Tag Archives: MyPlate

National Nutrition Month 2018: ‘Go Further With Food’

By Sylvia Blyth, RD, LD, CLC
Nutrition Education Coordinator
Division of WIC Services

March is National Nutrition Month, a time to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

Choose the right foods

“Go Further with Food” is the theme for 2018, and its importance is timely for many reasons. Whether it’s starting the day off right with a healthy breakfast or fueling up before an athletic event, the foods you choose can make a real difference. Preparing your foods to go further, by planning meals and snacks in advance, can also help to reduce food loss and waste.

This year’s theme for National Nutrition Month encourages us to achieve the numerous benefits healthy eating habits offer, but it also urges us to find ways to cut back on food waste. Learning how to manage food resources at home will help you “Go Further with Food,” while saving both nutrients and money.

What Can You Do?

  • Include a variety of healthful foods from all of the food groups on a regular basis.
  • Consider the foods you have on hand before buying more at the store.
  • Buy only the amount that can be eaten or frozen within a few days and plan ways to use leftovers later in the week.
  • Be mindful of portion sizes. Eat and drink the amount that’s right for you, as MyPlate encourages us to do.
  • Continue to use good food safety practices.
  • Find activities that you enjoy and be physically active most days of the week.
  • Realize the benefits of healthy eating by consulting with a registered dietitian nutritionist. RDNs can provide sound, easy-to-follow personalized nutrition advice to meet your lifestyle, preferences and health-related needs.

For more information, please visit eatright.org.

From Other Blogs: Sustainable healthy New Year’s resolutions, colorectal cancer screening, drone technology & more

A collection of health and environmental posts from other governmental blogs.

Making sustainable changes in the new year

New year’s resolutions are upon us and instead of following the latest fad diet or workout that you’ll be over in a month’s time, try something different. This year, why not make one single change each week that is realistic and one you can stick with?

This seems, perhaps, too simple, but the results can be massive! By making small, realistic and sustainable changes you can lose double, even triple the amount of weight than you would with some 30-day challenge. How, you ask? Because you’ll stick with it! — From Flourish, Palmetto Health’s blog

The Six Steps New Hampshire Took to Get More People Screened for Colorectal Cancer

Screening at the right age can find colorectal cancer before it starts, but some people still don’t go for many reasons. A CDC-funded program in New Hampshire created a way to overcome the problems patients had getting screened. — From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) The Topic Is Cancer blog

Drone Collects Information to Benefit Great Lakes

The USDA Forest Service and Michigan Technological University (MTech) are using unmanned aerial systems, or drones, to advise the Hiawatha National Forest’s land management efforts.

Located in Michigan’s wild and scenic Upper Peninsula, the Hiawatha National Forest’s dramatic shorelines lie nestled up to Lake Superior, Huron, and Michigan – three of the five Great Lakes. — From the USDA blog

MyPlate Makes It Easier for Health Professionals to Encourage Healthier Lifestyles in 2018

The energy and excitement of beginning a new year makes January a popular time for making New Year’s resolutions. Often, two of the most popular resolutions focus on health: to get fit and to lose weight.

As health professionals know all too well, many people establish lofty goals on January 1, only to drop their resolutions by June. One reason so many struggle may be that they incorporate extreme goals that may not be realistic. A more helpful strategy could be to start with small steps and celebrate milestones along the way. As nutrition and health professionals prepare to help their clients and patients meet their New Year’s health resolutions, MyPlate, MyWins is a great place to start. Let MyPlate,MyWins be a resource to help you assist your clients in turning resolutions into real solutions for a healthy new year. — From the U.S. Department of Agriculture blog