Eat A Rainbow

 Eat A Rainbow!

Last summer, I  worked under a cooperative extension agent in a small town in Kentucky. The agent that I helped focused on teaching the town about family and consumer science. Some of her programs taught the people in town about eating healthy on a budget, doing things for yourself instead of relying on others, and raising a family. Over the summer there were day camps, free of charge, for kids in the town. One of the day camps focused on nutrition for children ages 10 and under. The FCS agent allowed me to be in charge of planning and teaching one day of the nutrition day camp.

Since 1 in 6 American children are obese, says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html) teaching these children about how to eat healthy meals was very important to me. Not only do American children need to eat more healthy meals to maintain a healthy weight, they also need enough vitamins and minerals to grow and develop as they should. I thought the best way to achieve both of those goals was to teach and encourage the eating of fruits and vegetables daily. During this class, I wanted the children to learn that not only should they eat fruits and vegetables daily, but also that they type and color of fruits or vegetables was important as well. This is where the concept of "eating a rainbow" began. I wanted to go over why we need different colors of fruits and vegetables in our diets and how they would affect our health.

How to Eat a Rainbow 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has created a picture of a healthy meal for people to use as a guideline in the MyPlate program. As you can see in the image below, half of the plate consists of fruits and vegetables, which means that each person's plate needs to look like this at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This image shows just how many plant foods the human body needs to grow strong.

Courtesy of http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

After knowing the need of adding fruits and vegetables to a child's diet daily, each child also needs to know that eating different kinds of plant foods is needed to get the things your body needs to grow. During times of growth for humans, vitamins and minerals are needed to help them grow at a normal rate. Many of these are found in fruits and vegetables. The types of vitamins and minerals can change with the color of the food. Different colors of fruits and vegetables are used in the body to grow and stay healthy.

RED- may lower risk of getting some cancers and heart problems. Examples: tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit.

ORANGE and YELLOW- may increase vision and immune system to help people from getting sick
Examples: carrots, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins.  

GREEN- may help in forming blood clot and wound healing. Examples: broccoli, cabbage, and bok choy.

BLUE and PURPLE- may lower risk of getting some heart problems and lowers blood pressure. Examples: eggplant, blueberries, and prunes.


References:
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
Schaeffer, J. (2008). Color me healthy — Eating for a rainbow of benefits. Today’s Dietitian, 10. Retrieved from http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/.