New Year\u2019s resolutions often include a resolve to get healthier, by moving more or eating better.\u00a0 Staying Healthy<\/em> is a great health literacy tool to teach about good nutrition.\u00a0 According to Florida\u2019s adult ESOL learners, learning about healthy eating habits is the most important tool gained from the Staying Healthy<\/em> section of adult literacy courses.<\/p>\n

Staying Healthy\u2019s <\/em>chapter on nutrition explains about important nutrients, how to decipher a nutrition label, what to eat, what not to eat, and how to determine a healthy weight using the BMI scale.\u00a0 When teaching about nutrition, there are a few simple tips that make nutrition easy to understand:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Aim for more fruits and vegetables (5 to 9 per day), more fiber (20 grams per day), and less sodium (less than 1,200 milligrams per day).\u00a0 Try to incorporate whole-grains.\u00a0 Switch to fat-free or low-fat milk and dairy products instead of their full-fat counterparts.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Balance calories by enjoying your food, but eating less.\u00a0 Avoid oversize portions.\u00a0 The plate rule, promoted by the FDA and Michelle Obama, is an easy way to do this at meal time.\u00a0 Half of the plate should be fruits and vegetables, one quarter o the plate should be whole grains, and one quarter of the plate should be protein.\u00a0 See Figure 1.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Figure 1.<\/strong>\u00a0 Plate Rule.\u00a0 Source:\u00a0 Choosemyplate.gov.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Try frozen or canned fruits and vegetables if fresh produce is too expensive \u2013 just try to avoid added ingredients like sodium, sugar, butter, or sauces.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Drink 8-10 eight-ounce glasses of water a day.\u00a0 Avoid sugary drinks.<\/p>\n

Combined with moving more, these simple steps will put you on the right track toward staying healthy in the new year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Year\u2019s resolutions often include a resolve to get healthier, by moving more or eating better.\u00a0 Staying Healthy is a great health literacy tool to teach about good nutrition.\u00a0 According to Florida\u2019s adult ESOL learners, learning about healthy eating habits Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[777,953],"class_list":["post-1336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-literacy","tag-nutrition","tag-staying-healthy"],"yoast_head":"\r\n