HUNTINGTON – Students from Chester and Littleville Elementary Schools were able to attend a very special performance of “FOODPLAY” last month in the Gateway Performing Arts Center.
Chester Elementary students took a bus down on Thursday, May 29 to see the Emmy award-winning nutrition media company, which uses the power of live theater to engage kids in healthy eating and active lifestyles.
Complete with a cast of colorful characters, fantastic feats of juggling, music, magic, and audience participation, FOODPLAY brought is special brand of fun to Gateway.
“How many of you eat?” asked the actress playing Coach, which immediately engaged the students in the performance.
During the performance, children followed the antics of Johnny Junk Food, whose dream is to become a juggling superstar. With the help of the “Coach” of the National Junior Juggling Team and the audience, Johnny learns how to juggle the foods he eats to wind up with a balanced diet. Messages include starting each day with a healthy breakfast, filling half of plates with fruits and vegetables, choosing healthy “GO” foods over “WOE” foods (full of salt, sugar and fats). Students also learn a host of ways to have fun being physically active each day.
While the show makes good eating great fun, its messages are quite serious. 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 2 percent of the nation’s youth are meeting their daily nutritional requirements. On average, kids 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.
The hour-long program also showed kids how to read food labels and encouraged them to make sure that their plates had color (fruits and vegetables) on them. It ended with the “Snack Attack Game Show”, where three randomly picked students answered (with audience help!) healthy food questions. All three received a pack of 5 fruit and veggie “tracker bands”—wrist bands that all start on one hand, and move to the other as each serving of fruit or vegetables is eaten.
Food Services Director Wendy McCaul used her award from the USDA’s Healthier U.S. Schools Challenge to pay for the program. She also purchased copies of the book “Fresh Adventure” for the Chester and Littleville Libraries, from her winnings. Gateway schools achieved the Bronze Level last fall, joining just 3 percent of schools in the country who qualified for the award.
