Class Room Nutrition

Nutrition and how it affects both the mind and body at every age has always been an interest to me. Due to this intrigue in the spring of 2021, I decided to declare a minor in Nutrition. I started with a couple of introductory courses and ventured into how nutrition plays a role at different life stages and in sports. I have always been interested in pediatric nutrition specifically and with two young nieces I chose to focus one of my first projects on understanding the recommended intake for children ages 1-3 years old. This project ultimately culminated in a nutrition guide as well as a summary describing what I had learned. As I progressed into my other courses I decided to keep building on these concepts and look more specifically at the food insecurity that plagues many school-age children. I have always been a firm believer in the role that nutrition plays in children being successful in the classroom and as I researched more, I learned how prevalent this issue was right in Biddeford, Maine. My goal of this project started as exposing children to nutritious snack ideas that they could still find just as delicious as processed snacks, but that were hopefully not out of the weekly budget that their family was spending on groceries. Throughout this project, I became more and more passionate about this issue and ended up sitting down with a fellow student who was finishing up her education degree to learn how she viewed food insecurity in the classroom and how teachers see it impacting students. Linked below you can find all the projects I have discussed here as well as my favorite recipe that I brought in for the students.