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Mission Nutrition
May
21, 2008 |
Staff members from the Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida are on a
mission. They want to help your child learn to eat healthy. Courtney Ranieri is
a child advocate instructor with Lee Memorial Health System. She says, “The
mission nutrition program is to help because the obesity level is so high and we
try to target fourth and fifth graders because this is the time for them to make
these healthier choices, healthier eating habits.” Mission Nutrition is an
education program. It focuses on teaching fourth and fifth graders the facts
about healthy eating and healthy living. Courtney says, “We’re just trying to
explain to them the value of calories what calories are, serving size versus
portion size and just going and being active.” During the 45 minute session
students discuss everything from how to read a food label to understanding the
effects of fast food. “We talk about fast food every time they eat fast food and
what that does to them and what they’re actually putting into their bodies,”
says Courtney. The program uses some eye opening teaching tools to show students
what literally goes into their bodies when they eat their favorite fast food
meal. Courtney says, “We try to make it fun by using the test tubes of fat.
That’s everyone’s favorite part because then it’s actually showing them the
calories and the fat that they put into their bodies if they eat that.” This
year the mission nutrition program has reached more than two thousand students
in Southwest Florida. Studies show the average fast food meal usually has at
least 12-hundred calories and is high in fat, cholesterol, and sodium. |
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