News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Kids get nutrition knowledge with fun

Published: May 29, 2008 12:00 AM
Modified: May 29, 2008 06:59 AM

Kids get nutrition knowledge with fun

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www.nick.com/letsjustplay -- Tips, challenges and activities.

www.badfatsbrothers.com/BFB.html -- Animation about the "bad fats" in food.

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Think you're food- and nutrition-smart? Here's a pop quiz:

1. Which is better for you: broiled chicken or fried chicken?

2. True or false: French fries and baked potatoes have the same amount of calories.

3. True or false: Dark-colored veggies contain fewer vitamins.

Answers: 1. Broiled. 2. False (a medium order of fries has more than 400 calories; a baked potato about 150). 3. False (dark green and orange veggies are especially good for you).

So, how'd you do?

If you could use a refresher course, or if you're just starting to learn about what is healthy to eat, help is just a click away, with the online Amazing Food Detective game.

Emily, Althea, Enrique and five of their virtual friends are waiting for you at www.kp.org/amazingfooddetective with games, quizzes, charts, experiments, recipes and other useful tools.

At the start of the game, players are given eight cases to solve (in English or Spanish). Each case features a kid with a problem. Matthew, for instance, is tired all the time. Cole pigs out on junk food. Emily eats good food but too much of it. Enrique has weak bones and teeth.

It takes some basic detective work to find the foods or actions to fix each problem. Once you solve the case, there are more activities and games (including a surprisingly tough challenge involving filling milk bottles with the right kind of milk).

There also are activities to print out -- good for long car trips this summer.

The information is geared to kids ages 9 to 11 and is being used with lesson plans developed by Scholastic at an estimated 8,000 schools nationwide. Kids who complete the lesson plan receive silver badge stickers.

Some of the earliest online detectives were fifth-graders at Wilson Elementary School in Washington.

On the day KidsPost visited, Montel Adams watched as Devin Daniels racked up a high score in one of the games. "If you get hit by three pounds of junk food, you lose," Devin explained. Devin hadn't been hit with much junk food, so he kept playing.

But you can't play for too long. After 20 minutes, the game shuts off automatically and the Amazing Food Detective tells you to go do something active -- 100 pushups, maybe? -- and come back in an hour.

At another computer, fifth-graders Brianna Brett, Shantisa Brooks and Michon Curtis were busy solving the case of Matthew, who was in the gym doing jumping jacks but very slowly. The solution? A big machine nearby. With each click of the mouse -- zap! -- the machine made Matthew exercise faster. The girls agreed they probably wouldn't want to be zapped into doing faster jumping jacks.

The Amazing Food Detective was created and launched last fall by Kaiser Permanente, a large organization of hospitals, doctors and other health-care professionals.

The game definitely guides you along. Older kids who might not find it challenging enough can try playing in Spanish. Buena suerte!

Recipes

Carrot and Raisin Salad for Kids

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