ZisBoomBah.com 'App' Encouraging Kids to 'Play With Food' Recognized by Michelle Obama as Winning Tool in Fight Against Childhood Obesity
Poster: SySAdmin
Posted on October 13, 2010 at 3:00:01 PM
ZisBoomBah.com 'App' Encouraging Kids to 'Play With Food' Recognized by Michelle Obama as Winning Tool in Fight Against Childhood Obesity
BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- A purple ant named Zis is hoping to make a mark on the dinner plates of children nationwide, and First Lady Michelle Obama has added her endorsement.
Zis is one of three ant characters featured at the website ZisBoomBah.com, an online community featuring interactive tools to educate children on smart food choices. The free application--called Pick Chow!--has been named the grand prize winner in the First Lady's national Apps for Healthy Kids competition.
Pick Chow! encourages kids to create healthy meals by dragging and dropping foods onto a virtual plate. The "Add it Up!" meters show the nutritional values in a fun and easy way and rates each meal with one to five stars - a feature that helps children learn quickly how their choices make a difference in creating a well-balanced meal. The application can generate an email to parents who receive a recipe, shopping list and coupons that make the meal a reality.
ZisBoomBah.com is the brainchild of Karen Laszlo a serial entrepreneur. Laszlo began developing the idea for Pick Chow! in 2008 with her brother and co-founder Mike Carcaise, a former restaurateur. With the help of a panel of nutritionists, marketers and web developers, the Company launched its test site in October 2009 and its award-winning website in March 2010.
"We understand the role education plays in childhood obesity," said Laszlo. "A healthy dose of fun goes a long way with grade school children when learning about food. We were confident that we were on the right track, and to have the First Lady validate our idea is inspiring to say the least."
Laszlo and her ZisBoomBah team plan to use the grant money from the competition to visit more than 20 major U.S. cities with a Pick Chow! Across America tour; a series of events featuring celebrity guests, panel discussions, cooking challenges where kids are the judges, and the trio of ants that make nutrition education fun.
ZisBoomBah competed against nearly 100 technology innovators from across the nation in the Apps for Healthy Kids competition. ZisBoomBah's Pick Chow! application was chosen based on a number of benchmarks including content of message, originality and potential to engage and motivate the target audience.
About ZisBoomBah
ZisBoomBah is a healthy lifestyle company focused on promoting nutrition education and healthy living for kids and their parents through innovative technology applications or "apps." Based in Boulder, Colo., ZisBoomBah is the creator of the "Pick Chow!" web tool to help make food fun for kids. The Company is partnering with national food and lifestyle brands on tours and experiential events to entertain and educate children and families across the United States and Canada.
To learn more, visit http://www.zisboombah.com.
About Apps for Healthy Kids Competition
For more information, visit http://www.LetsMove.gov.
SOURCE ZisBoomBah
ZisBoomBah
CONTACT: Karen Laszlo, ZisBoomBah.com, +1-303-520-3744, karen@zisboombah.com, or Mike Carcaise, +1-954-873-1356, mike@zisboombah.com
Web Site: http://www.zisboombah.com
BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- A purple ant named Zis is hoping to make a mark on the dinner plates of children nationwide, and First Lady Michelle Obama has added her endorsement.
Zis is one of three ant characters featured at the website ZisBoomBah.com, an online community featuring interactive tools to educate children on smart food choices. The free application--called Pick Chow!--has been named the grand prize winner in the First Lady's national Apps for Healthy Kids competition.
Pick Chow! encourages kids to create healthy meals by dragging and dropping foods onto a virtual plate. The "Add it Up!" meters show the nutritional values in a fun and easy way and rates each meal with one to five stars - a feature that helps children learn quickly how their choices make a difference in creating a well-balanced meal. The application can generate an email to parents who receive a recipe, shopping list and coupons that make the meal a reality.
ZisBoomBah.com is the brainchild of Karen Laszlo a serial entrepreneur. Laszlo began developing the idea for Pick Chow! in 2008 with her brother and co-founder Mike Carcaise, a former restaurateur. With the help of a panel of nutritionists, marketers and web developers, the Company launched its test site in October 2009 and its award-winning website in March 2010.
"We understand the role education plays in childhood obesity," said Laszlo. "A healthy dose of fun goes a long way with grade school children when learning about food. We were confident that we were on the right track, and to have the First Lady validate our idea is inspiring to say the least."
Laszlo and her ZisBoomBah team plan to use the grant money from the competition to visit more than 20 major U.S. cities with a Pick Chow! Across America tour; a series of events featuring celebrity guests, panel discussions, cooking challenges where kids are the judges, and the trio of ants that make nutrition education fun.
ZisBoomBah competed against nearly 100 technology innovators from across the nation in the Apps for Healthy Kids competition. ZisBoomBah's Pick Chow! application was chosen based on a number of benchmarks including content of message, originality and potential to engage and motivate the target audience.
About ZisBoomBah
ZisBoomBah is a healthy lifestyle company focused on promoting nutrition education and healthy living for kids and their parents through innovative technology applications or "apps." Based in Boulder, Colo., ZisBoomBah is the creator of the "Pick Chow!" web tool to help make food fun for kids. The Company is partnering with national food and lifestyle brands on tours and experiential events to entertain and educate children and families across the United States and Canada.
To learn more, visit http://www.zisboombah.com.
About Apps for Healthy Kids Competition
For more information, visit http://www.LetsMove.gov.
SOURCE ZisBoomBah
ZisBoomBah
CONTACT: Karen Laszlo, ZisBoomBah.com, +1-303-520-3744, karen@zisboombah.com, or Mike Carcaise, +1-954-873-1356, mike@zisboombah.com
Web Site: http://www.zisboombah.com