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Eat
Smart, Move More
With poor eating habits
and sedentary lifestyles fast becoming our top killers, Cumberland County families
need new tools to help them eat smarter and move more.
The N.C. Cooperative
Extension Service has partnered with the N.C. Division of Public Health
and the N.C. Academy of Family Physicians to create Eat Smart, Move
More, an educational program aimed at helping families find simple
solutions for eating smart at home and on the go, as well as incorporating
physical activity into family life.
 "I don't
have time" or "It is too expensive" are common responses
when people are asked why the don't eat at home. Unscientific experiments
have found that a home cooked meal costs half what the take out meal cost,
and only takes about 10 additional minutes. Also, an at-home
meal contains about half the calories and less
than half the fat of the take out meal, which is consistent with
research which shows that families who eat out more often eat more calories,
more fat and sugar, and get fewer nutrients. Therefore, we know what to
do but just aren't doing it because of a perceived lack of time, or even
a lack of basic skills. One of our goals is that Eat Smart, Move More
will teach families how to make simple meals quickly.
The program also
encourages families to plan ahead for television-viewing time to make
more time for physical activity. The physical activity goal of this
program is to get adults to build 30 minutes of physical activity into
their daily routine and build 60 minutes of activity into their children's
daily routine..
The program consists
of four modules:
Eating
Smart at Home
Eating
Smart on the Run
Moving
More, Everyday, Everywhere
Moving
More, Watching Less
Better Health
is offering Eat Smart, Move More to community groups such as,
churches, civic groups, businesses and other organizations who want to
help improve the health of their members. See related information on Better
Health's "Did You Know?" page.
If
your church or organization would like to participate in the program,
call
Robin Sledge at 483-7534.
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