Healthy Eating Wins Prize for Brighton School

Children from Kidsfirst South Brighton are on the right track for a lifetime of healthy eating – scooping a top South Island prize in the process.

As part of November’s Fruit and Vegetable month, the kindergarten created an art montage of a healthy body to become the Southern Regional Winner of the 5 + A Day and Heart Foundation art competition, which involved early childhood centres throughout New Zealand.

Kidsfirst teacher Fiona Neale says the importance of developing healthy eating habits from an early age cannot be underestimated.

“Healthy eating not only makes a huge difference to a child’s health long-term, but also improves their ability to concentrate and fully benefit from their kindergarten education,” she says.

“We’ve always encouraged healthy eating and this competition gave us the perfect opportunity to get the children excited and interested in healthy food groups and nutrition.”

Fiona says the children at Kidsfirst South Brighton aren’t afraid of eating healthy food, and enjoy sitting down to eat fresh fruit and veggies with their morning tea.

“Children learn best through watching their peers. They see eating their greens as normal, but also understand the importance and benefits of having good nutritional food.”

The kindergarten also gives the children the opportunity to find out where fresh produce comes from by getting them involved in the kindergarten vegetable patch.

“The children recently planted seeds and are looking forward to harvesting lettuce for their sandwiches and having fresh strawberries. It makes it a fun way to learn about getting your 5+ a day.”

Fiona says these healthy habits don’t stop at the kindergarten gate.

“The children have become fresh fruit and veggie ambassadors and are having a positive influence on their families at home. We can all make improvements to ensure that we are eating healthy food – and these little ones are showing us it’s not hard to do.”

ENDS

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