Family Food Matters
Changing Your Lifestyle to Prevent Disease
Family Food Matters is part of the Driving Out Diabetes Initiative at the University of Utah. Driving Out Diabetes includes programs to help prevent, identify, and treat type 2 diabetes.
Family Food Matters specifically focuses on teaching families about eating healthy and incorporating movement into their everyday lifestyles in order to prevent disease.
Family Food Matters consists of these three online video lessons that talk about these things:
- Healthy eating
- A healthy home environment
- Family movement
Each lesson consists of one video, tips for parents, and research. Access to a variety of healthy recipes, diabetes information, and more is also available. All videos and materials can be reviewed by participants at their own pace.
Healthy Eating
When children experience growth spurts, they need additional protein for muscle growth, calcium, and vitamin D to accommodate bone growth, and iron for overall tissue growth. Children will therefore need more energy or calories during these spurts.
Watch the video below to learn more about matching your child’s calorie needs with their new energy level.
A Healthy Home Environment
Does your home promote a healthy eating environment? In other words, is it easy to make healthy choices when you or your family is hungry at home? Or are there too many tempting unhealthy choices?
This section will explore what a healthy home looks like by going through each room in a typical house or apartment.
Family Movement
Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and can set you and your family up for lifelong health and disease prevention. When we are healthy, we’re more able to achieve our goals and have a higher quality of life.
Let’s explore the different types of movement and why it is important for your family.
Next Steps
If you think your teen needs assistance with their diet, schedule an appointment with a pediatrician, family medicine, or internal medicine provider. View our providers in each of these areas.
Recipes
Research on healthy eating for children and teens identifies how much food from each food group is required for their growth, development, and activity. With these in mind, we created healthy recipes for you and your family to cook at home with low cost and short cook and prep times.
Contact Us
For additional questions or to request an in-person workshop please email us at uuccn@utah.edu.
