FLORIDA HEALTH IN MONROE PROMOTES HEALTHY EATING FOR NUTRITION MONTH

Monroe County, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health in Monroe (DOH-Monroe) celebrates March as National Nutrition Month, which is sponsored annually by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This year’s theme is: “Go Further with Food.” The campaign highlights the far-reaching benefits of making informed eating choices. Informed eating goes further than choosing the most nutritious options—eating choices can also conserve money, save time, and reduce food waste.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests following these tips to go further with food.

  1. Include a variety of healthful foods from all the food groups on a regular basis.
  2. Consider the foods you have on hand before buying more at the store.
  3. Buy only the amount that can be eaten or frozen within a few days and plan ways to use leftovers later in the week.
  4. Be mindful of portion sizes. Eat and drink the amount that’s right for you, as MyPlate encourages us to do.
  5. Continue to use good food safety practices.
  6. Find activities that you enjoy and be physically active most days of the week.
  7. 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.

To learn more about nutrition and National Nutrition Month, visit the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website at: www.eatright.org.

DOH-Monroe offers various programs for the community the promote health eating. The Monroe County WIC Program continues to provide nutritious foods, nutrition counseling, and breastfeeding promotion and support for families. WIC can impact the food and physical activity choices that clients/families make now and in the future.

Currently, the Monroe County WIC program has set goals to decrease the percentage of participating overweight or obese children, ages 2 to 5 years, to 20 percent by March 2019 (it was 23 percent in March 2017).  WIC also has set a goal to increase breastfeeding initiation rates to 85 percent and duration (26 weeks or more of exclusive breastfeeding) to 20 percent by March 2019. In March 2017, initiation rates were at 82 percent and duration rates were at 14 percent.  All 2017 percentages were improvements from 2016 and WIC continues to work hard through outreach and education to make those numbers even better.

Monroe County’s WIC program is a federally funded nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children. WIC provides the following at no cost: healthy foods, nutrition education and counseling, breastfeeding support, and referrals for health care and community services. Find out more at www.FloridaWIC.org.

Monroe County also offers community weight loss challenges throughout the year as part of its Healthiest Weight Florida Initiative. These weight loss challenges run for eight weeks and are open to the public. Public health nutritionists run the challenge and offer nutrition education every week in person and through email. We are currently finishing up our ninth challenge, which includes 30 participants.

Healthiest Weight Florida is a public-private collaboration bringing together state agencies, not-for-profit organizations, businesses and entire communities to help Florida’s children and adults make consistent, informed choices about healthy eating and active living. To learn more about how to be active and make nutritious food choices, visit www.healthiestweightflorida.com.

 

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