Michigan Team Nutrition Earns Statewide Honors
For Educational Materials of the Year
The Michigan Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports has awarded Michigan Team Nutrition with the Educational Materials of the Year Award for their Popular Team Nutrition Events idea book.
Representatives from the Michigan Team Nutrition Program were honored, along with other award winners, at the annual Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports Awards Event on Monday, October 15, at the Lansing Center in Lansing.
The 683 Michigan schools that are enrolled in Team Nutrition needed creative and easy-to-do physical activity and nutrition promotions and events. Because of the limited amount of time during the school day, Popular Team Nutrition Events was developed to save planning time and motivate schools to start nutrition and physical activity events.
The idea book gives directions for planning 22 different Team Nutrition events, six of which focus on physical activity. Each event description explains how to carry out the activity and how to link food service, classroom, home, school, community and media. There is also a web site available to use as an additional reference, and evaluation tools to collect information and assess the benefits and outcomes of the events.
In order to be considered for the Educational Materials of the Year award, nominees must have developed creative, effective educational materials promoting healthy physical activity.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will be reprinting Michigan's idea book with minor revisions and making it available to Team Nutrition Schools across the nation.
In Michigan, Team Nutrition is a coordinated effort of Michigan State University Extension and the State of Michigan Department of Education.
Congratulations Michigan Team Nutrition!
In the presence of community and public health nutrition professionals from across the country, the Dannon Institute recognized Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and Team Nutrition's"Recipes For A Healthy Mind" program as one of the Nation's seven most innovative and impactful programs in nutrition education and communication. The program was named a winner of the third annual Dannon Institute Awards for Excellence in Community Nutrition, a national awards program created to celebrate the accomplishments of local nutrition programs that have made a positive and significant impact on residents in the communities that they serve.
'We hope that by recognizing and sharing the knowledge and experience of these nutrition educators, we'll encourage others to take similar initiatives,' said Dr. Nancy Wellman, PhD, RD, Professor and Director of the National Policy & Resource Center on Aging, Florida International University, and a member of the Dannon Institute scientific council. Dr. Wellman encouraged other nutrition educators to 'learn from these programs and use them as a resource -- then go and develop or enhance plans for making a difference within their own communities, and ultimately the health and well-being of people nationwide.' Dr. Wellman spoke at the awards presentation held during the American Dietetic Association's annual meeting.
"Recipes for a Healthy Mind," a joint effort of Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and Team Nutrition, integrated nutrition education into the literacy program in order to expand the variety of foods children are exposed to and are willing to taste. The program, which took place in three elementary schools in South Haven, MI, involved reading books with nutrition-related themes such as the Food Guide Pyramid, the link between food and agriculture, or multicultural foods and customs, in the classroom. Each day after reading, the students were able to participate in hands-on, food-related activities that were conducted by teachers, parents, and community volunteers. At the end of the week, students were able to choose a free nutrition-related book (courtesy of the RIF program) and to take part in a Team Nutrition Food Tasting Party where they could taste and rate many of the foods they had read about.
"Through the RIF books and tasting parties we are encouraging children and their parents to enjoy reading, and to learn about and try new foods," notes Melinda Graham, of Reading is Fundamental. "It is our hope that through this program we can help fuel change in their future food choices, and help them to select nutritional items they may not have previously eaten."
The Dannon Institute Awards for Excellence in Community Nutrition are given to programs that demonstrate innovation and impact in nutrition behavior change at the community level.
