Photo Contest: Help Jerry the Bear Find a Home Safe from Asthma and Food Allergies

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to something VERY unique today. Something that can have a very positive and powerful effect on children with food allergies and asthma. It is simply very cool. And your children will LOVE it!

To tell us more about it, first let’s welcome Aaron Horowitz. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Sproutel, the creator of the most awesome “toy” ever, Jerry the Bear, a platform for pediatric health and wellness education, an idea that spawned from Aaron’s own childhood experience with Human Growth Hormone Deficiency and his own food allergies.

ILW: Who is Jerry the Bear?

Aaron: Jerry the Bear is a smart teddy bear that helps children learn about their health through play! Children care for Jerry by feeding him healthy foods, brushing his teeth, and making sure he stays happy. Jerry is 9 years old (in bear years) and has a little sister Isabella who is 4. Jerry loves going on adventures, building things, and making new friends!

ILW: How can Jerry help children with food allergies or asthma?

Aaron: Jerry helps children with food allergies and asthma learn about their conditions while being a friend who can relate. Jerry takes on behaviors to mirror the symptoms of these conditions, putting children in the role of caregiver. To make this possible, Jerry has epi-pen and inhaler accessories that can be purchased as expansion packs. Specific education about allergies or asthma is delivered through animated storybooks. For food allergies we have storybooks that deal with nutrition label reading, anaphylactic symptom identification, and social situations around food. For asthma we address asthma basics, symptom identification and response, and exercise.

ILW: How did Jerry come about?

Aaron: Jerry was born after observing children with type 1 diabetes take care of their stuffed animals as if they also had diabetes. We found this behavior incredibly interesting since these kids were using play to learn about diabetes and cope with the disease. This made us ask ourselves whether we could bring this behavior to life in a way that was educational, comforting, and most importantly fun! After reaching 4% of kids newly diagnosed with an expansion pack for type 1 diabetes last year, we’re now incredibly excited to expand our offering into food allergies and asthma.

ILW: What’s Jerry’s favorite hobby?

Aaron: Jerry loves to play hide and seek with his little sister Isabella and his best friend Fiona the fox!

ILW: How can someone welcome Jerry the Bear into their family?

Aaron: Jerry the Bear can be purchased by visiting our website.