Karlene Keogh Parks said she’s running for Phoenix City Council in part because she’s tired of seeing city employees treated badly by City Councilman Sal DiCiccio.

Dillie Nerios is a Florida food stamp recruiter. Her job is to sign up 150 seniors monthly in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

In the United States the average kid (age 8-18) spends 7.5 hours a day in front of a screen or on the phone. To counter sedentary living patterns, national physical activity guidelines for youth have been developed. The guidelines call for at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day for children and teens. The guidelines are based on the amount of physical activity necessary to promote good fitness, health, and wellness. Only 29 percent of high school students meet the 60-minute daily guideline and 14 percent don’t do any physical activity that causes them to breathe hard or that increases heart rate on any day during the week.

• The Logistics Group
• DPR Realty, LLC
• Impact Fitness AZ
• BASIS Schools Ahwatukee
• Lemme Eat Gluten Free
• Rainbow Sno
• Phoenix Premium Outlets
• Matthew Lopez Law, PLLC
• House Spouse
• CruiseOne

The best-tasting veggie burger I’ve ever met is falafel. A product of the Middle East, falafel are deep-fried fritters made from ground chickpeas or fava beans that are tucked into pita pockets and drizzled with tahini. They are delicious, hearty, inexpensive and relatively healthy.

Despite the bad rap that saturated fats have, there’s a lot of evidence indicating that saturated fat is essentially good for you. The real harmful and unhealthy fats include trans fats, hydrogenated fats and vegetable oils.

If your goal is to lose weight, look and feel your best and live a healthy, vibrant life, be aware of the damaging additives and synthetic chemicals in the foods you buy and eat. Seventy-five percent of the average American diet is from processed and packaged foods, which equates to approximately 10 pounds of additives eaten annually.

Nearing his 30-year mark of practice in the East Valley, with 20 of those years in Ahwatukee, Dr. Pete Pinto remembers the moment he knew he wanted to help others with natural and holistic health care.

Food trucks have been popular for some time now in the Valley, but on April 13 a new class of diner will get to partake of the trend.

According to the Government Accountability Office, the federal government operates 50 different programs for the homeless. There are 23 programs in housing, 26 for food and nutrition, 130 for at-risk youth. They also operate an astounding 342 programs for economic development, which government is notoriously bad at anyway.

After graduating a group of 10 new instructors in February to teach Christ-centered yoga, The Center for Living Well is starting another round next week.

Pressure cookers never really did much for me. They seemed fussy — and scary! All those stories about explosions...

The Ahwatukee Health and Fitness Fair will be hosted on April 6 at South Mountain Nutrition.

Eating right and healthy, and happy living are all a matter of mindful thinking, said local mindful eating expert and author Dr. Michelle May.

From the moment chocolate was discovered it was considered a valuable, divine and decadent treat. The first chocolate candies were invented in the 1860s by Cadbury, who was also the first to market them in a heart-shaped box for Valentine’s Day that same decade.

There is just something about roasted chicken that comforts, nourishes and satisfies like nothing else, especially when the wind is howling and it is cold outside.

If the number of failed New Year’s resolutions are any indication, eating healthy in a fast-paced world still isn’t all that easy.

How many times has this “Medical Advice” column reported a change in prevailing medical recommendations? Here we go again. Humpty Dumpty could certainly identify with the angst a humble egg currently has to deal with. Talk about self-esteem issues. For years, eggs have been slashed from “healthy” diets because they were considered too loaded with fat and, therefore, a leading contributor to heart disease. The general recommendation was no more than two eggs per week. Even yours truly ascribed to that theory and personally was responsible for instructing her patients in that direction.

When Jay Mesinger heard about a study seeking Golden Retrievers to help fight canine cancer, he immediately signed up 2-year-old Louie.

In a previous column I discussed the PACER, a test of cardiovascular fitness that is part of the national youth physical fitness test battery (FITNESSGRAM). FITNESSGRAM, was developed at the Cooper Institute in Dallas and is now offered as a cooperative program with the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition (PCFSN) and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD). In addition to assessing cardiovascular fitness, the FITNESSGRAM Test Battery includes tests of muscle fitness, flexibility, and body composition.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the No. 1 cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. The top risk factors, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, diabetes and obesity are poorly treated, often with toxic pharmaceutical drugs, and most patients never reach their goals. There are also more than 400 coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors and mediators now proven.

Brigit is a “senior girl” and a very outgoing and loving cat. Due to poor nutrition in her life, all of her teeth had to be extracted. Brigit has recovered and is doing really well with soft food and gumming dry food. She has long, soft fur that needs regular combing. Her fuzzy feet hide her toenails, which also need regular trimming.

The day of the big game calls for big, stick-to-your-ribs grub.

Super Bowl Sunday surely is one of the meatiest eating days of the year. But it’s still somewhat surprising the lengths some people will go to push their game day feed over the top. Last year, for example, some enthusiastic carnivores went as far as to build football arena replicas out of deli meats, cheese and bread.

You can call it a peppercorn all you like, but the peppery ingredient that puts the buzz in Sichuan-style cooking actually isn’t one.