Providing nutrition education through creativity

Effective nutrition and physical activity education strategies to encourage overweight children of different ethnic groups in low income communities require health professionals to relate and understand their participants. Using innovative practices that are fun, creative and supportive would encourage more motivated participants. This presentation describes concepts and examples of how these creative methods were used to encourage children to learn and help promote a healthier lifestyle through a positive relationship with their educators. The educators created a positive environment through 8 strategies: (1) educators communicated with one another by collaborating and organizing their lesson plans together; (2) educators were attentive to children's needs, reactions and responses; (3) educators encouraged children to eat properly and exercise daily; (4) educators used activities to encourage critical thinking about their food choices; (5) educators used creative methods to teach children nutrition by asking children to create their own superhero characters; (6) educators were very supportive of children's creativity; (7) educators created a nutrition and physical activity world map where each visit introduced the children to a new culture and encouraged children to use their pedometers; and (8) educators gave positive feedback to children. Applying these strategies should result in a more effective real-world practice by having a more attentive class.