Ask and you shall receive! The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation (CRSF) heard its community partners loud and clear when they expressed a strong interest in the nutrition of their youth. So CRSF decided to take a look at what exactly makes a healthy child tick, from the inside out.
After plenty of research and teaming up with Sue James (MS, RD, LDN), registered dietician and nutritional consultant for the Baltimore Orioles, we created a basic nutritional extension of our Healthy Choices, Healthy Children (HCHC) curriculum.
So you don’t know the first thing about nutrition…how on earth are you going to teach and discuss it with children? Relax! We have you covered.
Nutrition can seem like a complex and intimidating topic, especially if food options are more limited. However, we have created the HCHC Nutrition Edition around the basic foundation of nutrition and simple concepts such as well-rounded diets, the roles certain foods play inside our bodies, portion control strategies, and the important link between nutrition and exercise.
Whether you would like to have a group discussion over snack time, or teach an entire nutrition unit to your kids, HCHC Nutrition Edition offers a fun way to present the information through interactive activities and by helping kids and mentors alike begin learning about the important role that food plays in our development.
So what are some ways you can start incorporating this great resource into your programs today? Try some of the following:
- During one of your weekly lessons or daily programming sessions, introduce a concept or two from the HCHC Nutrition Edition and discuss them with your kids.
- Use snack or lunch time to try out some of the healthy recipe ideas in the booklet. While you and your kids enjoy a freshly made snack, talk to the kids about other healthy snacks they can make on their own.
- Have kids plan their meals for the week using the portion control guide and the correct number of servings from each food group.
- Challenge kids to try new foods! Have a competition to see who can try the most.
CRSF understands that families in different areas of the country have different levels of resources and food options. That’s why HCHC Nutrition Edition aims to cover a broad spectrum of nutritional information and focuses on the word “diet” as a pattern of eating habits aimed at the interest of improving or maintaining an individual’s health…not weight loss!
Take a look for yourself to see what fun facts, games, and recipes are available in the HCHC Nutrition Edition in the Materials section.
Please comment below if you would like to share your feedback or other ways you’ve used the Nutrition Edition with your youth.