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Videos Help Adults Teach Kids about Good Nutrition

 

A new video series aims to make it easier for parents and childcare providers to teach youngsters about the importance of proper nutrition during meals.

Developed by the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, the videos are designed to help adults teach children ages 2 to 5 about several aspects of mealtime nutrition, including taste, texture and color; portion size; the benefits of eating healthy; and using verbal praise to guide kids to healthy food. Available on the website TeachKidsNutrition.org, the videos were developed by convening a local, multi-disciplinary group of experts called the Omaha Nutrition Education Collaborative.

“The videos and workbook on TeachKidsNutrition.org provide useful guidance on how adults can teach children about food and nutrition in a fun and nurturing way — an important approach to ensuring children become familiar with healthy foods at an early age,” said Sonia Kim, an epidemiologist in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I think this resource will be helpful to childcare providers and parents alike. Plus, they are fun to watch.”

The videos were funded with a grant from the Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, as there was a need in Nebraska to educate childcare providers and parents on ways to teach kids about nutrition, according to Amy Yaroch, executive director of the Swanson Center. The Center now hopes to offer the videos to childcare providers across the state and throughout the United States.

“We hope to continue to develop resources for early care and education providers to use in their efforts to prevent childhood obesity among all of the other important work that they do,” said Dan Schober, a research scientist at the Swanson Center. “We will be applying for additional funding to continue to expand the resources on this site. It’s been a great experience and we’ve gotten positive feedback.”

Click here to watch the videos.