Celebrate National Nutrition Month

National Nutrition Month is celebrated each year in March.  The theme for 2016 is "Savor the Flavor of Eating Right", which encourages everyone to take time to enjoy healthy foods while eating with your family and friends.

How can you make that happen?


Make a family goal to try a new fruit or vegetable each week during the month of March.  Did you know that MyPlate recommends 1/2 of your plate be filled with fruits and vegetables.  Have you tried mango, kiwi, radishes, or edamame?  Trying something new adds variety and makes the meal more interesting.

Play a game while introducing a new food!  Put the new fruit or veggie in a bag or box, have your family try to guess what it is without looking. Ask them about the texture and smell.  Can they guess what it is?

Try the new food in a recipe or just taste it alone.  Make some rules for the tasting:

• Everyone must try the food (unless they are allergic)
• Words such as "yuck" or "ugh" are not allowed
• If they do not like a food, they may say "I don't care for this"

Your child may not like the new food and that's okay.  Sometimes children have to taste a food as many as 10 times before they begin to like it.  The important thing is to try it.  Take this opportunity to celebrate National Nutrition Month and try some new foods all month long!

Other fun ways to celebrate National Nutrition Month: 

• Looking for a way to entertain the kids before dinner is ready?  Print out this word search to do while they wait.
• Use this sheet to color in the theme for National Nutrition Month
• Work on a fun puzzle with your child. Give this Nutrition Sodoku puzzle a try.