1. March is National Nutrition Month®
How Do You, Your Friends
and Family Measure Up?
A Focus on Fruits
and Vegetables

2. US Vegetable Intake,
Source: CDC MMWR 8 August 2014, NHLBI We Can!, USDA MyPlate

3. US Fruit Intake,
Source: CDC MMWR 8 August 2014, NHLBI We Can!, USDA MyPlate

4. Test Your Knowledge
What is the most frequently consumed vegetable by all children? Green beans, Corn, Carrots, Peas, Fried potatoes, Salad?
Over one week, what percentage of vegetables consumed should be dark green, red/orange and legumes? 15%, 25%, 50%, 75%?
What is the most powerful influence on a child’s eating habits? Friends and peers, education and school meals, television/internet/media, parents/guardians?
How often must a child be offered a vegetable before its usually accepted? Once, 3 times, 5 times, 7 times, 10 times or more?
How many times do parents offer a vegetable before giving up? Once, 3 times, 5 times, 7 times, 10 times or more?
What is the best method for increasing variety in a child’s diet at any age?
Direct the child to try it, Direct the child to eat it, Follow though on negative consequences if it isn't tried or eaten, Parents role model food choices in a no pressure and positive environment?
A. Fried potatoes, B. 50%, , C. Parents/guardians, D. 10 times ore more, , E. 3 times F. Parents role model food choices in a no pressure and positive environment .

5. What Can You, Your Friends and Family Do?
Reflect:
Which fruits and vegetables do you eat now
How much or how often
Track your consumption
Get your friends and family involved with a challenge to eat more fruits and vegetables
Take an inventory – which fruits and vegetables
Which will you eat without any hesitation
What have you tried?
Have you tasted
Which do you not like or don’t like the appearance of it
Challenge your self
Take a bite of a food that you don’t normally eat
Try it again repeatedly over several weeks, and months,
Try it cooked differently
Example compare raw spinach,
with lightly sautéed spinach and boiled spinach
Set up a challenge
Challenge your peers to see who can taste or eat the most vegetables, milk, or fruits servings in a day or week or month

6. What Can You, Your Friends and Family Do
What Can You, Your Friends and Family Do? Acceptance of new foods is best achieved through role modeling and repeated exposure in a positive environment
Friends and Colleagues
Encourage a taste test of something new
Compare samples in different forms
e.g., small piece of cauliflower raw, boiled, and roasted
e.g., raw spinach leaf, lightly sautéed spinach, boiled spinach
How does the appearance and taste change?
Offer less frequently consumed foods with foods readily accepted
E.g., if you have never tried legumes (dried peas and beans) try them mixed with a food more readily accepted such as rice
Challenge yourselves to track vegetables and fruits eaten per day
How much do you need?
Go to MyPlate.gov and find out!

7. What Can You, Your Friends and Family Do
What Can You, Your Friends and Family Do? Acceptance of new foods is best achieved through role modeling and repeated exposure in a positive environment
Families
Eat together
Parents can role model healthy choices
Plan a menu with half of your plate filled with fruits and vegetables
Re-offer previously refused foods
In a no-pressure positive environment
Usually with time and repeated exposure foods are gradually accepted
Use some of the resources at
Eat together
At the table and without the television on (even if its in another room)
Plan a menu with half of your plate filled with fruits and vegetables
Try something new or cooked differently….steamed cauliflower may be fine or not accepted, but roasted in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper has a much different flavor

8. What Can You, Your Friends and Family Do
What Can You, Your Friends and Family Do? Acceptance of new foods is best achieved through role modeling and repeated exposure in a positive environment
Families, continued
Allow kids to accept responsibility for their food choices
Step 1: Parents plan the menu with always at least one food that the child accepts
If you typically ask the kids, “What do they want for dinner?” don’t be surprised if the answer is frequently chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese
Step 2: Kids and teens choose which items to select and how much to eat
If they choose to be fussy and don’t eat much, they are responsible for that decision until the next planned snack or meal, which needs to be nutritious
Parents: don’t allow guilt to influence your decision by becoming a short order cook or allowing them to snack on less nutritious foods
But also, do not punish them for their choice
Allow children the opportunity to experience the responsibility for their choices

9. Which do you like? Have you ever tried?
Vegetable Inventory
Which do you like? Have you ever tried?
Asparagus
Avocado
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Green
Red
Carrots
Celery
Cauliflower
Corn
Cucumber
Eggplant
Greens, turnip, mustard, collard, beet
Green beans
Kale
Legumes
Baked beans
Kidney beans
Pinto beans
Black beans
Garbanzo
Lettuce,
Iceberg
Leafy
Romaine
Boston
Lima beans
Mushroom
Okra
Onion
Radish
Peas
Green
Snow
Snap
Peppers
Green
Yellow
Red
Plantain
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Spinach
Squash
Yellow/green
Acorn
Butternut

10. Which do you like? Have you ever tried?
Fruit Inventory
Which do you like? Have you ever tried?
Apple
Apricot
Avocado
Banana
Blackberry
Blueberry
Cherry
Coconut
Cranberry
Current
Date
Fig
Gooseberry
Grapefruit
Grape
Kiwi
Kumquat
Lemon
Lime
Mango
Melon
Nectarine
Orange
Papaya
Peach
Pear
Pineapple
Plum
Pomegranate
Prune
Raspberry
Strawberry
Tangerine
Watermelon

11. My Daily Record
Mon
Amount
Tue
Wed
Thur
Fri
Total
Breakfast:
Snack:
Lunch:
Dinner:
Daily total
Write in the fruits and vegetables you ate and the amount. If a vegetable or fruit was combined with another food group, it counts! Did you eat just one bite? Add it up, it counts!
Add a STAR if you tried a food that you don’t usually eat!
3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.
4 tablespoons = ¼ cup.

12. My Group Challenge Record
Name
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thur
Fri
Total
Each day write in the total amount of fruits and vegetables eaten.