The Stanislaus County Nutrition and Fitness Council coordinated a special nutrition event at Hanshaw Middle School in South Modesto on Tuesday, Sept. 26 for students in their after school program.

Students from Bret Harte Elementary and Salvation Army after school programs also attended.

The event will include 14 stations that the students worked their way through as they were introduced to new fruits and vegetables. They also took the Food Pyramid Challenge, and tested their skills in the Pumpkin Relay and a giant obstacle course. Groups of 22 children were rotated at each station for 12 minutes at a time. The goal of the event was to help students see how fun and tasty being physically active and eating right can be.

Fruit smoothies were offered to the students to quench their thirst.

As part of the September’s National 5 A Day Month, the Council urged local parents to be good role models at home, at school, and while eating out. The theme of the month was “Lead the Way: Choose Fruits, Vegetables, and Physical Activity.”

According to Davey Jones of Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, parents can help reverse the trends in childhood obesity, high blood pressure, and type II diabetes by choosing to eat better and to exercise. He offered the following tips:

• Engage kids in the grocery shopping, from putting their fruit and vegetable favorites on the list to bragging their choices in the grocery store’s produce section.
• Keep a fresh fruit bowl on the table or counter, and keep easy-to-grab-and eat vegetables in the refrigerator.
• Serve two vegetables with dinner.
• Stay active physically, such as take evening walks.
• Eat a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

“Most Americans, adults and children alike, don’t eat the recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day,” said Jones. “It’s important for parents to lead the way to a healthy future for children by eating healthfully themselves. Studies show that parents who encourage their child to eat fruits and vegetables actually eat more fruits and vegetables themselves.

Obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in adolescents over the last two decades, with one in seven young people now obese and one in three now overweight.

According to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control, poor diet and physical activity are among the leading causes of preventable death in the United Stated.

Reprinted by permission of The Ceres Courier.