Second-graders get creative with nutrition

Why study nutrition? Ask a second-grader.

“People are getting fat and having heart attacks.”

“Because people are dying because the food extras and that stuff are not good for your body.”

“People are obese, sitting on the couch eating junk.”

“You eat too much candy and then you go crazy.”

That is a sampling of what second-graders at Barnett Elementary School told their teacher, Denise Truett, last Friday morning.

A table in their classroom and in other second-grade classrooms at Barnett were decorated with the food sculptures made as part of their “Healthy Choices, Healthy Me!” nutrition education program.

“These kids are sponges,” an enthusiastic Truett said. “They love learning.”

The students learned about the five food groups, the importance of exercising by participating in active play or sports every day, and why they shouldn’t eat too many “extras.”

They added fun to learning when they used healthy fruits and vegetables to create a food sculpture, and then they wrote a descriptive paragraph they read to their classmates.

Albertsons joined in and invited the students to its Healthy Eaters Tour led by Ramona resident and store employee Michelle Hill. Albertsons partners with the Field Trip Factory to offer Healthy Eaters. Students were treated to an aisle-by-aisle tour of the store, focusing on healthy choices, and they made their own healthy lunch.

“It’s fabulous, and the kids and the teachers have a fabulous time,” said Bill Strange, store manager. “It really ties in with the class curriculum.”