Animal Writings

Eating habits start early. From what I've read, kids generally respond enthusiastically to well-planned healthy eating programs in schools. NIH can play a role in getting young people to enjoy and appreciate vegetables in their diets by providing informative pro-vegetable materials to schools.

Brochures, coloring books, posters, videos — use whatever works. Have plenty of printed material that students can take home with them, and that parents, principals, teachers, food service personnel, and other school staff can read.

A large-scale, long-term, NIH-backed promotion of vegetables and their healthfulness, and ways they can be incorporated into everyday eating — aimed primarily at school children — could be one of the most productive pro-health programs ever undertaken. Right now, with childhood obesity at frightening levels, would be a great time to begin this project.

Labels: children, habits, health, NIH, school food, vegetables