Help needed in planning community health event!

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I am on the planning committee for a free, county-wide " community fun day "

focused on nutrition, physical activity and substance abuse prevention for

families of all ages.

We're hoping to make this a very fun, hands-on and interactive event, rather

than the boring health fair that just passes out fliers.

What ideas do you all have for nutrition events/demos/booths? We have thought

about having a cook-off between the cafeteria staff at different schools

throughout the community, promoting their best/favorite healthy recipes. I'd

like to have a booth focused on breakfast, showing how simple a healthy morning

meal can be for families. All of the elementary schools in our county have

implemented the " Go, Slow, Whoa " program in their cafeterias, so we also would

like to tie in that program to some of our activities. We are considering

modifying the traditional sack race, so kids pick a food item to represent in

the relay, and if your chosen food is a SLOW, you have to race farther than the

GO foods, and the WHOA foods have to race the farthest, representing how much

more energy those foods contain (and therefore you have to burn).

I don't want it to just end up as a day to pass out MyPyramid handouts. Please

share ideas you have, or have seen in action that were a hit!

Thanks!

Strawbridge, RD, LDN

ville, TN

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Several years ago I did a dried fruit tasting with some kids ages 8-13-ish.

They tried some more exotic ones too, like dried kiwi and papaya. These were

mostly inner city low-income family kids who had never tried anything like

this; many of them said they thought they were eating candy! (of course, the

fruit was unsweetened)

I also did a tasting of " milks " - soy milk, rice milk, and oat milk. They

particularly enjoyed the chocolate flavors. I think this is particularly

helpful for families dealing with food allergy and intolerance issues.

Shelby

On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 1:30 PM, estrawbridge03 <

elizabeth.strawbridge@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hi all,

>

> I am on the planning committee for a free, county-wide " community fun day "

> focused on nutrition, physical activity and substance abuse prevention for

> families of all ages.

>

> We're hoping to make this a very fun, hands-on and interactive event,

> rather than the boring health fair that just passes out fliers.

>

> What ideas do you all have for nutrition events/demos/booths? We have

> thought about having a cook-off between the cafeteria staff at different

> schools throughout the community, promoting their best/favorite healthy

> recipes. I'd like to have a booth focused on breakfast, showing how simple a

> healthy morning meal can be for families. All of the elementary schools in

> our county have implemented the " Go, Slow, Whoa " program in their

> cafeterias, so we also would like to tie in that program to some of our

> activities. We are considering modifying the traditional sack race, so kids

> pick a food item to represent in the relay, and if your chosen food is a

> SLOW, you have to race farther than the GO foods, and the WHOA foods have to

> race the farthest, representing how much more energy those foods contain

> (and therefore you have to burn).

>

> I don't want it to just end up as a day to pass out MyPyramid handouts.

> Please share ideas you have, or have seen in action that were a hit!

>

> Thanks!

>

> Strawbridge, RD, LDN

> ville, TN

>

>

>