yumPower challenges kids to eat right
Many of our habits start at a young age. With one-third of U.S. kids overweight or obese, getting kids to eat their fruits and vegetables is as important as ever. In January, HealthPartners launched the HealthPartners yumPower School Challenge pilot program to get kids to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
Approximately 7,500 students in 21 schools are participating in the program including nine Saint Paul Public Schools and 10 Minneapolis Public Schools. Results of the program will be evaluated to see how effective it is in increasing the number of students who consume three to five servings of fruits and vegetables on most days.
The program also includes a partnership with Radio Disney, who helps put on fun and engaging assemblies to kick-off the four week program at schools.
Keeping track of fruits and vegetables
The 45-minute assemblies provide kids with a “Parent Pack” of information and a four-week supply of fruit and veggie trackers with stickers. Kids will be able to track how many fruits and vegetables they eat each day and turn the tracker in at the end of the week.
“Kids consume about half of their daily calories during the school day, so school nutrition is a critical component in addressing the obesity epidemic,” says Donna Zimmerman, HealthPartners senior vice president of government and community relations.
Eating better makes you a winner
Each school will get a box to collect the trackers and schools and students can win prizes based on the percentage of trackers turned in over the four weeks.
Students will win pencils and notepads for turning in their trackers, while schools can win grants of $300-$500 to use for the school’s nutrition services.
These grants can be used for items such as new lunch trays, cutting boards or vegetable storage bins.
Go to yumpower.com to learn more about the HealthPartners yumPower initiative and to check out all of the eating better resources.