The Parkview Youth Well-being team created a series of healthy habits, simple to apply to everyday life. In this video, Katie Fulk, MA, RDN, LD, youth and family well-being coordinator, Parkview Health, encourages kids to put the rainbow on their plates.
Did you know that you have the power to protect yourself from illness just by eating fruits and vegetables? It's true. When we aim to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables every day, we are helping our body function at its best. Sadly, most people simply don’t eat enough.
Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables in different colors can help our hearts beat, our brain think and our skin glow.
Red
Everyone, place your hand on your heart. Feel that thump, thump, thump? When we eat red fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, strawberries and watermelon, we are protecting our hearts.
Orange
Next, point to your eyes. Have you ever seen a rabbit in the wild with eyeglasses? Nope. That's because orange foods like carrots contain vitamin A and support eye health.
Yellow
Punch your arms to the ceiling. Yellow fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants that help us bite off the germs.
Green
Now touch your elbow and think of green vegetables like spinach, kale and collard greens that contain vitamin K. When we are walking outside and trip and scrape up our elbows, vitamin K helps our blood clot or stop bleeding.
Purple
Fruits and vegetables are high in nutrients called anthocyanins that help our brains. Think, think, think.
White
Finally, white, starchy vegetables like potatoes, give our bodies energy so that we can dance, play and sing.
Servings
We want to aim to enjoy two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables every day. These can be fresh, frozen, canned or dried. Serving sizes will vary because we are all different shapes and sizes. Enjoying five a day will keep your belly feeling full of fiber and help you go poop. Yep. You heard me.
Good luck as you aim to enjoy five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
See the full Healthy Habits playlist.
