Youth Celebrate “Day Of Nutrition” In East County

On May 14th and 15th over 230 students from Pittsburg Unified School District came to the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds in Antioch for the 6th Annual Day of Nutrition and Physical Activity. A partnership between the Food Bank and the UC Cooperative Extension, Day of Nutrition is an event that focuses on teaching children the importance of healthy eating and active living in their everyday lives. Fourth graders from Marina Vista, Highlands, and Los Medanos Elementary came to learn the health benefits (and sample) different fruits and vegetables, explore the edible garden, and participate in various physical activities. With the help of various volunteers, notably the AT&T Pioneers, students rotated through eight different stations focusing on various areas of nutrition and fitness. In the “Go for the Whole Grain/Fruit Breakfast Relay,” students learned about how to read the label of their cereal to make sure it was really a healthy breakfast choice. They discovered the importance of eating a whole grain breakfast and discussed different ways they could spice up their normal cereal with different seasonal fruits. The children then participated in a relay where they picked up fruit on a spoon and ran back and forth putting the fruit into their cereal bowl. The kids definitely needed a healthy, energy packed breakfast to run fast and finish first! Thanks to everyone involved for making Day of Nutrition 2009 a great success!

Students in the Mangini Agricultural Museum classroom at learning to eat a rainbow.

Students in the garden.

Fruit and cereal relay.