How to Eat Smart and Be Smart:
How to Make Eating a Healthy and Fun Family Adventure
Amanda Hildebrandt, Partnerships for Healthy Communities
Elizabeth Groginsky, Adams County Head Start

How to Eat Smart and Be Smart is an innovative nutritional literacy program. This program was developed by Partnerships for Healthy Communities in collaboration with Adams County Head Start. The fun, learning program has families explore the five food groups, read food labels for understanding and prepare healthy food and snacks in eight interactive classes. Each class uses a family literacy model where children and families receive separate education for the first half of the session and then come together for joint cooking and reading activities. Parents learn about healthy eating habits, the importance of mealtime and the importance of reading to their child on a daily basis. Feedback from the families is extremely positive.

Each child receives a quality literature book each night that incorporates the theme they learned. The books include: A Very Hungry Caterpillar (food pyramid), The Little Red Hen (grains), The Carrot Seed (fruits & Vegetables), Click Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (dairy), Green Eggs and Ham (protein), If You Give a Mouse a Cookie ("sometimes foods"), To Market, To Market (A field trip to the grocery store). The field trip to the grocery store allows the parents and children to apply the skills and knowledge they have learned in the first six classes. On the final evening there is a celebration pot luck. Parents bring their recipes to share and the children and parents make a book about their experience using photos taken during the seven classes. The featured book that evening is Let's Eat.

Since 2004, Adams County Head Start has hosted six sessions of How to Eat Smart and Be Smart reaching more than 50 families. The curriculum is designed as a train-the trainer model and more than 10 Adams County Head Start staff are now trained to deliver the adult and child curriculum. The Eat Smart=Be Smart sessions are also aligned with the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework. For more information please contact Shawn Taylor, Lead Family Community Specialist, Adams County Head Start, staylor@co.adams.co.us or 303.286.4117.