By Julia Fairclough In its ongoing efforts to combat childhood obesity, the city will give all elementary school students a subscription to a new magazine that teaches how to eat healthy, and to have fun with cooking. "ChopChop: The Fun Cooking Magazine for Families" is a quarterly magazine created by Watertown cookbook author Sally Sampson. The publication will launch next week and is designed to help kids learn to cook, become nutritionally literate, and establish healthy eating habits. It will be distributed to all Somerville public elementary schools, free of charge as part of the Shape Up Somerville initiative.

Shape Up Somerville grew from a partnership with the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity. Since its inception seven years ago, the city has introduced policies and programs to increase access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity for all residents. Another integral part of the program entails getting rid of junk food in the schools and offering healthy alternatives.

"It's exciting to get a magazine like that in our schools because it reinforces our mission to offer good quality school meals," said Mary Jo McLarney, the food services director for Somerville's public schools.

ChopChop features nutritious, ethnically-diverse and inexpensive recipes for healthy meals and snacks, as well as games and tips to make healthier eating fun and easy for kids.

Content from the magazine will be incorporated into the school's food services program and nutrition classes, said Gretchen Kinder, the research and development coordinator for Somerville's public schools. For example, teachers will demonstrate how kids can prepare recipes with their families.

"We want students to use the magazine at home, since what they eat at school is just one part of this," Kinder said.

And already school officials are pleased with how much healthier Somerville's children are. Instead of serving sweets, kids consume only low-fat milk, juice, or water, with low-fat ice cream added twice a week. Potatoes, baked fries or wedges, are offered only once a week. Salads and fresh fruits and a "vegetable of the month" are staples.

A big challenge has been adding whole grains to the menu, McLarney said. The menu now features pizza with a whole grain crust and sandwiches on whole grain bread.

"We want to expose children to healthy foods, which over time they will incorporate into their diets," McLarney said. "We have seen a lot of that over the past seven years."

And the process has paid off. Somerville's schools have received numerous awards from the US Department of Agriculture over the past few years. First Lady Michelle Obama in February invited Mayor Joseph Curtatone to the White House to talk about the success of Shape up Somerville.

Kinder said that the city's health surveys have shown that children are exercising more. More than ever before, students are eating school meals. Food services only buys local produce.

Sampson agreed that the partnership is ideal. As the mother of a child with a chronic illness, she has had to pay strict attention to proper nutrition for her family. That led to her desire to help address childhood obesity by creating a magazine where children could have fun cooking healthy meals. She also wanted to re-energize the lost art of cooking. All too often today people reach for convenient, yet unhealthy, fast foods.

"Statistics show that kids who cook have a wider palette, and it also bonds them with their caregivers," she said. "Cooking helps with math skills, reading…It's fun, experimental, and messy."

Visit www.chopchopmagazine.com for more information.