National Nutrition Month 2012 - Get Your Plate in Shape!

March is National Nutrition Month & the theme this year is Get Your Plate in Shape!

Based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans  there are several simple changes suggested for consumers to make starting this month, so their plate (& food intake!) are healthier.

Let's start with the first recommendation:

Make half your plate fruits and vegetables 


Why? Well, by covering half your plate with fruit & vegetables this will automatically mean your portions of other foods will be more controlled.   I would go further than just saying 'make half your plate fruit & veg' & say - eat your fruit & veg first!

Fruit & veg are low calorie foods that are packed with nutrition.  By filling up on this food group first you'll be nourishing your body and controlling calorie intake in one simple step!

Fruit & veg add color and interest to food making it visually appealing and can be eaten raw, steamed, baked, roasted or stir-fried - they're so versatile!

I love the phrase 'eat a rainbow' and by doing this you'll be supplying your body with a wonderful variety of the nutrients it needs every day as each different colored food provides different vitamins & minerals.

Fresh, frozen and canned varieties are all good - choose vegetables that state 'reduced sodium' or 'no salt added' and fruit canned in water or 100% fruit juice.  Avoid frozen veg in a creamy or butter sauce or fruit in any kind of syrup.

Add herbs & spices to them when cooking or serving and the tastes & options are limitless!

For more information visit The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics.

The End of National Nutrition Month is just the Beginning...

This week marks the end of National Nutrition Month 2011 and what an exciting month it's been!

The internet has been ablaze with color as dietitians highlighted the health benefits of eating foods from black & white to yellow & purple and people shared photographs of their plates piled high with fruit and vegetables in every shade of the rainbow!

This is one of MY colorful meals!

This years theme "Eat Right with Color" was particularly conducive to capturing the imagination of children and there have been countless articles, games and recipes aimed at getting kids cooking, teaching them about healthy eating & increasing fruit & vegetable intake amongst children. These sites provide amazing resources for kids, parents & teachers alike.
In addition, The American Dietetic Association Kids Eat Right website provides a host of information from nutrition information to shopping tips for all ages throughout the year.

With thanks to Dietitians-Online.com

Adding to the excitement this month and raising awareness of the work Dietitians do, the American Dietetic Association were invited to ring the NASDAQ closing bell and nutrition messages appeared on several occasions on the adverts in Times Square New York!

Personally, this has been an exciting month for me as I have met some wonderful Dietitians through National Nutrition Month social media campaigns & I have liaised with several students who will become the next generation of dietitians!  I also had fun with my efforts to further increase the color of my family's meals!
I hope you have embraced the message of National Nutrition Month 2011 and found exciting ways to add color to your diet. I encourage you to see this as the beginning of the next step in improving your health by maintaining your increased intake of these eye-catching & nutritious foods!

National Nutrition Month - Eat with Color!

March is National Nutrition Month and for me this means a great time to be adventurous and try new foods!  This year's theme is Eat with Color so why not challenge yourself and your family to see how many different colored foods you can eat each day this month?  Aim for as many colors of the rainbow daily as you can.  Just one thing though - they must be naturally colored foods NOT artificial coloring so hit the store and explore that fruit and veg section!

Different color foods provide us with different vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to help keep our bodies healthy so eating a variety of colors each day really is important.

Making  food fun for children is a great way to get them to accept new foods.  Here are some fun ways to focus on fruit and vegetables with your children:

~ Shopping with children can be a stressful experience (believe me I know) but giving them a task helps to keep them interested.  Give each child the task of finding a particular color fruit or vegetable and see what new items they come up with!  If they bring you something you've never tried before, such as, green kale, purple aubergine, yellow star fruit or red pomegranate agree to try it!!  Check out the internet for recipes and ideas on how to prepare and use it.

~ Create a list or colored chart of all the fruit and vegetables you can think of then play 'bingo' as you cross off each one as it gets eaten!


~ The American Dietetic Association talk about "eating a rainbow" and this image can be so appealing to children!  Have them eat a fruit or vegetable then draw it or cut a picture from a magazine and glue it on the matching color on a picture of a rainbow.

Children really do learn by example so be sure to let them see you eating fruit and vegetables for meals and snacks!

For more information please visit The American Dietetic Association www.eatright.org/nnm