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This is a video series teaching multiple topics of nutrition. This series is to inspire the children that watch to eat healthy together. These are about 10- 15 minutes long each. They are very fun and interactive videos.

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Telly Award-winning nutrition education series brings to life our cause to elevate the health of children and communities.

Watch the episode series below!

Stream Telly Award-winning children's broadcast series that inspires us to eat healthy together.

Let's SHARE Together!

Tell us the latest foods you have tasted or a new dish cooked at home with your family!

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The Let's Eat Healthy Together broadcast series takes viewers on a journey of food discovery through nutrition, agriculture, cooking, culture and the senses.

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This website shows specifically what muscles are being used during different motions. Muscles and Motion will help you have a better understanding of the way muscles move and interact during training. This will help you acquire science-based knowledge and train in a safe way to prevent sports injuries. Muscles and Motion is used by over 300 universities.

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Muscle&Motion - Strength Training Anatomy, Muscular Anatomy and More!

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Get an Inside View of the Anatomy & Biomechanics of Movement

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In-depth anatomy information about muscles and bones! Delve into the mechanisms of Strength exercises, Yoga, and Posture.

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This article provides studies that prove there is a direct correlation to grades and a good diet.  This does not mean that eating healthy or not will immediately pass/ fail you but it can significantly improve your chances.

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centers for disease control and prevention

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Healthy Schools, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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This article correlates how exercise helps improve the side effects of ADHD. As little as 30 minutes has been shown to significantly improve focus and mood. It gives many ways kids can participate in physical activities without it being competitive sports. Also even if it does not improve their ADHD it never hurts to get some exercise.

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The notion that physical activity has a positive impact on ADHD isn't new, but a recent study showing regular physical activity decreased the severity of ADHD symptoms and improved cognitive functioning in children has a lot of people talking about the future of exercise as a treatment for ADHD.

Betsy Hoza, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Vermont and lead author on the study, says that the idea for the study came from a friend of hers who teaches elementary school and mentioned how much periods of in-school exercise seemed to help her ADHD students. She suggested Dr. Hoza and her colleagues investigate. "That made such intuitive sense," says Dr. Hoza, "I was honestly a little surprised no one had documented it previously."

The results were promising. Dr. Hoza and her colleagues found that for kids between kindergarten and second grade, as little as a half hour a day of moderate to vigorous exercise had a positive, measurable impact on their focus and mood. The results were similar for kids with the impulsive-hyperactive type of ADHD and those with the more inattentive type.

So what does this mean for parents and kids with ADHD?

For many parents looking for alternatives to ADHD medication, studies like this can be a beacon of hope. When non-pharmacological treatments for ADHD get press, they are sometimes hyped as cure-alls, so it's important to take a closer look at the facts to see what they can, and can't, truly offer.

In this case, the results of the study were promising but Dr. Hoza says it's not time to stop using traditional ADHD interventions just yet. "When I talk to parents I say, 'You need to know what the evidence-based treatments are and right now that's stimulant medication, behavioral therapy and their combination,'" she explains.

The bottom line: Exercise isn't a miracle cure for ADHD, but it can make a contribution to a child's functioning better and feeling better, and it's definitely something worth trying.

What Dr. Hoza can say for sure is that exercise definitely doesn't hurt. "It's important to note that there is absolutely NO reason why a parent can't add physical activity to the treatment they're already using," she says. "Unless a child has a physical challenge that would be exacerbated by activity, exercise is a do-no-harm intervention."

While the findings regarding the impact of exercise on ADHD were most notable, Dr. Hoza says that that all the kids in the study-the group at risk for ADHD as well as the typically developing control group who were also participating in the half-hour exercise program-showed improved cognitive functioning.

This, Dr. Hoza says, is the most vital point. "The most important message is that physical activity is important for children's development regardless of whether you have ADHD or not," she says. "There's other research that suggests it has cognitive benefits for all children and we all know the physical benefits."

She's right. According to the CDC, kids who get moving have lower rates of obesity, anxiety and stress, and are less prone to health problems later in life. Exercising during childhood also helps them build good habits that will follow them into adulthood.

