After participating in Carolina Tavarez’s “Vary Your Fruits and Vegetables” class, almost all the elementary-aged kids were eager to try kiwi, red pepper, cucumber and pears.
“I’ve never tried kiwi,” a child said.
“Do you want to try some today?” Carolina asked.
“Sure.”
Carolina is a certified nutritionist who teaches Nutrition Education classes in Seminole County for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. She is especially skilled at engaging youth participants.
Tasting the food is one tactic she uses to keep kids ages 6-15 engaged, but it also increases their exposure to healthy foods.
“Lots of kids don’t have access and exposure to healthy foods, and this can help pave the way to healthy eating,” Carolina said. “I always bring something for them to try.”
She said the strategy to keeping children engaged and focused is to make the presentation hands-on.
“It’s not a lecture; it’s more interactive,” Carolina said. “I use lots of props, lots of colorful things, and visuals that make it very appealing.”
In the youth classes she includes things like brain breaks, handouts and a special prop she calls the “mystery bag” into which kids reach to feel the textures of fruits and vegetables to guess what they are without seeing them.
She said the fruits and vegetables classes are crowd pleasers, but kids also enjoy a class about protein where they get to interact with a skeleton named “Muscle Mike,” as well as one about whole grains where they get to look at grains under magnification.
“They get to be their own detective,” Carolina explained.
She tracks the progress of the students she teaches with surveys handed out at the biweekly classes. The surveys ask how many different types of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables the student has tried.
“One girl always answered ‘none’ to everything, and after she started coming for awhile, it increased gradually,” Carolina said. “These surveys have shown a lot of increase.”
In partnership with Florida Nutrition Ed, Second Harvest offers nutrition education classes to help Central Florida residents incorporate more nutritious foods into their diet, adopt an active lifestyle, prevent chronic disease, manage a healthy weight and improve their quality of life. The program provides free classes in Brevard, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia counties.
Classes are available for all age groups, including youth and teens, families with children, adults and seniors. Topics range from how to read nutrition labels, healthy eating on a budget, how to manage chronic health issues, maintaining a healthy gut, and much more.
