Eat Well Get Moving

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Eat Well Get Moving
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Eat Well Get Moving! is a healthy weight promotion program with the aim of encouraging students to eat more vegetables and fruit and be more active.

Research shows that eating more vegetables and fruit and being more active are the most effective behaviours a person can have to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

How the Program Works

The Eat Well, Get Moving! program takes place between February 1 and April 30, 2010. Participants can start playing any time within the 3-month period although we encourage participation throughout the 3 months.

Interested schools and teachers register their classes to participate. Students are given Crunch & Go cards on which they track the number of vegetables and fruit they eat and the number of minutes of activity they do. At the end of each month cards are collected for entry in the draw for prizes.

To find out more about the prizes available for winning see our prizes section.

How to Register

To register your school or class print off the registration form, fill it out and fax it to Wanda Hurdle at 250-744-1042.

How to Fill Out Your Crunch & Go Card

Vegetables and Fruit:

Every time you eat one serving of vegetable or fruit cross off one apple on your card.

One serving of Vegetables and Fruit =

  • 1/2 cup of fresh, canned or frozen vegetables or fruit
  • 1/2 cup of 100% fruit or vegetable juice
  • 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale etc.

Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide recommends school-age children and youth to have between 5 and 8 servings of Vegetables and Fruit each day.

Physical Activity:

For every 15 minutes of activity you do cross off one of the sneakers on your Crunch & Go card.

What counts? Any activity that increases breathing or heart rate. A brisk walk, a game of tag, skipping, rollerblading, swimming, skating, and playing sports.

Health experts recommend 90 minutes of moderate activity for children and 60 minutes of moderate activity for adults most days of the week (preferably each day).

How to Use Crunchy's Garden Poster

Registration packages include a Crunchy's Garden poster along with 2 sheets of round stickers. For each full Crunch & Go card returned by a student, the student can place a sticker along the Crunchy's Garden path. Once your class has finished moving along the path to the house on the poster it is time to celebrate as a class!

Peer Team Program

In partnership with the BC Cancer Agency's Prevention Programs, the peer team project was a pilot project during the 2009 Eat Well Get Moving! program. Due to the great success of the pilot, this program continued in 2010.

Groups of local high school students use peer education and experiential learning to bring a message of healthy eating and physical activity to participating classrooms in the Eat Well Get Moving! program.

This year a group of Oak Bay High School students visited Hillcrest Elementary School and here was the feedback from the school:

"(We) greatly enjoyed the PEER presentation. The costumes, and script were particularly entertaining. The fact that they were secondary students was also very impressive to students in grade four and five, and reminded them that being healthy, is also 'cool'. It's great to have the curriculum and the DPA reinforced, in such a fun way. Thank you for providing this presentation."
- Clare Mullen, Hillcrest Elementary School

From the Peer Team students:

What did you personally get out of your involvement with the peer team experience?

"Working in a group, co-operation, respect for others, taking and using criticism." Jessica Wong

"Working in a group, sorting out conflicts and getting the work done. I learned new things from the chickcow game that I didn't already know. Working with such a younger age group was different and a lot of fun. I learned that sometimes the younger kids were a lot more organized. The crew that dealt with the tech was AMAZING! I also got to bond and grow closer to new people and it was overall a great experience." Stephanie Wong

What worked well?

"I thought that the skit went really well, the kids were really responsive to it, and it was short but really funny. I think we should stick with it. For the fitmass, I think that it was a really good idea to have all of the peer team out in the crowd doing it with the kids. It kept it fun and showed them that we were doing it as well. The teachers really got into it too, that was fun to see everyone getting involved. At the end when we asked the kids what they learned. I think they picked up on every point we put out there. That was nice to see that we got our point across even if there wasnt a whole load of information, at least they remembered the few points. I think it was also a nice way of showing the teachers at the end that the kids actually learned something." Adele Green

Peer Team from Oak Bay High School

Peer Team from Oak Bay High School March 2010 at Hillcrest Elementary School

If your school is interested in having a peer team come and present, contact Areli Hermanson, 250-519-5133 or areli.hermanson@viha.ca.

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2010 Summary

Congratulations to all the schools that took part in the program this year.

There were more schools and students that participated in the program this year than in 2009.

  • 6973 Students
  • 316 Classrooms
  • 33 Schools

2011 Program Preview

With the great success seen from the 2010 program, we will plan to make only minor changes to the program for 2011 based on feedback that we received from students, teachers and organizers involved in the program this year.