This is great news for kids who have a great time playing sports or running outside but for some parents, getting kids to exercise isn't always so easy.

For a lot of kids, including some with ADHD or other learning challenges, gym class-if they still have it-is the worst part of the day. Organized sports are minefields of potential embarrassment for kids who struggle to remember multi-step directions, aren't comfortable with physical contact or just aren't as coordinated as their peers. Making exercise appealing to children who'd rather sit in the bleachers is a challenge.

"It's really important for parents to pay attention to what kind of activity they're enrolling their child in," says Dr. Hoza. "In today's world there are so many children's sports that are very competitive, and those wouldn't be the best choice for kids with ADHD who have a hard time following directions or might not be as coordinated as their peers."

If a child isn't comfortable participating in team sports, look for noncompetitive activities that raise the heart rate without putting them in potentially stressful situations.

Look into other kinds of activities such as swimming, track, fencing or martial arts.

Talk with teachers about integrating more noncompetitive physical activities into the school day. Exercise doesn't have to be limited to gym class!

Help your child find something that suits them. Kids who find activities they enjoy are more likely to participate willingly and stay active as they get older.

It's easy to integrate exercise into daily life at home. Family bike rides, brisk walks to school or even just a simple game of tag in the yard can get everyone moving without the pressure of an organized activity.

So exercise isn't necessarily the whole solution for a child who's struggling with ADHD, but it can have a positive effect on concentration, and it is a vital part of healthy physical and mental development for all kids. "I just can't think of a good reason not to have our kids exercising," says Hoza.

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ADHD and Exercise - Child Mind Institute

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A new study underlines the benefits for ADHD and exercise. What does that mean for parents and kids, and finding a practical approach.

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This article correlates how exercise improves learning. Exercise can improve in school behavior which directly affects learning. Mental health can also be improved by exercise.

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While attending a three-day special education workshop, the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, was recommended to me on the basis that it provides incontrovertible evidence that exercise can help all students-especially special education students-improve in school. At a time when recess and physical education programs are being cut for test prep, I knew this was information worth having and sharing.
Further Reading: 6 Teacher Fitness Tips for Busy School Days
Exercise Can Improve Learning

Written by Dr. John J. Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, the book explores the connection between exercise and the brain, providing strong evidence that aerobic exercise physically remodels the brain for peak performance on all fronts. Specifically, Dr. Ratey writes that exercise improves learning on three levels: "First, it optimizes your mind-set to improve alertness, attention, and motivation; second, it prepares and encourages nerve cells to bind to one another, which is the cellular basis for logging in new information; and third, it spurs the development of new nerve cells from stem cells in the hippocampus." In short, not only does exercise help the brain get ready to learn but it actually makes retaining information easier.

A suburban school district outside of Chicago is proving this point. The Naperville, Illinois district implemented an early morning exercise program called Zero Hour, which sought to determine whether working out before school gives students a boost in their reading ability and other subjects. Since introducing this program, the district has seen remarkable results in both wellness and academic performance.

Naperville's philosophy was to teach kids how to monitor and maintain their own health and fitness-a lifestyle skill with enormous long-term benefits. In fact, across the country, research shows students with higher fitness scores also have higher test scores. Physical activity has a "positive influence on memory, concentration, and classroom behavior."

Exercise Can Improve Students' Mental Health

Dr. Ratey's research also shows that exercise can be the best defense against a lot of the common mental health issues that students struggle with.

Stress

Our students face enormous stress in the classroom and in their lives, including peer pressure, work overload, and high stakes testing. Exercise controls the emotional and physical feelings of stress, and it also works at the cellular level. Physical activity is a natural way to prevent the negative consequences of stress because it can ward off the ill effects of chronic stress and actually reverse them. In addition, studies show people who add physical activity to their lives become more socially active, which boosts confidence and helps establish and maintain social connections.

Anxiety and Panic Disorders

Dr. Ratey defines anxiety as a natural reaction to a threat, but worrying when there's no real threat, to the point where one can't function normally, is an anxiety disorder. Panic is the most intense form of anxiety, and I've witnessed my students having panic attacks during tests and cooperative learning situations, or sometimes just from the general pressures of school.

Spark points out that the majority of studies show aerobic exercise significantly reduces symptoms of anxiety disorders. Through exercise, people learn to alleviate anxiety and rebuild their confidence. Dr. Ratey points out that exercise reroutes the brain's circuits, reduces muscle tension, and teaches a different outcome to an anxiety-provoking situation, ultimately setting an anxious person free from their worrisome tendencies.

Depression

Aerobic exercise is known to have a positive impact on depressive symptoms. Studies suggest that endorphins produced in the brain during exercise contribute to a general feeling of well-being. Exercise also boosts dopamine, which improves mood and jump-starts the attention span. Thirty minutes of moderate exercise a few days a week can do wonders for students who suffer from depressive moods.

ADHD

School can be an especially excruciating environment for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because of the need to sit still, face forward, and listen. Dr. Ratey says structured exercise-in the form of martial arts, ballet, skateboarding, or gymnastics, for example-is one of the best treatment strategies for ADHD.
Further Reading: 5 REALISTIC Ways for Teachers to Get Healthier This Year
The combination of challenging both the brain and body is even better than just aerobic activity alone because the technicality of those sports activates brain areas that "control balance, timing, sequencing, evaluating consequences, switching, error correction, fine motor adjustment, inhibition, and, of course, intense focus and concentration."

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I'd highly recommend Spark to any teacher or parent interested in how exercise and the brain coincide. It will soon become clear that providing students with challenging fitness programs has numerous benefits. Starting slow, finding social support, mixing up activities, and keeping to a routine is a prescription for both brain and body health.

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Exercise and the Brain: How Fitness Impacts Learning

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What happens when you combine exercise and the brain? Learn about the science that shows how fitness can improve students' ability to learn.

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This is an interactive lesson on nutrition. There are lots of informational articles and videos. It goes over topics such as how food provides energy and nutrients our bodies need to function, what foods are better than others and the consequences of eating unhealthy foods. Many nutrition based vocabulary terms and also embedded in this lesson. This course uses many visual, reading and writing teaching techniques.

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Introduction

When you eat, you're doing more than feeding a hunger inside you. You're giving your body what it needs to get you through today and the days ahead. What you choose to eat may matter more than you think.

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Introduction When you eat, you're doing more than feeding a hunger inside you. You're giving your body what it needs to get you through today and the days ahead. What you choose to eat may matter more than you think.

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My Plate is a web site created by the The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This website has a lot of resources to help learn about nutrition. You can take quizzes to see what areas you need to improve on. After each quiz there are links to resources and information to help you improve in those areas. You can also find healthier recipes on a budget or how to add healthy foods to your budget.

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Find easy, low-cost recipes

View delicious recipes in our very own MyPlate Kitchen! Search by ingredient to use what you already have or browse by category to find something new. Save your favorites, make personalized cookbooks, and more!
Go to MyPlate Kitchen

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MyPlate | U.S. Department of Agriculture

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View delicious recipes in our very own MyPlate Kitchen! Search by ingredient to use what you already have or browse by category to find something new. Save your favorites, make personalized cookbooks, and more! Go to MyPlate Kitchen

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This is an interactive lesson on exercise. There are many informational articles, videos, and writing prompts. This lesson goes over why regular physical activity is important to maintain overall health, how physical activity can affect your mind and body, and the changes that occur in your body when you exercise. This course also uses many visual, reading, and writing teaching techniques.

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ExRx is a website with lots of information about workouts, nutrition and many other topics. There is a link to help and teach you how to create your own personalized workout plan.

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This article is filled with nutrition from Davidson College students' health and well-being. There are tips for when you should be eating and how much. It gives what a balanced diet should look like and foods that fall into each category. It also gives good snack options and their benefits.

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Enjoy your food and seek to have a healthy relationship with food.

Eat breakfast every day - Eat within one hour of waking and include protein such as eggs, nuts, peanut butter or Greek yogurt.

Eat at regular time intervals - preferably every 3-4 hours. Hunger builds when you go too long without eating which can lead to over-eating. If you eat an evening snack, have it midway between dinner and bedtime.

Eat to be "smart" - Include foods that contain iron, B vitamins and Vitamin C. Try lean red meat, spinach, whole grain breads and cereal, eggs, nuts, oranges, apples and carrots.

Eat Fruit - Fruit ranks high among the best foods you can eat for your brain. The natural sugars in fruit offer clean energy, so you don't experience the crash that follows consumption of refined sugar.

Choose powerful vegetables - The darker the color, the higher the concentration of nutrients. Great vegetable choices include spinach, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes and sweet potatoes.

Choose lean proteins - Chicken, turkey, fish, tofu, beans, cottage cheese, lean cuts of pork and beef

Include healthy fats - Omega oils and plant fats are excellent for your brain, heart and inflammation. They also help to fill you up and stabilize blood sugar. Avocado, nuts, nut butters, seeds, fish, olives, olive oil.

Smart snacking can enhance productivity and mood - Try to get two food groups into your snacks to balance the nutrients and keep your blood-sugar level stable. Smart snack examples are banana with peanut butter, cheese and crackers, Greek yogurt with cereal. Avoid late night snacking.

Avoid caffeine and nicotine - These are stimulants to the central nervous system which heighten emotions and can lead to increased anxiety.

Look for stress relievers other than food - Examples can include exercise, meditation, yoga, study breaks with friends, watching TV, listening to music, warm shower.

Get your sleep - Aim for a minimum of 8 hrs of sleep per night. Sleep is the foundation to wellness - physical, emotional and mental.

Stay hydrated - Your brain cells work better when they are hydrated. Water, milk and 100% fruit juice are good choices. You should have a half ounce of fluid per pound of body weight each day.

Avoid excessive alcohol - Alcohol is an amnesiac-not ideal for college students. Alcohol is dehydrating and stays in your system for 72 hours. Alcohol adds empty calories.

Eating a Balanced Diet

For both meals and snacks, you'll want a balance of complex carbs, lean proteins and healthy fats. Choose foods that come from food groups, such as grains, meat, fruit vegetable, dairy and fat. Use the chart below to see how you can find a better balance in your diet.

Healthy snacks can be an important part of a healthy diet. They provide important nutrients and energy, help you maintain a healthy metabolism, control hunger and stabilize blood sugar. Choose these balanced snacks between meals and one or more hours before exercise.

Greek, low fat yogurt, or milk with 1/2 cup high fiber cereal (5+g fiber and protein)

100% whole wheat bread with nut butter

Sandwich Thins or English muffin with nut butter and banana

2%, or low fat string cheese or nut butter and fruit of choice

Carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, peppers with hummus/bean dip/guacamole

Fresh or frozen fruit - add peanut butter or a glass of milk

Nuts/trail mix

Graham crackers with nut butter

Whole grain crackers (Wheat Thins, Triscuits, Kashi, etc) with hummus, peanut butter, string cheese, Laughing Cow cheese or lowfat cheese of choice

Snack bars: Kashi, Clif, Nature Valley, Sweet 'n Salty, Zone, Odwalla, Kind, Luna, Lara

Cottage cheese with fresh fruit or salsa

Popcorn plus nuts/string cheese

Edamame (soybeans)

Pudding

Kraft 2% mac and cheese

Lean deli meat or frozen veggie burger on a sandwich thin

Instant oatmeal with peanut butter or protein powder added

Hard-boiled egg plus fruit or crackers

Tuna packet to go plus crackers

High Glycemic Index Snacks

High glycemic index snacks are easily digested and absorbed for quick energy 30-60 minutes prior to exercise, gametime or half-time.

Fresh fruits: bananas, grapes, oranges, melons, fruit juice
Dried fruit: raisins, craisins, apricots, prunes
Cookies/Bars: Fig Newtons, Nutri-Grain Bars, Nature Valley Bars, Chew Granola Bars, graham crackers
Others: bagels or bread with or without jam, dry cereal (Rice Krispies, Special K, Chex), Gatorade, gummies, jelly beans, pretzels, crackers, sports gels

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Enjoy your food and seek to have a healthy relationship with food. Eat breakfast every day - Eat within one hour of waking and include protein such as eggs, nuts, peanut butter or Greek yogurt. Eat at regular time intervals - preferably every 3-4 hours.