The youngest students at Cerritos Elementary School learned about the importance of maintaining healthy habits on Thursday with help from a family-medicine doctor, and they got to take home a furry friend.
To grab the students’ attention, Dr. Antonio Zamorano wore a Batman mask and introduced himself as “Dr. Batman,” although later he told the students he more often goes by “Dr. Zorro” among colleagues and patients because of his last name.
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Also at the beginning of the program, each of the roughly 30 children received a teddy bear of their own.
Zamorano went on to quiz the 4- and 5- year-olds, who are in the school’s transitional-kindergarten program, about whether or not they had brushed their teeth that morning, and what they ate for breakfast.
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After speaking about being a good neighbor and eating healthy foods, Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital Family Medicine Doctor Antonio Zamorano gets checked out by eager transitional Kindergarten students at Cerritos Elementary School in Glendale on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. Dr. Zamorano, who came out with a Batman mask, also showed children some of the items used by doctors at the hospital, including a syringe, needle and stitches and stethoscope. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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While hearing about being a good neighbor and eating healthy foods from Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital Family Medicine Doctor Antonio Zamorano, transitional Kindergarten student Chloe Borremeo checks her stuffed bear’s head, at Cerritos Elementary School in Glendale on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. Dr. Zamorano, who came out with a Batman mask, also showed children some of the items used by doctors at the hospital, including a syringe, stitches and stethoscopes.
(Raul Roa / Staff photographer) 3/5
Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital Community Relations Manager Marie Filipian passes out teddy bears to transitional Kindergarten at Cerritos Elementary School in Glendale on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. Family Medicine Doctor Antonio Zamorano, who came out with a Batman mask, talked about healthy eating, being a good neighbor and showed some of the items used by doctors at the hospital, including a syringe, stitches and stethoscopes. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Student Anthony Melikian tells Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital Family Medicine Doctor Antonio Zamorano what he likes to eat during the doctor’s visit to Cerritos Elementary School in Glendale on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. Dr. Zamorano, who came out with a Batman mask, also showed children some of the items used by doctors at the hospital, including a syringe, stitches and stethoscopes. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Transitional Kindergarten student Desmond Martinez shows off his teddy bear during visit by a doctor from Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital at Cerritos Elementary School in Glendale on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016. Dr. Antonio Zamorano, who came out with a Batman mask, showed children some of the items used by doctors at the hospital, including a syringe, stitches and stethoscopes. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
After showing them pictures of doughnuts and fresh vegetables, he asked the students which food they should eat to be healthy. The students overwhelmingly agreed on the vegetables.
At the end of his talk, students learned about several pieces of medical equipment, including tongue depressors and otoscopes, and some listened to Zamorano’s heartbeat with a stethoscope.
Zamorano’s visit was part of the “Great Kindness Challenge,” sponsored by Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital.
Zamorano said that by 4 or 5 years old, children are already well aware of healthy choices. But to reinforce those habits, he said it helps to have adults other than a student’s parents discuss them.
“[The students] do have understanding. They’ve heard it a lot of times. [If] they hear it over and over in a positive way, it tends to [become ingrained] in their brain and their behavior changes,” he said.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
