For over the past 12 weeks, our anatomy classes have engulfed themselves in the lifestyles of teachers and administration in our district who wanted to achieve new fitness and health goals. Set up as a competition, the "Healthy Cowboy Challenge"-as we called it- paired a teacher with two students to create and keep track of healthy living and eating choices to help their client achieve weight loss, decrease in blood pressure or overall body fat, and knowledge about nutrition and the best things you can do to maintain good health. Not only was this project fun and challenging, but it helped us learn a lot-as students- about creating healthy habits in our lives now. My partner and I created many posters and charts, but one of our client's favorite products was a ThingLink of a food pyramid where you can scroll over the food groups we are supposed to be getting each day and how you can incorporate them into your meals and facts about each group and how they add to your health. I learned from this project what foods provide which vitamins, minerals, and nutrition our bodies need and easy ways to still enjoy what i like to eat, just in healthier versions. Our client not only gained the loss of a few pounds over this project but also the awareness of what he is putting into his body and small changes he can make in his diet and exercise to better his overall health. This project was very rewarding for both teachers and students; the only suggestion i would have to improving it would be to have check in more often to really help and give continuous face to face encouragement to the clients.
Link to ThingLink:
Interactive Food Pyramid
