NuPA Newsletter – March is National Nutrition Month!
March 2019
National Nutrition Month® is an annual nutrition education and information campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The campaign, celebrated each year during the month of March, focuses on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.
How does your program implement healthy choices and behaviors all year long? If you’re looking for inspiration and ideas how to promote and practice health and well being, take a minute to learn about National Nutrition Month and access the National Nutrition Month Celebration Toolkit today!
Items included in this newsletter
Behind the Serving Line: What’s Cooking in California School Cafeteria’s
The California School Nutrition Association (CALSNA) has directed the short film, Behind the Serving Line: What’s Cooking in California School Cafeteria’s, to bring awareness to what goes behind the line of serving school meals. This short film is geared to educate about the meals that are served in schools, it talks about the many contributions combined in order to provide a healthy meal.
Speak-up to Protect PE!
Physical Education (PE) is integral in maintaining and improving kid’s heart health and well being. Beyond the gymnasium, PE helps kids engage better in academic performance and social settings. However, competing priorities are affecting the availability of PE programs across the nation. Lower-income communities are especially susceptible to this issue due to lack of facilities, equipment, and space for children to remain active. Use your voice, and help protect PE by signing the Voices for Healthy Kids PEtition today.
National Nutrition Month Webinar: Healthy After School Meals!
High quality summer learning programs offer many valuable sources for our youth. It keeps kids safe, engaged, and can produce measurables benefits in math, reading, and social emotional learning. Summer learning programs not only offer invaluable spaces to engage youth, but it also provides students with a healthy snack and meal for the day. However, finding tools to provide these resources can be difficult.
Resources for Building Healthy and Prosperous Communities
The Build Healthy Places Network has released the Principles for Building Healthy and Prosperous Communities. The guidance offers five principles for working across sectors in low-income communities to improve health and wellbeing.
Tools for Change: A Resource Catalog for Community Health, created by ChangeLab Solutions offers insights for creating healthier communities for all through equitable laws and policies. Available at no cost, this publication features selected model policies, how-to guides, infographics, fact sheets, and many more practical resources.
Nutrition Inspiration!
Looking for some inspiration for healthy meal planning? Check out these great resources to get started.
New Messaging Resource: Advancing Equity in Children’s Health
The Afterschool Alliance has collaborated with Voices for Healthy Kids and We-Collab to create a Health Equity Messaging Resource. This resource is to be used in conjunction with the Voices for Healthy Kids Health Equity for Public Policy Messaging Guide.
Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act Case Study
The Center for Science in Public Interest published the case study, How a Public Health Goal Became a National Law to provide insights into policy strategy and advocacy best practices that resulted in passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA).