Hannaford Supermarkets, FoodPlay Productions fighting childhood obesity together
Friday, October 6, 2006
Hannaford Bros. Co. announced it is continuing its partnership with FoodPlay Productions to promote healthy eating and exercise habits to children at elementary schools in an effort to counter rising rates of childhood obesity. Performances have been scheduled throughout the company's five-state marketing area. The "Fresh Adventures at Hannaford-FOODPLAY Tour," that started in the spring of 2006 with 33 performances, will bring the gift of FOODPLAY, a national award-winning nutrition education theater program, to an additional 67 elementary schools in the Northeast this fall.
FOODPLAY is an Emmy Award-winning live theater show that combines fantastic feats of juggling, captivating characters, music, magic, and audience participation with motivating health messages to help children take charge of growing up healthy and fit. Addressing the major nutrition, fitness, and self-esteem concerns affecting today's schoolchildren, FOODPLAY provides children with the practical tools they need to improve their eating and exercise habits - all in a spirit of fun and celebration. FOODPLAY is a science-based program with proven results showing dramatic improvements in the nutrition and health knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of elementary school children.
"It's no secret that good eaters make good learners and we look forward to providing schools with this unique performance. Education is the key to improving the health and eating habits of kids and families and we're happy to bring such effective and well-loved programming to schools," said Caren Epstein, Community Relations Manager.
Founded in 1982 by Emmy Award-winning nutritionist, Barbara Storper, M.S., R.D., a leader in the field of children's nutrition, FoodPlay Productions has spread its message of good health to over two million school children across the country. With its two traveling theater shows, FOODPLAY, for elementary schools, and This Is Your Life! for middle schools, FoodPlay Productions has been making a difference countering the increasingly poor eating and exercise habits of the
While FOODPLAY makes good eating great fun, its messages are quite serious. In the last twenty years, obesity rates have doubled among school children and tripled among adolescents. Less than one percent of U.S. children consume the recommended servings of healthy foods and fewer than half participate in daily physical activity.
As part of the "The Fresh Adventures at Hannaford - FOODPLAY Tour!" schools will receive a live FOODPLAY theater assembly along with dynamic follow-up materials for everyone involved - teachers, students, parents, school food service, and health staff. Each school will receive a FOODPLAY Follow-Up Resource Kit which provides resources for ongoing follow-up in the classroom, cafeteria, and at home. Comprehensive Teacher Activity Guidebooks will be distributed to each teacher providing fun, reproducible lesson plans and student worksheets to follow-up on the enthusiasm generated by the show and to help teachers integrate nutrition into core subject areas.
Students will receive "Passport to Fresh Adventures!" - fun-filled booklets with stickers which provide children with a colorful and interactive way to keep track of their fruit and vegetable intake. Encouraging children to "travel the world" by enjoying a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, students can redeem a special prize at their neighborhood Hannaford Supermarket when they fill up their passports. Students will also receive FOODPLAY Snack Cards to post on their fridge along with "Winning Ways to Treat Your Body Right." Finally, Parent Letters will also be distributed to students to take home, providing fun, easy, and helpful tips to raise healthy children.
For fun food tips, activities, and handouts, visit the FOODPLAY web site at
www.foodplay.com.
This fall the "Fresh Adventures at Hannaford- FOODPLAY Tour" is scheduled to stop in the following cities: Rehoboth on Oct. 4, Lakeville on Oct. 17 and Norwood Oct. 17.
Childhood Obesity fight
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