- Email: [email protected]
Kids Eat Right: Helping Families from Coast to Coast
PRACTICE APPLICATIONS President’s Page
Kids Eat Right: Helping Families from Coast to Coast
W
ELCOME TO THE SECOND annual Kids Eat Right Month! All during August, the Academy and our Foundation are celebrating the importance of healthy nutrition and active lifestyles for children and families—and focusing the attention of the public and health professionals on the value of registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) in accomplishing this vital mission. Since its inception in 2010, Kids Eat Right (KER) has made a huge difference in every part of our country, thanks in large measure to the 6,000 KER volunteers—Academy members who agree that healthful eating and physical activity are crucial to improving the lives of generations to come. I do not have nearly enough space in this article to tell you about everything KER is accomplishing, or how many children and families (often living in underserved areas) that our unique and fun programs have helped. A tremendous amount of information can be found on the KER website (www. kidseatright.org):
monthly profiles of KER “Everyday Heroes,” toolkits, infographics, webinars, workshops, presentations, consumer education materials, grant opportunities, how to become a KER volunteer, and more.
INSPIRING CHANGE The Energy Balance 4 Kids with Play initiative—a school-based program led by trained RDN Coaches to lead healthy eating and physical activity programming for kids, environmental change, and community partnerships—has served more than 170,000 students since 2008 in Kansas City, MO; Des Moines, IA; and Richmond, CA. Published research shows the Energy Balance 4 Kids model is effective in increasing students’ nutrition knowledge and attitudes and ª 2015 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
creating a school environment that supports healthier behaviors.1
HEALTHIER FAMILY BEHAVIORS Another example: The Kids Eat Right RD Parent Empowerment Program offered four interactive workshops in San Francisco, CA, Chicago, IL, Washington, DC, and Johnson City, TN, to help parents be healthier role models for themselves and their families. An assessment of the workshops, published in the Journal, found statistically significant improvement in parents’ reported healthy family behaviors. “Positive results were likely attributable to the consideration of social, cultural, ethnic, environmental and daily family routines and practices in this intervention.”2
PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES KER offers a multitude of resources and opportunities for nutrition and dietetics practitioners to reach children and their families. For example, the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity Screening Tool (http://healthyfam.eatright-fnpa.org/ public/partner.cfm) is a validated, online tool to identify home behaviors and environments that may predispose children to factors leading to overweight/ obesity. The Family Nutrition and Physical Activity survey was developed by researchers at Iowa State University with funding support from the Foundation.
Photo by Mark McQueen. raising the next generation of healthy kids starts now.”
SUCCESSFUL AND GROWING From coast to coast, KER is making an impact, and I have only scratched the surface! I urge you to become a KER volunteer and become a part of this successful, growing outreach to our country’s children and families. Please sign up at: www.kidseatrightvolunteer. org/login.aspx. Dr Evelyn Crayton, RDN, LDN, FAND [email protected]
IN AUGUST AND YEAR-ROUND The photo accompanying this article demonstrates how we are telling the world about KER. On August 20, 2014, I was joined by Academy members and their families to ring the NASDAQ closing bell in New York City to celebrate the first Kids Eat Right Month. During the ceremony, which was broadcast live on cable TV and in Times Square in New York, I had the opportunity to speak on the importance of improving the health of our nation’s youth and the value of RDNs. “In August and year-round, the Academy and our Foundation are committed to helping all kids eat right,” I said. “Because
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2015.06.002
References 1.
Myers EF, Gerstein DE, Foster J, et al. Energy balance for kids with play: Design and implementation of a multicomponent school-based obesity prevention program. Child Obes. 2014;10(3): 251-259.
2.
Hand RK, Birnbaum AS, Carter BJ, Medrow L, Stern E, Brown K. The RD parent empowerment program creates measurable change in the behaviors of low-income families and children: An intervention description and evaluation. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014;114(12): 1923-1931.
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
1199
Kids Eat Right: Helping Families from Coast to Coast
W
ELCOME TO THE SECOND annual Kids Eat Right Month! All during August, the Academy and our Foundation are celebrating the importance of healthy nutrition and active lifestyles for children and families—and focusing the attention of the public and health professionals on the value of registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) in accomplishing this vital mission. Since its inception in 2010, Kids Eat Right (KER) has made a huge difference in every part of our country, thanks in large measure to the 6,000 KER volunteers—Academy members who agree that healthful eating and physical activity are crucial to improving the lives of generations to come. I do not have nearly enough space in this article to tell you about everything KER is accomplishing, or how many children and families (often living in underserved areas) that our unique and fun programs have helped. A tremendous amount of information can be found on the KER website (www. kidseatright.org):
monthly profiles of KER “Everyday Heroes,” toolkits, infographics, webinars, workshops, presentations, consumer education materials, grant opportunities, how to become a KER volunteer, and more.
INSPIRING CHANGE The Energy Balance 4 Kids with Play initiative—a school-based program led by trained RDN Coaches to lead healthy eating and physical activity programming for kids, environmental change, and community partnerships—has served more than 170,000 students since 2008 in Kansas City, MO; Des Moines, IA; and Richmond, CA. Published research shows the Energy Balance 4 Kids model is effective in increasing students’ nutrition knowledge and attitudes and ª 2015 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
creating a school environment that supports healthier behaviors.1
HEALTHIER FAMILY BEHAVIORS Another example: The Kids Eat Right RD Parent Empowerment Program offered four interactive workshops in San Francisco, CA, Chicago, IL, Washington, DC, and Johnson City, TN, to help parents be healthier role models for themselves and their families. An assessment of the workshops, published in the Journal, found statistically significant improvement in parents’ reported healthy family behaviors. “Positive results were likely attributable to the consideration of social, cultural, ethnic, environmental and daily family routines and practices in this intervention.”2
PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES KER offers a multitude of resources and opportunities for nutrition and dietetics practitioners to reach children and their families. For example, the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity Screening Tool (http://healthyfam.eatright-fnpa.org/ public/partner.cfm) is a validated, online tool to identify home behaviors and environments that may predispose children to factors leading to overweight/ obesity. The Family Nutrition and Physical Activity survey was developed by researchers at Iowa State University with funding support from the Foundation.
Photo by Mark McQueen. raising the next generation of healthy kids starts now.”
SUCCESSFUL AND GROWING From coast to coast, KER is making an impact, and I have only scratched the surface! I urge you to become a KER volunteer and become a part of this successful, growing outreach to our country’s children and families. Please sign up at: www.kidseatrightvolunteer. org/login.aspx. Dr Evelyn Crayton, RDN, LDN, FAND [email protected]
IN AUGUST AND YEAR-ROUND The photo accompanying this article demonstrates how we are telling the world about KER. On August 20, 2014, I was joined by Academy members and their families to ring the NASDAQ closing bell in New York City to celebrate the first Kids Eat Right Month. During the ceremony, which was broadcast live on cable TV and in Times Square in New York, I had the opportunity to speak on the importance of improving the health of our nation’s youth and the value of RDNs. “In August and year-round, the Academy and our Foundation are committed to helping all kids eat right,” I said. “Because
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2015.06.002
References 1.
Myers EF, Gerstein DE, Foster J, et al. Energy balance for kids with play: Design and implementation of a multicomponent school-based obesity prevention program. Child Obes. 2014;10(3): 251-259.
2.
Hand RK, Birnbaum AS, Carter BJ, Medrow L, Stern E, Brown K. The RD parent empowerment program creates measurable change in the behaviors of low-income families and children: An intervention description and evaluation. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014;114(12): 1923-1931.
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
1199