A healthier, happier life

When Drew Nadler, 10, was a kindergartner at Barnum Woods Elementary School, one of his classmates called him fat.

“I didn’t like it,” he said. “I wanted to change after that, so I did.”

After four years of making sure he ate healthy food and exercised, teachers, family and friends all recognized Drew’s hard work — even nominating him for an American Heart Association honor. For his personal journey and tireless fundraising for the charity, he was named one of two 2015 Lifestyle Change Award winners on Long Island.

Karen and Paul Nadler said that Drew’s fitness journey began after they took him to Dr. Andy Fassano, in Bellmore, for his annual physical in December 2011. They learned that their son, then 6, had gained 20 pounds for the second consecutive year, and weighed in at 93 pounds while standing just 48 inches tall.

The Nadlers asked Fassano if they should take their son to see a nutritionist. “We realized that we, as parents, needed to help him out more,” Paul said.

Fassano was ready to help Drew get healthier, and recommended that he carefully control his meal and snack portions. He weighed the boy every quarter for a year to monitor his progress.

At the same time, Drew was learning about the food pyramid in Teresa McTigue’s kindergarten class. His mother recalled cutting out pictures from Pathmark circulars with Drew to form the pyramid, and they talked about eating fresh, healthy foods.

Drew said that eating well became easier for him when he learned about MyPlate — the nutrition guide introduced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2011, depicting a place setting divided into five food groups — in his phys. ed. classes. While thinking about what he was told by his doctor and teachers, he began to look at food labels, eat more fruits and vegetables and take smaller portions.

It wasn’t always easy, Karen explained. “He would see all of his friends eating handfuls of cookies for a snack, but he knew he could only have one,” she said. But Drew added that, while he has been jealous of those friends in the past, he knows he’s making the right decisions.