Are you interested in how your kids can learn how to eat healthier? In this article, Dr. Isobel Contento,  a Professor in Nutrition Education and Coordinator of the Nutrition Program in the Department of Health and Behavior Studies at Teachers College Columbia University, talks about the programs run by Teachers College throughout Harlem. Some have parent workshops where you can learn about the same topics that your kid does. To learn more, read the article below!

Q: What is your involvement in the Harlem community?

A: The Nutrition Program at Teachers College of Columbia University was founded in 1909 and has been involved in providing nutrition education in Harlem since its founding.   The program creates lesson plans for Nutrition Program students, nutritionists, and teachers to use in schools throughout Harlem.  In the 1970s, the Nutrition Program opened the "Earth Friends Room," which is a resource center that offers cooking and education to students at Harlem schools (to get more information or to get involved at the Earth Friends Room, email Pamela Koch at pkoch@tc.edu). Our latest school nutrition program for Harlem is called Choice, Control, and Change, which is an obesity prevention program for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students and is taught in various schools in Harlem.  Teachers receive a series of lesson plans to educate their students about how the human body works.  The students also learn how food and activity play a role in the body's health and well-being.

Since 2006, another program that Teachers College is involved with in Harlem is an afterschool and summer program called the Harlem RBI.  It has a baseball theme so RBI stands for "runs batted in."  In addition to providing academic support for the youth, the program offers nutrition programs to promote healthy eating habits as well as baseball and softball leagues to encourage physical activity.  Master's level nutrition students teach Harlem youth (in elementary and middle school) about healthy food and how they can make smart choices about what they eat. Some activities include nutrition education to teach about healthy foods to eat; plant-based and healthy cooking sessions for appetizers, entrees, and desserts; and gardening programs.

Q: Do you work with the students' parents?

A: Working with parents is crucial to how young people eat. Even though some students buy their own food at school, home is still the major source for meals for many children. I think a real challenge in providing skills and information to parents is that they are really busy and have very little time for cooking which they may see as a "low priority." To make it easier for busy, working parents we have group parent sessions at the schools where our Master's level nutrition students work-like during the summer Harlem RBI program. If parents can't come to a session, we send students home with engaging written materials that parents can read at home.  We also try to have some activity that the parents and students can do together at home and bring the results back to the classroom, such as cooking healthy food. In general, I think parents in Harlem are very eager and interested to see that their children eat well; it's just a matter of finding the time.

To learn more about the Nutrition Program in the Department of Health and Behavior Studies at Teacher College of Columbia University and nutrition programs offered in Harlem, contact Pamela Koch, EdD, RD, the Executive Director for the Center for Food & Environment at pkoch@tc.edu.