts? Marshmallows and barbecue chips? I felt immediately confident that I had made the right choice.”

Eager to make more changes, Perlow felt that a platform was needed for support for herself and others wishing to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Thus, inspired by the facebook group “Der Chassidisher Heim,” created and moderated by Mrs. Devorah Shor, “Healthy Homes for Jewish Families” was created.

The group is a haven for support and encouragement to all those who want to take steps towards a healthier life for their families, and many members are very knowledgeable in the mainstream healthier lifestyle. Whether due to simple curiosity or personal challenges, they have researched extensively and are happy to share their knowledge in a friendly, non-judgmental way.

The group is open to any woman, single or married, who wants to benefit from the wealth of information and support that it offers.

Some of the topics that have been discussed are food substitutions to make healthier meals, where to purchase or how to make chemical free beauty and cleaning products, tips and ideas on how to eliminate common coughs and colds, the advantages of flaxseed meal and probiotics, surprisingly affordable changes possible in a prohibitively expensive world, and healthy nosh ideas.

Incentives are offered to the members, with a monthly raffle held to encourage those who have taken on a healthy habit. Prizes range from jewelry to gift certificates for Apple Drugs on Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights.

This month, there will be more exciting events to take this group to a new level where members can better educate themselves about healthy lifestyles and food choices, Perlow says.

“The group is founded on the belief that achieving your goals to a healthier lifestyle can be the affect of one baby step at a time,” she says. “never taking on more than you feel comfortable with, or making changes before you are ready.”

Check out the group on facebook – Healthy Homes for Jewish Families.