Childhood obesity is still a concern for the state of Kentucky.  The department of children and family services has initiated a campaign called 5-2-1-0 which is explained below:

• Five: Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
• Two: Limit screen time to no more than two hours a day.
• One: Be physically active at least one hour a day.
• Zero: Don't drink sweetened beverages.

The campaign is designed to give parents, healthcare professionals and day care operators a memorable way to talk about the key evidence-based behaviors that reduce childhood obesity.

With this being said, I felt that it was necessary to introduce My Plate to the second grade classes of Cartmell Elementary in Carroll County.  I taught 154 second graders about My Plate and took food items into the classroom that represented each food group.  The children were asked to put each item on their plate and then to do an art project by creating a sunflower with the items. Twelve children (18%) said they were not putting carrots on their plate because they "hated" carrots. So I said "ok, but you will not be able to create a pretty art picture without carrots".  I only ask that you taste the carrot, you do not have to eat the entire carrot. So reluctantly. they put carrots on their plate.  The food items were rice cakes from the grain group (the middle of the sunflower, apples from the fruit group (leaves), string cheese from the dairy group (stem), carrots from the vegetable group (petals) and sunflower kernels (seeds) from the protein group. They had a fun time "playing: with their food.  Once their sunflower was created, we talked about one food group at a time.  They were eager to tell their favorite food in that group and also expressed how they hated some foods. Each child selected a stuffed fruit or vegetable and we discussed how the more color a plate has, the healthier it is. They talked about all the colors and came to the conclusion that it would be easy to eat vegetables every day since there are so many from which to chose.

In conclusion, twenty children had never tasted rice cakes. After tasting them they commented that they tasted like popcorn, all except  for five ( 7%) children of 154 said that they would ask their parents to get rice cakes the next time they go grocery shopping. Of the twelve children who said they hated carrots,eight ate their carrots and stated that they wasn't that bad.  We will continue our nutrition lessons by tasting more foods as the year continues.