Aligned with USDA’s MyPlate, Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives Provides Educators with Free Instructional Resources
At a time when educating children about nutrition and physical activity is more important than ever before, the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN) has again partnered with Nestlé in the United States to provide free instructional materials that support educators’ ongoing efforts to teach students in grades K-3 about healthy living. Aligned with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new generation food icon MyPlate, the third edition of Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives will be released during the 2012 NEA Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly in Washington, DC, June 27 – July 5.
“The global prevalence of obesity, particularly among children, has dramatically increased over the last 20 years, and we know educators play a vital role in making sure children learn about healthy living from an early age,” said Chavanne Hanson, MPH, RD, LD and Wellness Champion for Nestlé USA. “Due to obesity’s many causes and influencing factors, a multi-stakeholder approach involving large-scale community and school-based initiatives is often required. Our partnership with NEA HIN is a shining example of such initiatives, and we look forward to its continued success.”
Grouped by three themes – THINK Healthy, EAT Healthy, and MOVE Healthy—the versatile program includes activities that address multiple learning styles and utilize a mixture of grouping structures. In addition, Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives is tied to national curriculum standards in all academic content areas for grades K-3 and helps educators incorporate the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans into their classrooms.
“Over the past year, we have received a positive response from educators who have utilized Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives in their classrooms. The program’s practical activities enable educators to integrate nutrition and physical activity lessons into many other subjects while engaging students in the learning process,” said Jerald Newberry, Executive Director, NEA Health Information Network. “We’re thrilled to continue providing educators with these interactive and imaginative standards-based lessons aligned to federal nutrition guidelines and informed by Nestlé’s nutrition expertise.”
The program’s 31 lessons cover a variety of subjects including Arts, English Language Arts, Health, Math, Physical Education, Science and Social Studies. For example, the “Right on Target” EAT Healthy activity asks students to identify which items in a food group are the most nutritious. In the “Very Moving Poetry” MOVE Healthy activity, students write a poem about their favorite physical activity.
The Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives kit provides educators with a guide featuring 14 instructional activities, a MyPlate poster offering visual examples of healthy living, and food cards identifying the five food groups. Each lesson also features a “modifications” section, which enables educators to tailor the activities for their classrooms.
Additional online components include:
- Nutrition and Physical Activity Backgrounder
- Healthy Family Connection sheets with parent tips and homework assignments
- National Curriculum Standards Tie-in Charts with indicators for each grade level (K-3)
- Student Activity Sheets
- Activity Cards
- Mini-versions of food and activity cards for students
“Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives was simple to integrate into my existing curriculum,” said Crystal Baskin, a first grade teacher in Forestville, Maryland. “The lessons are effortless to modify, making it very easy to extend the lessons for different types of learners and address their varied needs.”
Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives was originally created by Nestlé USA in 2005, and is part of the Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme, a larger global commitment by Nestlé to create shared value through nutrition, health and wellness awareness among school age children.
The Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives materials are available online at www.neahin.org/healthysteps. For free printed copies of the Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives kit, please email your request to [email protected].
About the National Education Association Health Information Network
As the non-profit health affiliate of the NEA, the NEA Health Information Network (NEA HIN) provides health and safety information to the over 3 million educational employees and students it serves. NEA HIN distributes information nationally through NEA's 51 state/territory affiliates as well as 14,000 local education associations. For more information, please visit www.neahin.org
About Nestlé in the United States
Nestlé in the United States consists of five main businesses: Nestlé USA, Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, Nestlé Waters North America, Nestlé Nutrition and Nestlé Professional. Together, these companies operate in more than 120 locations in 47 states and employ over 51,000 people. The United States is Nestlé S.A.’s largest market with combined sales in the United States totaling more than $24 billion in 2011.
Committed to becoming the very best Nutrition, Health and Wellness company, Nestlé in the United States provides nutritious, healthy food for every member of the family at every stage of life: infants and toddlers, families, athletes, mature adults/grandparents, and pets. Key brands include LEAN CUISINE®, NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE®, POWERBAR®, NESTLÉ® PURE LIFE®, POLAND SPRING®, GERBER®, and PURINA ONE®.
Media Contact:
Edie Burge
Nestle USA, Corporate Affairs
818.551.3284
[email protected]
Brittnie Mabry
Widmeyer Communications
646.213.7246
[email protected]
Zachary Kolsky
NEA Health Information Network
202.822.7778
[email protected]