2011 Program Highlights

  • Expanded Peer Team Program - We heard nothing but positive comments from the schools where the Peer Team visited. We aim to engage more Peer Teams in other high schools in Greater Victoria so that there is more opportunity for Eat Well Get Moving! schools to invite the Peer Team to visit their schools and teach students in a fun and interactive way.
  • Continue with a school grand prize - Schools that have won the grand prize of a gift certificate to purchase physical activity equipment appreciate this type of prize. It benefits students for years to come.
  • Opportunities to have Crunchy visit your school - Students love Crunchy the Carrot Mascot and associate it with the program. We will continue to offer a certain number of FREE Crunchy visits to schools.

In the Media

To kick-off the 2010 Eat Well Get Moving! program, a news release - [PDF 32KB] was sent out to all media contacts in Greater Victoria. Two newspaper articles and one radio interview were completed on the program! Read more below.

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Prizes and Prize Winners

Congratulations to the following winners of prizes in the 2010 program.

Early Registration Prizes

Congratulations to the following schools who won registration prizes!

Grand Prize

This prize is given out based on participation (see instruction sheet for details). Only schools that participate for all 3 months of the program are eligible:

  • Brentwood Elementary was the winner of $700 from Frontrunners to spend on school sports equipment. The school had an 86% participation rate in the program. Congratulations!

Runner-up Prize

This prize is for the school with the second highest participation. Only schools that participate for all 3 months of the program are eligible:

  • Congratulations to Hillcrest Elementary who won a Crunchy the Carrot Mascot Visit and Crunchy brought special prizes to give away to students including two iPod Shuffles!
Hillcrest Elementary

Early Registration Prizes

Congratulations to the following schools who won registration prizes!

  • West-Mont Montessori won University of Victoria, Vikes Basketball Tickets
  • Crystal View Elementary won Victoria Cougars Hockey Tickets
  • Wishart Elementary won Victoria Grizzlies Hockey Tickets
  • Lighthouse Christian Academy, Savory School, Hillcrest Elementary, Salt Spring Island Elementary, Pacific Christian Elementary each won an iPod Shuffle
  • Saint Margaret's School and Children's Development Centre won a visit from Jessalyn O'Donnell, Thrifty Foods Dietitian as a registration prize for Eat Well Get Moving! The school visits took place on February 1 and 2, to kick off the beginning of the program for this year. Jessalyn visited 2 classes at Children's Development Centre and 4 classes at Saint Margaret's School, spending about 30 minutes with each class talking to students about veggies and fruit and letting the children taste some veggies and fruit that they may or may not have tried before.

Jessalyn reported:

"Kids were very eager to participate in the session on healthy eating. Every time a question was asked, a wave of hands would go up in the air demonstrating their keenness to share their ideas on how eating a variety of foods can contribute to overall health and wellbeing. Trying different fruits was also a highlight; and not to mention, learning how to eat a banana like a monkey was also a hit!"

The children in the classrooms made comments such as:

"I learnt we are mostly made up of water"
"I learnt what a lychee is. "I also learnt it was squishy on the inside and hard on the outside."
"I learnt how to eat a banana like a monkey"
"I learnt that not eating healthy can make you feel CRAZY!!!"

Incentive Prizes

These prizes are given to all schools that register to take part in the program:

  • Villages Pizza - one classroom pizza party for each school AND
    one $5 off coupon for each student
  • Thrifty Foods - one $20 Smile Card per school
  • Salmon Kings Hockey tickets - 4 tickets per school
  • Recreation Centres - single visit free pass for each student
  • Eat Well Get Moving! Backpacks - one backpack per school

Monthly Prizes

When Crunch & Go cards are returned each month, random draws take place for the following prizes:

  • Recreation Centres - one free class pool or skate party
    • Savory Elementary, Shawna Weiss's Class (February)
    • St. Patrick's Elementary, Darlene Elliot's Class (March)
    • Pacific Christian Elementary, Sigrid Albert's Class (April)
  • CRD Parks, School Nature Program - one free class trip
    • Lighthouse Christian Academy, John Dobson's Class (February)
    • Sangster Elementary, Mrs. Bonfonti's Class (March)
    • St. Margaret's Elementary, Cheryl Whiting's Class (April)
  • iPod Shuffle - one per month
    • Rogers Elementary
    • Wishart Elementary
    • West-Mont Montessori

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Feedback on the Program

We appreciate all the feedback that we received from teachers, students and program organizers. What we heard from the students that participated in the program:

  • "Playing outside is better than staying in and playing video games."
  • "Fruits and vegetables make your body feel good."
  • "I found out vegetables taste very, very good."
  • "Felt good to practice an activity and get stronger."

What we heard from the teachers:

  • "Keep up the good work. The kids love filling out the little cards. It really makes them think about how well they are eating and how much exercise they are really getting."
  • "I think every way we can encourage students and help them become more aware of lifestyle choices like food and activity is great."
  • "A well-balanced program that is teacher friendly. Thank you for the time and effort spent developing this program."

