Egg Harbor Township Nursing Offices
March/April 2021 * Making Healthy Food Choices
High School
National Nutrition Month Weekly Key Messaging
National Nutrition Month® is an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. During the month of March, everyone is invited to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits.
https://www.eatright.org/food/resources/national-nutrition-month?_ga=2.96893855.1016807776.1613672504-1405846986.1613672504Alder Avenue Middle School
Decoding Food Labels
Food label activity worksheets
Fernwood Middle School
Rise and Dine! The Importance of Breakfast for Kids
Breakfast is touted as the "most important meal of the day"—and there's some truth to that. Studies show that kids who eat breakfast tend to eat healthier overall and are more likely to participate in physical activities which helps in maintaining a healthy body weight. Breakfast gives the body the refueling it needs for the day ahead after going without food for eight to 10 hours during sleep.
Eating breakfast is important for everyone but especially so for children and teens. In general, kids who skip breakfast will feel tired, restless and irritable. What they eat is also important. Choosing breakfast foods that are rich in whole grains, fiber and protein while low in added sugar may enhance their attention span, concentration and memory—which they need to learn in school.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says that children who eat a healthful, well-balanced breakfast are more likely to:
- Meet their daily nutrient requirements
- Concentrate better
- Have better problem-solving skills
- Have better hand-eye coordination
- Stay alert
- Be more creative
- Miss fewer days of school
- Be more physically active
Without breakfast, our bodies don't get the jump start they need to operate at their fullest potential throughout the day. Encourage young people to make breakfast a part of their regular household routines. By helping children learn important concepts about eating breakfast, it will lay a foundation of eating right for years to come.
Davenport Complex
Healthier Choices
Healthier Choice 1 - Drink water instead of sugary drinks and sodas. This tip helps people save money and over 50,000 calories per year just by switching out one can of soda. You can create a simple display on your table by showing the number of teaspoons in a cup or can of soda.
Healthier Choice 2 - Choose activity instead of screens. See if everyone can guess the calorie difference between sitting and moving. It is double or more! In fact, by giving up 30 minutes of screen time and switching it out with brisk walking you can burn an extra 40,000+ calories per year. This is easy to do during the day. And if you walk 10,000 steps per day this amount would be more than double (or about 70 minutes per day)
Healthier Choice 3 - Consume more fruits and vegetables in place of items that are loaded with sugar and fat. Show displays of items that come in bulk-sized bags like potatoes, apples, oranges, and lettuce. Show a salad and compare a large plate of salad with one cupcake on a plate. They can eat more food and consume fewer calories. Value packs of produce help save money, too. And they are easy to prepare. By switching out one bag of chips for one apple you can save 25,500 calories per year. And the more you switch calorie dense foods out with nutrient dense, high-fiber foods, the more you will save.