I can’t believe that it is already March! If you did not know, March is national Nutrition Month. Created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, national Nutrition Month is a nutrition education campaign that focuses on the importance of making informed food choices, sound eating habits, and physical activity. This wellness blog will give your department some ways to celebrate Nutrition Month, and why good nutrition is important.
Good nutrition is essential to health. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, “Unhealthy diet contributes to approximately 678,000 deaths each year in the U.S.” Additionally, “In the last 30 years, obesity rates have doubled in adults, tripled in children, and quadrupled in adolescents.”
As recreation and park professionals, your department plays an essential role in providing nutrition and physical activity resources to the public. This Nutrition Month, there are a few resources you can use to promote healthy nutrition in your community.
One great resource for Nutrition Month is the Eat Right National Nutrition Month Celebration Toolkit. If your department is looking for easy ways to promote National Nutrition month, this is a great place to start. Some event ideas include:
Scheduling a story time with nutrition-focused books
Organize a National Nutrition Month presentation at your local park district or senior center.
Organize a food donation campaign for a local food pantry or shelter.
Hold a "healthy recipe" contest among employees.
Develop a program that involves kids drawing and creating a meal based on MyPlate, using the Choose MyPlate Coloring Page.
Organize a sports nutrition education session after school or during gym class.
Visit the National Nutrition Month Celebration Toolkit for even more event ideas!
If your department is interested in starting a healthy cooking course, check out or NCRPA November Wellness Webinar! This webinar shares some useful information regarding healthy eating and gives a few implementable ways to incorporate them into your department.
Additionally, the NCRPA Wellness Toolkit gives some cool resources on healthy cooking and nutrition programs. Please consider using these tactics in planning your department nutrition programs in the future.
I hope that this wellness blog has given you ideas on how to celebrate nutrition month in your department. If your department has a great nutrition program, I’d love to know about it. Email me at firstname.lastname@example.org with any details!
Until next time,