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IHS Head Start Logo Indian Health Service Head Start Program

801 Vassar Dr., NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
Phone: (505) 248-7694
Fax: (505) 248-7728

Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Home Head Start Providers Head Start Families
 
Nationwide Programs and Initiatives
 
Focus Areas: Diabetes: Healthy Eating
 

Healthy eating is important at all stages of life. It is especially important for the growth and development of infants, children, and adolescents. Good nutrition can prevent health problems such as iron-deficiency anemia, obesity, eating disorders, under-nutrition, and dental caries. Over the long term, it can help lower the risk of developing chronic disease (e.g., heart disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, stroke, osteoporosis) and risk factors for disease(e.g., obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol levels). Eating healthy foods also helps children and adolescents feel good and do well in school.

To help children, adolescents, and families practice healthy eating behaviors and become more knowledgeable about the types and amounts of foods needed for optimal nutrition, the federal government created the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and My Pyramid. The Dietary Guidelines provide general nutrition principles, and the MyPyramid shows how to select different types of foods for optimal nutrition and select different types of physical play and physical activity. These tools can be used for children ages 2 and older and for adolescents.

Image of MyPyramid

Use the advice "Inside MyPyramid" to help you:

  • Make smart choices from every food group,
  • Find your balance between food and physical activity, and
  • Get the most nutrition out of your calories.

Improving the well-being of infants, children, and adolescents requires that health professionals, families, and communities work together to create opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity. Multifaceted, communitywide efforts are needed to combat negative images and to demonstrate that healthy eating can be quick and delicious and that physical activity can be fun. Using creative settings--such as classrooms, recreation centers, athletic facilities, libraries, restaurants, and supermarkets--to deliver innovative nutrition and physical activity education programs should be explored.

 

 
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Healthy Eating Links

This file last modified: Friday June 6, 2008  3:34 PM