NBC 5 and Medical City Children’s Hospital invite you to take the 21-Day Challenge, a snack challenge centered on eating fruits and vegetables. Registration is going on now through October 1. The challenge itself runs from October 1 through October 21.
The 21-Day Challenge jump starts a new healthy habit of eating more fruits and vegetables. For 21 straight days, create and eat a healthful snack containing one (1) serving of fruit or vegetables.
The program starts long before the challenge begins. Medical City Children’s Hospital works with Texas ProStart® culinary programs in high schools across north Texas. Registered dietitians visit culinary students in their classrooms to teach them about nutrition, reading food labels and calculating nutrition facts for recipes. Those talented students then create fun, kid-friendly snack recipes featuring one or more servings of fruits and vegetables. The idea is that, when it comes to snacking, kids know what kids like.
The recipes are compiled in a book, which is also photographed and designed by high school students. Medical City Children’s Hospital prints and distributes the books to elementary school students across North Texas.
Elementary-aged students are then invited to participate in the 21-Day Challenge. Every day, for 21 consecutive days, children are challenged to create and eat a healthy snack from the recipe book, or choose from hundreds of recipes on the Kids Teaching KidsSM website, which high school culinary students have contributed to since the program began in 2009.
The result is that kids are getting in the kitchen, engaging in better nutrition and developing more healthy habits one snack at a time. Data from the program shows that children who participate in the 21-Day Challenge are willing to try eating more fruits and vegetables even after the challenge is finished.
The influence of Texas ProStart® culinary students and the kids teaching kids program extends beyond the 21-Day Challenge and throughout the community. Children outside participating school districts can benefit from hundreds of online recipes. And, through a partnership with the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association and local area restaurants, students’ recipes have been developed into a Kids Fit Menu, customized to the restaurant in which it is offered. A complete Kids Fit Meal offers two servings of fruits and vegetables, which parents appreciate, and it includes fun menu items that kids love!
Download the Kids Teaching KidsSM North Texas Recipe Book and use the Healthy Snack Finder tool for fun kid-friendly recipes created by Texas ProStart® high school culinary students.
Families can register online now through October 1 and access free resources. For more information, visit kids-teaching-kids.com/nbc-5.
Sign-up for the 2018 21-Day Challenge!
Registration: September 17 – October 1
Challenge dates: October 1 – October 21
kids-teaching-kids/nbc-5
