Board Matter
January 28, 2014
Declaring March National Nutrition Month® in Fairfax County
Madame Chairman,
March is National Nutrition Month (NNM)®. Throughout the month, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics annually sponsors a nutrition education and information campaign designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.
“Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right" is the theme for National Nutrition Month® 2014. This year's key messages for NNM will focus on how to combine taste and nutrition to create healthy meals that follow the Dietary Guidelines recommendations.
Often as a result of hectic schedules and a lack of planning, we fall into the trap of eating quickly prepared, processed foods that do not meet even the minimum nutrition requirement. National Nutrition Month encourages us to pause and reflect on our daily eating habits. This is a particularly important lesson to teach our kids. Being overweight and obesity in children are rising. Kids who are obese are at a much greater risk for health problems now and later in life. A key to reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity is good nutrition and portion control.
- recently taped a Braddock Neighborhood News program on Channel 16 on this topic. The show will air in March and addresses some of the opportunities and challenges facing Fairfax as we work towards being a healthier community. Partnership for Healthy Fairfax, a diverse coalition working together to improve community health, and Real Food for Kids, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing nutritious, wholesome food for children at schools, highlighted some of the daily, healthy decisions we can make. Another local nonprofit making a difference is Arcadia. Through fieldtrips to its farm at Woodlawn Estates and other educational opportunities, Arcadia offers students the unique, hands on, educational experience of farming and food production, helping kids understand the health benefits of fresh food.
To highlight the importance of such public and nonprofit partnerships and to encourage the community as a whole to improve nutrition and wellness efforts, I ask that March be declared National Nutrition Month in Fairfax County and that these three organizations be brought before the Board on March 4th to be recognized for their efforts to create a healthier Fairfax.