- Author: Emily Harris
- Contributor: Angelica Perez
- Contributor: Consuelo Cid
Do you know your BMI? BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is a measurement comparing a person's height and weight. Although it is not a measurement of body fat, your BMI can give you an insight to your weight status and indicate if you need to make a change. An individual with a BMI that falls into the overweight or obese category has an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type-2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.
At a recent no cost adult nutrition class, Nutrition Educator Consuelo Cid taught her participants about BMI and encouraged them to use it as a catalyst for healthy lifestyle changes.
If you are interested in finding out your BMI, click here.
- Author: Nath Say
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program provides free fruits and vegetables to participating schools every single day. Schools enrolled in this federally assisted program are "encouraged to develop partnerships to help implement the program, such as with local universities, extension services and local grocers."
The University of California CalFresh Nutrition Education Program has been partnering with Fresno Unified Food Service and Nutrition Center to provide support to Fresno schools participating in the program.
For the month of November, UC CalFresh provided indirect nutrition education to nine Fresno Unified sites participating in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Edison Bethune, Lincoln, Pyle, Del Mar, Holland, Power-Ginsburg, Phoenix Academy, Fremont, and Webster each received a colorful nutrition board for their cafeteria. All nine Nutrition Corners display the importance of eating different color fruits and vegetables so that students can learn the benefits of how each color helps their bodies become healthy and strong. Over 60 Fresno Unified school sites are receiving direct nutrition education from UC CalFresh by receiving nutrition lessons in the classroom and food tastings on a bimonthly basis.
Pictured above is head custodian, George Solorzano, at Pyle Elementary modeling our Nutrition Corner display. Mr. Solorzano assisted in hanging the nutrition corner in the school's cafeteria. He shared how valuable our program is for students in Fresno Unified. UC CalFresh appreciates all the support we receive from our community extenders!
Thank you, Mr. Solorzano!
Below are a few pictures of the nutrition boards placed at the elementary sites.
- Author: Emily Harris
On December 3rd I spoke to Professor Cerda's Child Nutrition class at Fresno City College. She asked me to answer the question, “How is UC CalFresh fighting childhood obesity?” What a loaded question! In order to answer this question, I decided to give her class an overview of both our adult and youth programs, with an emphasis on our direct nutrition education with students in the classroom. I didn't forget to mention, however, our nutrition class series we hold for adults in the community and parents of our students. Children eat what their parents give them, so half the battle really is educating parents on how best to feed their children. In the classroom, we provide lessons for the students that go over MyPlate and then highlight a certain food group or physical activity. The students in the Child Nutrition class experienced our “Rethink Your Drink” lesson first hand, which furthered their understanding of what we do. Hot topics during my presentation included teachers' role and influence in their students' health education and students' responses to our “Tasting Time” foods we provide every other month. At the end of my presentation, I asked this class two questions: “What does it mean to be healthy? How do we fight childhood obesity? “I asked some of my older elementary students this year what it means to be healthy, so I was curious what college students would have to say. I also wanted to know if they believed that what we are doing is a way to fight childhood obesity, or if there is a key idea or concept that they believe we are missing. Check out their responses below:
Now it's your turn! Leave yours answers to these two questions in a comment below.
- Author: Emily Harris
This morning our Nutrition Educator Nora Lopez was interviewed on Univision 21 Fresno for Arriba Valle Central with Lupita Lomeli. Nora shared how it is possible to share healthy traditions and recipes from generation to generation. Make sure you tune in on Monday, December 21st between 5am and 7am to check out her interview!
- Author: Consuelo Cid
Healthy snacks and beverages are an integral part of a child's diet because they can help our children consume the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients needed for optimal growth.
Children have smaller stomachs than adults, which means that they may get hungry in between meals. Therefore, it is important that they learn how to distinguish between treats and healthy snacks.
To assist me in this endeavor with my Vang Pao Elementary School students, I introduced James and Ethan, two characters in the book, Looking After Me: Eating Well, by Liz Gogerly and Mike Gordon. In the story the students learned that eating too many treats can make us sick, but they also learned, along with James, that eating well is the secret to staying fit and healthy.
Here is what my 2nd grade Vang Pao Elementary students had to say about eating well...
Shout out to Maria Mendez's second grade class for their great responses!
For tips on healthy snacking, visit choosemyplate.gov.
