Can someone eat for good health if they don't know how to cook? If you had never tasted a certain vegetable while growing up, would you try it on your own? After observing a lack of confidence with cooking skills among youth, the CONTACT - South Simcoe Community Information Centre put ingredients together to form the award winning program "Kids in the Community Kitchen (KICK)". The KICK program, from Central Southern Ontario, received the national Speaking of Food and Healthy Living award at the 2010 Dietitians of Canada Conference in Montreal.

KICK promotes lifelong healthy lifestyle habits through interactive cooking classes and physical activities. "If they [children and teenagers] don't know how to cook, nothing is going to change... They need the basic skills" said Lianne Picot, Executive Director of the CONTACT - South Simcoe Community Information Centre. "Registered Dietitian, Stephanie Clairmont, developed the program by reframing food as an involving activity in order to help the program meet its goal to reduce the incidence of chronic health conditions such as obesity and Type 2 Diabetes among children and youth in Simcoe County." Since June 2009 more than 200 children have participated in KICK and the popularity continues as their summer camp for this year has already filled up. "The [summer] program filled up in less than a week" said Picot.

The innovative KICK program was recognized by Dietitians of Canada and Kraft Canada as the national recipient of the Speaking of Food and Healthy Living Award: Excellence in Consumer Communication. The award is designed to encourage and recognize collaborative efforts that help Canadians make informed choices about healthy eating and physical activity. Each year six regional awards are given to programs that promote healthy eating and active living in Canada. Among these regional awards, one program is selected to receive the national awards. Recipients are selected by a panel of leaders from the dietetic profession, physical activity sector, food industry, media, academia and government. In addition to the KICK program, the five regional winners were:

- British Columbia: Nutrition for You is a series of free seminars, grocery store tours and after school/summer programs designed to help the public make healthy lifestyle choices.

- Alberta and Territories: Healthy Foods North is an in-store promotional campaign to promote healthy eating and active lifestyle opportunities in Northern Canada.

- Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North-Western Ontario: Sip & Skip is a fifteen day challenge designed to help establish bone friendly habits in children ages eight to ten years old.

- Quebec, Northeast and Eastern Ontario: Rallye sur la Côte is a workplace challenge that encourages employee teams to live healthy, active lives.

- Atlantic: Take H.E.A.R.T. (Healthy Eating Active Recreation Today) is an interactive program that provides participants with ongoing fitness and nutritional education over a 12-week period.

For a full overview of the winning programs visit: here.

Source:
Dietitians of Canada
Kraft Canada