According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 12.5 million children and adolescents between the ages of 2–19 are obese in the U.S., and the global prevalence of obesity related diseases among adolescents continues to be a growing concern amongst healthcare professionals and parents alike. In an effort to undermine the rising rates of childhood obesity, whole child partner National Education Association's Health Information Network (NEA HIN) and Nestlé in the United States are providing free instructional materials that support educators' ongoing efforts to teach students in grades K–3 about healthy living through a program called Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives.
Now aligned the United States Department of Agriculture's new generation food icon MyPlate, the third edition of Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives includes activities that address multiple learning styles and utilize a mixture of grouping structures encouraging students to THINK Healthy, EAT Healthy, and MOVE Healthy. The program is also tied to national curriculum standards in all academic content areas for grades K–3 and helps educators incorporate the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans into their classrooms.
The Healthy Steps for Healthy Lives kit features 14 instructional activities, a MyPlate poster offering visual