We also received some great suggestions on ways to improve the program. Our group will be working hard to take these suggestions and make them a part of the program for next year.

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How to Book Crunchy

If you are doing an Eat Well Get Moving! event or launch at your school, you may want to consider inviting Crunchy the Carrot mascot to come join the fun. For $100.00, the mascot and handler will come and energize the students in your school around healthy eating and physical activity.

For more information and to book Crunchy, call Bobbi Neal, Community Development Coordinator, at 250-474-5825.

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Teacher Resources

Healthy Snack and Activity Ideas

Try making this smoothie recipe with you class for a healthy snack or one of the other snack ideas listed.

Banana Berry Smoothie

  • 1 banana, peeled
  • 6 strawberries
  • 250 ml low fat vanilla yogurt
  • 125 ml low fat milk
  • 5 ml sugar (optional)

Method
Pour all of the ingredients into a blender.
Blend for 45 to 60 seconds until smooth.
Pour your smoothie into a glass and enjoy.
Serves 2

Healthy Snack Ideas:

  • Vegetables and dip
  • Fruit and yogurt
  • Cheese and crackers
  • Mini muffins and milk
  • Pita with hummus
  • English muffin pizza
  • Crackers with apple slices and cinnamon
  • Cottage cheese and melon

In-class Activity Ideas:

Action Schools! BC has many great activity ideas for in-class Daily Physical Activity and activities that link with curriculum. Try this Daily Physical Activity or choose from the many others at www.actionschoolsbc.ca

  • 15 minutes of chair aerobics to music
  • 15 minutes of dance
  • 15 minutes of yoga
  • 15 minutes of juggling
  • 15 minutes of walking or running around school field
  • 15 minutes of ball games
  • 15 minutes of playground time
  • 15 minutes of tag games
  • 15 minutes of skipping

Healthy Choices

Developed by the Vancouver Island Health Authority

Healthy Choices is a comprehensive, curriculum based program for Kindergarten through Grade 12. The program aims to improve students' health by providing classroom resources, promoting a healthy school environment, encouraging access to health services and promoting community action. It is free for download at http://healthychoices.viha.ca.

There are many classroom teaching kits, videos and support materials available for loan through your local health unit including:

Teaching Kits:

  • Rethink Your Drink
  • Caffeine Conundrum
  • Portion Distortion
  • There's a Rainbow on Your Plate

DVDs:

  • Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide
  • Advertising, The Media and Your Health
  • Supermarket Persuasion

Call (250) 519-5100 for more information or to book resources to use in your classroom.

Programs and Resources

For a comprehensive listing of resources for your classroom and school, visit www.healthyeatingatschools.ca. There is a great factsheet for teachers on how to support healthy eating and active living within your classroom (Take Action: Teachers).

  • Sip Smart! BC - This great resource is FREE to BC educators and is now available to download and print
    www.bcpeds.ca/sipsmart (Click Teachers)
  • Action Schools! BC - Is your school an Action School! yet? The program is all about promoting healthy living within your school community.
    www.actionschoolsbc.ca
  • BC Agriculture in the Classroom - Best known for the BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program, there are also lesson plans and other programs available.
    www.aitc.ca/bc/snacks
  • Lifecycles Project Society - Growing Schools - get planting and learning at your school!
    www.lifecyclesproject.ca/initiatives/growing_schools
  • The Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre - Interactive educational programs are available with accompanying lesson plans and resources.
    www.compost.bc.ca

For further information on active living and healthy eating:

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Thank You To Our 2010 Sponsors

Without our sponsors this program would not be possible.

Eat Well Get Moving! is pleased to have the support of the following sponsors:

Our Gold Sponsors:
Villages Pizza, Frontrunners, Salmon Kings and Thrifty Foods

Villages Pizza Frontrunners Salmon Kings Thrifty Foods

Our Silver Sponsors:
CRD Parks, University of Victoria Vikes, Victoria Cougars, Victoria Grizzlies, Active Communities, and
BC Cancer Agency

CRD Parks University of Victoria Vikes Victoria Cougars Victoria Grizzlies Active Communities BC Cancer Agency

Our Bronze Sponsors:
Pomodoro Pizza and Salt Spring Island Parks and Recreation Commission Rainbow Road Pool.

Pomodoro Pizza

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Contact Us

Program Lead:
Areli Hermanson
(250) 519-5133 or areli.hermanson@viha.ca

Registration:
Fax registration form to Wanda Hurdle at (250) 744-1042

Recreation Center Contacts:

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Your Feedback is Appreciated

Please send you feedback at any time.

areli.hermanson@viha.ca

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For information on more initiatives like this one see Joint (Shared) Community Programs.