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February 24, 2006 Web-based Program Offers Nutrition, Physical Activity Challenge C’mon, what do you have to lose? Maybe a few pounds. How about some points off your cholesterol or blood pressure readings? Or perhaps a boring diet. Sign up for the North Dakota State University Extension Service’s new Fruit, Vegetable and Fitness Cyber Challenge. The interactive, Web-based six-week program educates participants about the importance of fruits and vegetables in their diet and doing adequate physical activity. Participants also will be able to log their daily fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. The Cyber Challenge is aimed at adults with Internet access at home or work. The program will run from March 6 through mid-April. Participants can register the day the challenge starts. To sign up, visit the Web site at www.ag.ndsu.edu/cyberchallenge/. March is a good time to begin eating a healthier diet because it’s National Nutrition Month®, says NDSU Extension food and nutritional specialist Julie Garden-Robinson, the Cyber Challenge’s creator. Like many Americans, North Dakotans are falling short of national goals for healthy eating and physical activity. About 80 percent of North Dakota adults don’t consume the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day, and 53 percent don’t get the recommended level of physical activity, according to the latest data from the North Dakota Department of Health. Adults meet their physical activity recommendations if they do moderate physical activity for 30 or more minutes a day five or more days a week, or vigorous physical activity for 20 or more minutes a day three or more days a week. A healthy diet and physical activity are important because they can help reduce people’s risk of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases, Garden-Robinson says. The Cyber Challenge provides participants a new lesson each week. The lessons are on topics such as portion sizes, healthy snacks, eating on the run, beverage choices and how to read nutrition labels. Garden-Robinson also will send participants a couple of e-mails each week with additional information, and participants will be able to ask her questions. The “daily log” section gives participants a chance to record the number of minutes they spend on physical activity or the number of steps they walk if they have a pedometer. They’ll also be able to go down a list of fruits and vegetables and note the amount they’ve consumed each day. By the next time they log onto the Web site, the program will have converted that tally into the average number of servings they consumed. Garden-Robinson conducted the first Cyber Challenge last spring. About 90 people signed up for it. She is hoping to at least double the number of participants this year. ### Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
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