PSS nutritionist and registered dietician Hee Jae Lee told the Variety yesterday that the response for the Eat Right with Color campaign for the whole month had been tremendous—both from the students, parents and the teachers in CNMI schools and they plan to make the campaign ongoing for the rest of the school year.
Lee said they noted an increase in the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in the school cafeterias and in the breakfast and lunch boxes served to the students for the past month.
“We’ve talked with teachers and parents and they all said that seeing more colors on their plates encouraged a lot of CNMI’s students to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables,” Lee said.
She added that the different activities the schools are hosting to promote the nutrition month also helped a lot in getting hands-on participation from the students.
“It’s different when students help in preparing the food because they feel as if they own the recipe and they get excited,” Lee said.
She said with the participation of parents in the different school activities, the campaign extends to the homes of the students.
As a result of the positive response to the Eat Right with Color campaign, Lee said the PSS-FNS and the nutrition month committee are looking at extending the promotions and encouragnig an ongoing campaign throughout the school year.
Lee said over the years, various islandwide events about nutrition program have been conducted, but this is the first year the campaign is geared toward the students.
“We should have done this before. Developing a healthier community would move faster when we start with the kids at the schools and in their homes,” Lee said.
Along with the ongoing campaign, Lee said the PSS-FNS program will continue its efforts to make the necessary changes in the food menu of the school breakfasts and lunches.
She said they have succeeded in reducing the rice servings to only two to three times a week in the meal boxes of the students, and providing fresh fruits and vegetables to add color and flavor to the daily food servings.
PSS supplies about 10,000 lunches and over 5,000 breakfasts to all schools in the CNMI for 180 days a year.
Community involvement
Lee said with the ongoing Eat Right with Color campaign, they would like to seek the assistance of the business establishments such as restaurants, fast foods, food caterers and grocery stores.
“We encourage more restaurants and caterers to continue with the healthy and colorful food promotions, and not to include fried foods in their healthy lunch promotions,” Lee said.
She also urged grocery stores to have a variety of healthy food options in their shelves and to help promote these colorful and healthy items to their customers.
“Developing a healthier community is a huge campaign that needs not only the involvement of schools but everybody,” Lee said.
The CNMI Nutrition Month Committee is composed of the PSS Food and Nutrition Services, Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research and
Extension Education Services, Public Health-Women Infant Clinic and the Commonwealth Cancer Association.
“Eat Right with Color” is the theme for the National Nutrition Month 2011, a monthlong campaign created by the American Dietetic Association that focuses on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.
