Kids in the Kitchen is designed to help communities address the urgent issues surrounding childhood obesity and poor nutrition. JLCU’s Kids in the Kitchen project is developed, organized and staffed by the New Member Class in the spring.
The 2009 Kids in the Kitchen event, held on April 14, educated children about the importance of healthy lifestyle choices. The event was held at the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) on the University of Illinois campus, and third-graders from Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Urbana and Garden Hills Elementary School were invited to attend as a class field trip.
The students were divided in groups, aptly named “Apple,” “Berry,” and “Clementine,” and rotated between three stations: nutrition, fitness, and healthy snack preparation. Nikki Hillier, Program Coordinator for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, taught the students about “Go-Slow-Whoa” food, how much to consume each day, and ways to minimize the amount of fat in your diet.
An ARC trainer led the students through an agility obstacle course. The third-graders were taught how to make “Monkey Crunch” and “Cheesecake Grahams” in the ARC Instructional Kitchen. University of Illinois athletes from women’s and men’s basketball, baseball, and football served as guest assistants at each station. The event was covered by local television station, WICD, and a front page photo was featured in The News Gazette the following day.
