NORMAL - Eating healthy has become natural for the Alton and Kristal Shelvin family of Normal. | Photo gallery

Daughter Malika Shelvin, a third-grader at Parkside Elementary School, has started asking for spinach and other vegetables when she orders a sandwich. She's also helping keep the rest of the family, which includes her younger sister, Naya, on the healthy eating track.

"The other day we were going out to get something to eat, and Malika said, 'It has to be healthy,' " Kristal Shelvin said. "When we go out to eat, we decide where we can go to add a vegetable to what we're eating."

Similar healthy choices are happening among the fifth-graders in Leisa Barbour's Colene Hoose Elementary School class.

"I've been cutting down on pop," Miranda Pedigo said. "I don't taste it as much, and I feel better."

Ashley Genung said she used to go home after school and watch television, but now that she's eating healthier, she has energy to go outside and play.

The 28 fifth-graders and the Shelvin family agreed to take part in The Pantagraph's Fit Kids fitness challenge from January through May. They have tried to eat healthier and stay more active. Their progress has been chronicled in periodic stories in The Pantagraph and on www.pantagraph.com/fitkids. Kristal Shelvin also has shared her family's progress through a blog on the Fit Kids Web site.

This is the final story.

Fit Kids, The Pantagraph's initiative dedicated to identifying and highlighting common-sense approaches to preventing childhood obesity and developing healthier lifestyles for kids and their parents, will continue through fall.

"We don't eat perfectly every day, but we try," Kristal Shelvin said. "We're well on our way. We are much more conscientious about it."

Shelvin initiated the family's participation in the Fit Kids challenge saying, "It's an interesting way to force us to do family fitness activities."

Her family has a history of hypertension, and nearly all of her relatives are overweight. Her husband is fighting the cholesterol battle but has always loved fried chicken and french fries.

Now, he's trying alternatives.

"I'm using an oven bake coating on the chicken," he said. That way, it has the crunch of fried. Instead of french fries, he puts seasoning and olive oil on potatoes and bakes them in the oven.

"I fried some chicken the other day, and it smelled up the whole house," he said. "I prefer healthy foods now."

He's also trying to be sure to get in daily exercise like running or playing basketball with his friends. Kristal continues with her exercise class, and now that it's warmer outside, the family is taking more walks.

Kristal said the key for keeping on track is writing things down: setting specific times for exercise; writing a meal plan; and making a grocery list that not only includes what the family needs for meals, but also for snacks.

"I went to a healthy eating class and they suggested pre-planning snacks," she said. "You divvy them up by serving size."

The preplanning helps the Shelvins spend less money and stops them from buying nonhealthy foods.

"I think it's a habit for us now," Kristal Shelvin said.

Meanwhile, many of the students in Barbour's fifth-grade class also have made some lifestyle changes after making healthier choices in class. As part of the fitness challenge, the class agreed to only have healthy snacks and birthday treats in the classroom, they banned soda pop, and they added two walking or stretching breaks to the daily schedule.

"I'm less tired at school because I'm not eating as much junk," Madison Wright said. "Now I'm eating apples and tangerines."

Zaniya Matthews found that drinking more water and less pop gives her more energy to dance.

Tyreon Hunter said he still likes drinking pop, but he tries to eat breakfast. Grant McBride took the advice of one the class speakers, saying when he doesn't have time to sit and eat breakfast, he grabs some fruit to eat at the bus stop.

"I'm not as tired," said Grant, who's also taking walks with his mom after dinner.

Barbour said she's noticed the extra exercise breaks the class takes during the day have boosted the students' energy level. She's also noticed fewer absences since the class took on the fitness challenge.

About 10 of the students said their healthier lifestyle made a difference at home, too.