Promoting MyPlate and 

Physical Activity is what

UC CalFresh does best!

UC CalFresh has a long withstanding partnership with Fresno Unified School District; this partnership makes promoting healthy eating habits and physical activity, at a critical time period in these students' lives, possible. 

UC CalFresh Staff are ready to get students moving.

 UC CalFresh supported Vang Pao Elementary during their school wide Jog-a-Thon event on November 10, 2016 by providing a MyPlate Obstacle Course. The Vang Pao Jog-a-Thon was a success where students raised $2,800 for their school!

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What is a MyPlate Obstacle Course?

Glad you asked! A MyPlate obstacle course is a great stand alone physical activity motivator or in Vang Pao's case, a fun warm-up.

Vang Pao students warmed up their muscles and hit the track with a bang! The obstacle featured 5 main stations named after our beloved food groups, of course. It also featured in-between activities to keep students moving as they transitioned from station to station.

Need leg warm ups before hitting the trail? Try the Dairy Dips. Need some energy for some added spring to your step? Try the Whole Grain Hops. Want to test your aim? The Fruit Hoops station is for you. If you are in need of some arm warm ups, visit the Protein Push-up station to keep those arm muscles strong and limber. Still not challenged? Get your heart pumping with Vegetable Vertical Mountain Climbers. 

All you need is a large open space and a little imagination to make the MyPlate Obstacle course a reality...

UC CalFresh is ready to get moving; shall we begin?

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 How about some raise the roof push-ups? 

Students master the Whole Grain Hops as they put their agility to the test. 

Ms. Strawberry loses no time and keeps students moving to their next station. 

Vegetable vertical mountain climbers are a challenge, but look at how these students and Chris the Carrot rise to the occasion.

Ms. Perez motivates her students to improve their physical fitness and promote their bone health one dairy dip lunge at a time.

Looks like Ms. Perez has some friendly competition: who lunged better? Ms. Tomato or Ms. Perez's group? Regardless, both groups are winners!

If the MyPlate Obstacle course does not energize students, nothing will! Students easily breezed through the MyPlate Obstacle Course.

Our fruit and vegetable friends remind students that eating healthy foods along with 60 minutes of physical activity is the key to their health and to their continued academic success.

Running is such a great way to improve heart and lung health, and who knew one could raise money doing something this fun?!

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Until the next running adventure...

Fresno and Madera Counties' UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program has a long standing partnership with the Fresno State Dietetic Internship Program. This blog post is part of our Intern Reflections Series.

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My time here with the UC CalFresh Program has been quite insightful. It was great to see that nutrition education is provided to those that need it most right here in our own community. I had the opportunity to observe and facilitate nutrition lessons for both adults and children during my time with the program.

The lessons that are taught through the UC CalFresh Program are from curricula created by the University of California system, and include education on MyPlate and other important aspects of nutrition and health. I found it very rewarding to teach children as young as first grade about MyPlate and the importance of nutrients for the body. I'm glad there are programs like this one that are helping to increase the knowledge of nutrition in elementary school aged children because I was never exposed to this type of information until I was in college. Knowing that these children are being taught such important lessons is significant to me as a future dietitian, as it increases their chances of living a healthier lifestyle as they get older. Observing the adult classes was also an exciting part of my time with the program, as I have not had a chance to teach an adult class about nutrition. I helped facilitate the review portion of different sessions, prepare a nutritious fruit salad and instruct short physical activities. 

Another part of my rotation included creating a Nutrition Corner poster in which I chose the topic of animal protein and plant protein, providing tips on how to utilize and incorporate both into an everyday diet. I made it interactive by having the tips hidden under flaps that you have to open, which I hope will get students to actually come up to the board and engage with the information. I also created a newsletter for teachers and parents discussing the importance of calcium in the diet, and facts about calcium that would be interesting to students as well as parents.

Overall, my experience was extremely beneficial in expanding my creativity for teaching students as well as adults. It is important as a future dietitian to know what types of materials different populations are receptive to, and to truly be passionate about the information you are providing so that the audience is more engaged with that information.

Many people view summertime as a lazy, relaxing time of year, but not the 25 senior citizens at Fresno's Lafayette Community Center and Pinedale Community Center. These seniors spent their summer learning about maintaining a healthy lifestyle by including more fruits and vegetables in their daily diet.

Nutrition Educator, Consuelo Cid, teaching seniors at Lafayette Community Center how fruits and vegetables contain many vitamins and minerals our bodies need daily. 

The UC CalFresh Nutrition Education program collaborated with Fresno's Parks and Recreation Department to offer senior citizens in the Fresno community no-cost, nutrition education classes over a 5-week period. The Eat Smart, Live Strong curriculum gave seniors tips on how to include more fruits and vegetables in their diet and how to save money while still eating healthy foods. Seniors were also able to taste quick, inexpensive and healthy recipes prepared by the UC CalFresh staff every week during the series. 

Nutrition Educator, Consuelo Cid, demonstrating how to cool down after doing any physical activity with seniors at Lafayette Community Center. 

The seniors at both community centers also learned about physical activity because it is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. Everyone participated in learning four new exercises at each class session along with the proper way to warm up and cool down when exercising. Participants graduated after the 5-week session with a certificate of completion from the University of California and nutrition education reinforcement items to remind them to continue on their journey towards a healthy lifestyle. These items included reusable shopping bags, cookbooks, reusable water bottles and fruit and vegetable scrub brushes. The seniors expressed how informational and fun these classes were for them, and promised to continue eating fruits and vegetables every day and participating in at least 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week.

Nutrition Program Coordinator, Kristi Schultz-Sharp, with the Eat Smart, Live Strong graduates at Pinedale Community Center.

Parents at Jefferson Elementary School were thrilled to begin the Plan, Shop, Save and Cook Series. They were excited to learn about ways the class could help them save money when it comes to healthy cooking at home and also learn ways to plan healthy meals. Many activities were included during the lessons, which allowed them to apply the skills they learned. One activity had the parents first create a meal plan and then plan their shopping lists. This activity allowed them to see the food groups they were eating plenty of, and which other food groups were being left out.

Jefferson parents planning their families' meals for the week and creating their shopping lists.

As the lessons continued throughout the weeks, many of the parents were eager to share their success in balancing all of the food groups on MyPlate to ensure balanced diets. Others shared their new found awareness of store flyer sale items, which included seasonal fruits and vegetables. Many parents also learned how low their whole grain consumption was, and began incorporating more whole grains into their meals. A couple of the parents even shared that they made our enchilada casserole at home and their families loved it, not knowing that they were eating whole grain brown rice!  

 Nutrition Educators, Araceli and Angelica, with some of the parents from the class who received their certificate of graduation from the Plan, Shop, Save and Cook Series.

Overall the class was very successful and we had 7 parents graduate the Plan, Shop, Save and Cook Series. Many parents appreciated learning nutrition information provided during the class by mentioning how useful it was for them to ensure that they make everyday, healthy eating a positive and simple, one step at a time, change. They know that these changes will make an extreme difference in their overall health and the health of their families. 

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Interested in bringing an adult nutrition education class to a school or community center near you? Contact our Adult Nutrition Program Supervisor, Javier Miramontes, at 241-7531 or jfmiramontes@ucanr.edu for more information.