Teachers: looking for an interesting way to teach your class about Nutrition and Healthy Living?

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit offers a program to all elementary & middle schools called "Families are Munching". This program is run in partnership with teachers & parent volunteers from each school, and the Public Health Nurses, Dietitians & Nutritionists from the Health Unit.

The event encourages all participants to "eat their veggies and fruit" - 5 to 10 a day as recommended by Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Each class of students is given a nutrition lesson by the Health Unit Nurse, Dietitian or Nutritionist, and then is treated to a vegetable and fruit "tasting table" prepared by parent volunteers. After a sampling of fresh veggies and fruit, each student is given a colourful Tracking Sheet to record how many vegetable and fruit servings they and a family member eat during the next week. After the week, the sheets are collected and one random winner from each class is selected to win great a prize.

What your school will get:

• Use of a 12-foot banner and eye-catching display for your school (must be returned after the event)
  
• A 20 -30 minute nutrition lesson for each class from a Thunder Bay District Health Unit health professional - the lesson is based on the Ontario curriculum "Healthy Living" strand
  
• All necessary paperwork - information and instruction sheets for parents, tracking sheets for kids, and a booklet suggesting other "fun nutrition ideas for the classroom"
  
• Colourful temporary tattoos or stickers for the kids - to remind them to eat their veggies and fruit!
  
• Support and assistance throughout the event from Health Unit staff - set up and clean up of the display and tasting table
  
• The Health Unit may also send out a press release to the media - your school event may make headlines in the local newspaper or on the local news!

What your school will need to contribute:

• Support from principal, teachers and parent volunteers to make the event a success (e.g. doing morning announcements and lunchroom checks to encourage vegetable and fruit intake)
  
• Efforts to obtain donations from local businesses for fresh vegetables and fruit (for the tasting table) and for kids' prizes
  
• Parent volunteers present on the day of the event to help cut-up and prepare and supervise the veggies and fruit tasting table

Families are Munching is partially funded by the Take Heart Coalition - a project supporting heart-health projects in Thunder Bay & District

For more information please contact:
Hanna Janiec, Public Health Nurse - (807) 625-5970
Jennifer Bowen, Public Health Dietitian - (807)625-5968