Greenwood Students Learn Healthy Eating Habits Through Theater

[Editor's Note: Provided by Foodplay]

FOODPLAY, a national award-winning theater show promoting healthy eating and exercise habits, will be bringing its cast of colorful characters, fantastic feats of juggling, motivating messages, music, magic, and fun to K-4 students of the Greenwood Elementary School, thanks to the Greenwood School PTO.

While FOODPLAY makes good eating great fun, its messages are very serious. So serious, in fact, that First Lady, Michelle Obama, has launched the nation’s first childhood obesity task force, designed to tackle the alarming rise in the number of overweight children.

In the last 25 years, childhood obesity rates have doubled among elementary school children and tripled among teenagers. One in three children are overweight, and less than two percent of the nation’s youth are meeting their daily nutritional requirements. Kids on average are drinking over 600 cans of soda and consuming more than 150 pounds of sugars a year, missing out on recommended levels of fruits, vegetables and whole grains needed for optimal health.

During the fun-filled performance, children follow the antics of Johnny Junkfood, whose dream is to become a national juggling star, but keeps dropping the balls. The problem – his poor eating habits! With the help of the “Coach” of the National Junior Juggling Team and the audience of enthusiastic elementary school children, Johnny learns how to juggle the foods he eats to wind up with a balanced diet. Children learn how to see through TV commercials, decipher food labels, and make choices that are good for their health and good for the health of the planet. As the children walk away to the beat of “Treat Your Body Right!” FOODPLAY’s message comes in loud and clear – feed healthy foods to your body, positive messages to your mind, and have fun being active every day!

“We have to fight fire with fire,” says FOODPLAY creator and Executive Director, Barbara Storper, MS, RD. A leader in children’s nutrition, Storper has reached over three million children at schools across the country with FOODPLAY, using the power of live theater to make nutrition come alive. “We need to use the same techniques advertisers use in order to get kids excited about healthy foods and healthy practices!” says Storper. “And, schools are the perfect setting to model healthy behaviors and educate students on how to make their choices healthy ones. Once kids get the facts, they become the most effective health advocates, bringing the message back home!”

Keeping the Message Alive
To extend the lessons throughout the year, schools receive a comprehensive Follow-Up Resource Kit, filled with hands-on nutrition education materials for teachers, parents, school food service, health staff, and students. Teachers receive activity guidebooks to help integrate nutrition into core subject areas and link cafeteria with classroom learning. As an added bonus, students take home healthy snack cards to post on their fridge.

About FoodPlay Productions
FoodPlay Productions was founded in 1982 by nutritionist, Barbara Storper, MS, RD, under original sponsorship by the US Department of Agriculture. FOODPLAY has reached over 3,000,000 children from New York to Alaska, and received a host of awards including an Emmy Award when made for TV. Considered among the most effective and innovative nutrition organizations in the country, FoodPlay Productions offers several school assembly programs and produces media campaigns, video kits, children’s books, and curricula to make nutrition come alive. Widely featured in the national media including ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, and Nickelodeon, FoodPlay Productions is committed to helping the nation’s youth take charge of growing up healthy and fit.

For more information, free snack recipes, and tips for kids and families: http://www.foodplay.com/