National Nutrition Month is a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the American Dietetic Association. The campaign is designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.
Initiated in 1973 as a week-long event, National Nutrition Week became a month-long observance in 1980 in response to growing public interest in nutrition. Now an eagerly awaited occasion, National Nutrition Month is observed each year in March.
The slogan for the year 2002 event is "Start Today for a Healthy Tomorrow" and is an inspiring theme for encouraging lifelong healthful eating and activity habits. "Start Today…" also underscores the message that it is never too late-or too soon-to begin working toward a healthy lifestyle.
Some of the key messages underscoring the "Start Today for a Healthy Tomorrow" program include:
- Make a move today toward a healthful lifestyle for tomorrow
- Americans of all ages benefit from making healthful eating, physical activity, and lifestyle choices
- Taking the first step toward making healthful choices can be easy if you enlist help from friends and family
- Trying new foods and new physical activities can jump-start your plans for health
- Personalize the Food Guide Pyramid as your road map toward eating a variety of foods, using moderation when selecting portion sizes, and balancing your choices over time
Many nutrition communicators schedule presentations and workshops or write newspaper and magazine articles on the benefits of healthful eating and physical activity, using National Nutrition Month as a springboard.
To help you get a head start on the March 2002 National Nutrition Month, the IFIC Foundation has numerous nutrition and food safety education materials that are ideal for use with National Nutrition Month activities. The IFIC Publications List is a special insert in this issue of Food Insight that you can use to order the materials you need for your outreach activities and events. By ordering now, you'll be assured of receiving the materials you need in plenty of time to incorporate the information in your National Nutrition Month celebration of one of life's greatest pleasures-enjoying delicious and healthful foods. Some of these materials are also available online at http://ific.org/publications.
