Fuel up to Play 60!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to work with the American Dairy Association North East (ADANE) and Fuel Up to Play 60 to talk to kids on the importance of eating breakfast and fueling and refueling before and after workouts and play time. Friday I helped set up and participate in a event for Fuel Up to Play 60 at the minor league stadium in my hometown. I was able to meet about 50 kids from local, inner-city schools and show them how teaming up with Fuel Up to Play 60 and their peers can help them get and stay healthy, as well as work toward getting some great prizes like going to NFL games or meeting some NFL players. At the event, the kids all got a healthy breakfast consisting of make-your-own yogurt parfaits, granola bars, fruit and milk. Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, and without it we cannot preform in school or in sports to the best of our abilities.
The kids were all brought to together then for a few introductions and a short talk. First a young farmer talked to the kids about what he does on his family's dairy farm, why he loves farming, and why its an important profession. Then, they had a sports dietitian (my dream job) from Syracuse University come up and talk to the kids about the importance of eating breakfast and was able to demo some smoothies for the kids. She even had some help from Arizona Cardinal's safety, Tyvon Branch. The kids were all so excited to see an NFL player there, and one who really supports Fuel Up to Play 60 and refueling with milk. After the demo, they were sent out onto the field to participate in various stations with different types of physical activity. They played games like a farmers relay and rolled a pair of exercise dice which showed how many reps of a certain exercise must be preformed. After their time at the stations, they were greeted with cartons of chocolate milk for a refuel drink and got to hang out with Tyvon Branch and Oakland Raider's Latavius Murray. The kids were so excited and were asking for pictures and autographs. Before being sent home, they all got a nutritious lunch and left with a smile. Not only was this a day of fun for them, but also a day of learning how to eat right and make healthy decisions all day long.

The following day I was asked to attend and help run a station at the CNY Football Academy with the dietitian from Syracuse University and ADANE. This one day football camp is put on every year and open to kids ages 9-13 in the Central New York area. The camp is a half day program where the kids rotate through a series of stations designed to help them polish their football skills like a running back station, ropes station, and a quarterback station. Along with playing football all morning, they were able to go through a couple stations of basketball as well. The camp is run by Mike Hart, a former NFL player, along with the help of Branch and Murray.
The station I was at was a break station for the kids. We were under a canopy and the kids were able to sit and relax, drink water and take a bit of a break  While they were relaxing, we talked to the kids about breakfast, why it is important, and what constitutes as a healthy breakfast. We had a few examples of a healthy breakfast, unhealthy breakfast and no breakfast. We asked the kids about what they thought about each one, and how they would feel after eating each of the examples. Of course everyone thought that the breakfast that consisted of chips, soda and candy sounded like it would be awesome, but we explained why it wouldn't be the best for them. Sure, that would taste wonderful, and you may get some energy from it, but you'll crash shortly after eating it and not be ready for the rest of the day. The healthy example consisted of cereal, milk, blueberries and walnuts. We stressed to them the great amount of protein and calcium in milk, which helps builds strong muscles and bones. Both of which are very important for growing kids and athletes.
Everyone that came to our station and listened all seemed to be very receptive and responsive to our message. The kids were all so excited to hear that they were getting chocolate milk with lunch too! This was a great opportunity to me to help send out the message to kids and try to instill in them a healthy habit of eating breakfast every day. I got to work with a really great dietitian, which helped to inspire me to stay on my path of becoming a sports dietitian. I look forward to being able to do more events like this in future and continue on my way to being an RD.