August is here with back-to-school activities. It is also Kids Eat Right Month! Both schools and families can help kids be healthy with one hour of activity a day and healthy meals and snacks.
Established in 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, Kids Eat Right Month® is an annual celebration in August that emphasizes the importance of healthful eating and physical activity for children and families. Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States, putting children and adolescents at risk for poor health. Obesity prevalence among children and adolescents is still too high. For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years in 2017-2020 the prevalence of obesity was 19.7 percent and affected about 14.7 million children and adolescents.
Kids can have fun being active and eating right, and parents and caregivers can set a great example for the whole family by creating a healthy environment at home, setting kids up for a lifetime of healthful eating. Use these tips to learn how your family can shop strategically, cook healthful foods, and eat nutritious meals and snacks this Kids Eat Right Month® and beyond:

• When possible, enjoy family meals together for an opportunity to bond and embrace healthful habits as a family.
• Get active as a family. Take a walk together after dinner and plan fun activities every week such as a family bike ride.
• Get children involved in planning and cooking healthful meals together. When kids are involved in planning and preparing nutritious meals (with age-appropriate tasks), they are more likely to try new foods, and will have a greater understanding of nutritious, healthful foods that will benefit them for a lifetime.
  Principals, teachers, foodservice staff, and parents can help make schools healthier places to learn by providing high-quality nutrition, integrating physical activity during the day and teaching children about the importance of embracing a healthy, active lifestyle.
  • Plant a garden. School gardens are an important educational tool to help students understand how healthy foods are produced and an opportunity to try new fruits and vegetables.
  • In the classroom, ask children to carefully save empty food product labels and boxes. Spend some time reading labels and comparing information on the Nutrition Facts Labels. Expand this activity into a menu-planning opportunity, individually or in teams, using MyPlate as the guide to a healthy meal.
  Remember the food pyramid? It has been replaced with MyPlate. MyPlate has helpful nutrition information and physical activities for infants to young adults. MyPlate is a reminder to find your healthy eating style and build it throughout your lifetime. MyPlate offers ideas and tips to help you create an eating style that meets individual needs and can improve your health. MyPlate offers recipes, tips for eating healthy on a budget and many other helpful resources.
  So, celebrate Kids Eat Right Month by getting the family together for a bike ride or walk and cooking a favorite meal.
  Adapted from: https://www.myplate.gov/, https://www.eatright.org/ and https://www.fda.gov/food