Presenter: Victoria Chiu, Biochemistry, Global Public Health Scholars
For my project I will be teaching a lesson to the tutees of the UMD Lakeland STARs program about an issue related to MyPlate and other important issues associated with food and public health. I will have built up hours in the program tutoring my own tutee and developed relationships with all of the kids and tutors in the program. I am hoping that the activity I lead not only will help the children understand the importance of food in a larger context but also help remind the college students who may have overlooked simple issues and problems throughout their daily lives.
This is an amazing project. Early knowledge about nutrition is very important for our
kids. I believe that education like this being actively included in the curriculum could help reduce the child obesity crisis in the US and help all of our youth develop a better relationship with food and their bodies. Great work! Also great to see a fellow Biochemistry student :)
I enjoyed listening to your presentation very much as I am all about living a healthy nutritional lifestyle and implementing that at an early age with kids. I was alarmed to hear how this topic is increasingly being neglected in schools. By you teaching these kids about the importance of nutrition it will definitely make them see certain foods differently and impact their decision making when eating.
I loved this project! I thought it was so interesting to hear about the effects and the overall importance of nutrition education. I also found it interesting that you mentioned that every child's risk to certain health factors are different, depending on their background. A question I have for you is, what is one thing you would change about our current school lunch systems and how it is managed?
You make good points about the importance of nutrition education. Biological, cultural, and family risk factors may make your mentees vulnerable to different health problems now and in the future, so you give them a gift when you help them identify healthy eating practices. What strengths did you see in the children you mentored? Great idea to return later to see whether they continue healthy eating/behavior changes you taught them.
I like that you worked as a tutor in Lakeland STARs and was able to provide nutritional education because I agree with you that nutrition is very important. I was surprised when you mentioned that US students receive 8 hours of education even though 40-50 hours are required for a behavioral change to occur. You were able to provide an education that was simple and interactive with young children, so they are more likely to understand nutrition and improve their own eating habits. I appreciate the work you put in to educate students on nutrition who may not have received proper education.