Beaver College of Health Sciences

By Amanda Mlekush 

A group of App State students studying Nutrition shared a medley of fresh foods and healthy eating habits with 750 local elementary and middle school students in Watauga County who attend Mabel, Valle Crucis, Hardin Park, Green Valley and Blowing Rock schools during National Nutrition Month in March. 

(Nutrition graduate student Emily Bowles provides a sample of a cucumber slice to a student at Blowing Rock Elementary School during an education session about nutrition and healthy foods. Photo by Brooke Kidwell)

The program, in its second year, provides an opportunity for App State students to share what they’re learning and teach healthy eating habits to students who ranged in age from 4 to 14, said Dr. Alisha Farris, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Nutrition faculty member who coordinated with Watauga County Schools’ Nurse Brooke Kidwell on the outreach initiative. 

“Last year we piloted the program at Blowing Rock School at the invitation of Brooke, who is the school’s nurse,” she said. “Based on that experience, Brooke and some of the other school nurses asked us to expand the program this year. Over the past several weeks in March, we visited five schools and taught hundreds of students about nutritious foods and health habits with the help of 22 undergraduate and graduate students from Appalachian studying Nutrition.”

Farris and the App State students tailored the curriculum based on the students’ age, and created specific lessons for Pre-K-second grade; third through fourth grade; and fifth through eighth grade.

“The students were very responsive to the teaching, and I loved seeing how they reacted to learning from the college-age students,” said Kidwell. “They look up to them, and you see the natural respect they have interacting with someone closer to their age teaching them about nutrition, healthy foods and exercise.” 

All the lessons incorporated MyPlate, the nutritional visual guide developed by the US Department of Agriculture, and featured interactive activities such as games and scavenger hunts. The students were offered different vegetables and fruits to taste, and encouraged to try new foods at home.  

“Our goal was for this to be fun and exciting for the kids, and I think we made lessons that accomplished that,” said Farris. “The kids really enjoyed interacting with our students and learned a lot while being exposed to maybe some fruits and vegetables they hadn't tried before. Establishing healthy habits in childhood is important and typically can carry into adulthood.”

About the Age-Based Curriculum 

(Students at Blowing Rock school sit in a circle in the gymnasium while learning more about nutrition and healthy foods. Photo by Brooke Kidwell)

Students in PreK through second grade learned about a goat who only wanted to eat fruits and vegetables and played a color box game where they identified a fruit or vegetable they liked from each color group. They sampled blueberries and cucumbers. 

 Students in third through fourth grade learned about sugary drinks and played a guessing game to determine how much sugar were in different types of drinks, from juices to sodas. This group sampled a cup of fresh broccoli, carrots, peppers, celery and a fruit spritzer of orange juice concentrate mixed with sparkling water.

Students in fifth through eighth grade learned about the importance of drinking water and getting enough exercise, and played a healthy activity scavenger hunt that had them answering questions and completing exercises like push-ups and squats. This group also sampled a cup of fresh broccoli, carrots, peppers, celery and a fruit spritzer of orange juice concentrate mixed with sparkling water.

“I also noticed the students were aware that we were using physical education time for the lesson, and they made sure the activities that they did were focused on getting them moving,” Kidwell said. “In some cases, it was a scavenger hunt where they had to run from place to place around the gym, to get the answers they needed. The App State students did a great job of having mentally and physically interactive activities to keep the kids focused.” 

“Our students did such a wonderful job representing the Nutrition department, our college and the university,” said Farris. “Our graduate student leaders, Alli Young and Emily Bowles, trained the undergraduate students on the curriculum we were teaching and cut up countless vegetables. We also had a number of our faculty who participated and made this a success.”  

About the Beaver College of Health Sciences

Appalachian State University’s Beaver College of Health Sciences (BCHS), opened in 2010, is transforming the health and quality of life for the communities it serves through interprofessional collaboration and innovation in teaching, scholarship, service and clinical outreach. BCHS offers 10 undergraduate degree programs, nine graduate degree programs and four certificates across six departments: Nursing, Nutrition and Health Care Management, Public Health and Exercise Science, Recreation Management and Physical Education, Rehabilitation Sciences, and Social Work. The college’s academic programs are located in the Holmes Convocation Center on App State’s main campus and the Levine Hall of Health Sciences, a state-of-the-art, 203,000-square-foot facility that is the cornerstone of Boone’s Wellness District. In addition, the college supports the Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness and has collaborative partnerships with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant Program, UNC Health Appalachian and numerous other health agencies. Learn more at https://healthsciences.appstate.edu.

 

 

Tags: