Pre-teen girls learn benefits of healthy eating habits
Pre-teen girls learn benefits of healthy eating habits
By MARVIN BAKER
EDITOR
What could be better than spending about an hour after school learning about good eating habits, then putting that education into action?
That is exactly what a group of New Town girls is doing in Munch ‘N’ Crunch, a program through Fort Berthold Extension that teaches valuable life lessons about proper diet.
Twenty girls, age 10-12 are enrolled in the class that is held in the home economics room at New Town High School. It is taught by Carol Enno, Cheyanne Erickson and Calli Wold of Fort Berthold Extension.
“We teach the girls how to stay healthy and have a strong heart,” Erickson said. “They also get a lot of hands on so they are having fun while they’re learning.”
Erickson said nearly all of what the girls are taught, can be taken home and shared with family to promote stronger, all-around family health.
Thus far, the girls have learned all about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food pyramid and why the basic foods are important. They’ve worked with yogurt, pineapples, blueberries, grains, meats, vegetables and they’ve made toasted almond coconut corn flakes and apple syrup. On April 2, the girls made fruit smoothies.
And before the blenders full of fruit, dairy and grains were started, Erickson stressed that safety is also paramount when working with utensils in a kitchen.
In addition, the girls are incorporating physical activity with consumption of food so they learn the proper balance at an early age, according to Erickson.
