Game teaches kids the importance of healthy food choices

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You are one of Toronto's best mountaineers and you and your team are on its latest mission - to scale the Andean mountains. Unfortunately, your plane has crashed and your communication gear has been destroyed. The only thing that will keep you alive is healthy food choices.

That is the premise of the latest game by Breakfast Club For Learning. The game, which was released during Nutrition Month in March, is geared toward kids with the goal of teaching them when they make healthy food choices, they will stay alive.

Anime characters

The game includes eight Japanese anime-type characters, nutritional points, "dice," a game board and cards, which give the player points depending on the nutritional value of the meal he consumed.

The cards allow the kids to equate healthy choices to survival, said Carol Dombrow, a register dietician and a nutritional consultant for BFL.

For example, a child would get eight nutritional points for a meal consisting of a salmon sandwich (four), carrots and celery (two) and chocolate milk (two), whereas an orange drink (zero) and toast with jam (one) would get a player one point. The person with the most amount of nutritional points at the end of the game wins.

Save yourself, save others

There are several ways to play the game including Team Survivor where players have to learn how to make healthy food choices in order to keep not only themselves alive, but the team; Extreme Survivor where only one person makes it; and Staying Alive! Live!, where kids use their own food choices to see if they would have enough energy to survive a plane crash.

Dombrow, who lives in North York, said the game took six months to create and was tested and kid approved.

The kids "seemed really interested. They gave up TV for an hour to play the game."

With the release of the Canada's new food guide to healthy eating, which has an increased emphasis on vegetables and fruit, Dombrow said the importance of eating well at every meal has become even more important.

That means kids, and their parents, have to make good food choices each time they eat.

And while parents often think it's the kids who bulk at healthy food choices, if given a chance, youngsters can often teach their parents a thing or two.

"Kids help sell their parents to some extent," said Dombrow.

She gave the example of a child who won't eat anything other than macaroni and cheese at home, but will try something new at a friend's house. That same child may come home and be excited about the new food they discovered.

It is then up to parents to keep their children interested in healthy food.

One way of doing this is to try at least one new food item each week, Dombrow said. Getting children involved in this process is a sure-fire way to make them interested in food.

Tips to get kids excited

- Plan meals with kids. Sit down as a family and plan each meal. Pay attention to their likes and dislikes.

- Get kids to make their own lunch.

- Some kids just don't like cooked carrots. Serve raw vegetables instead.

- Some kids don't like "mixed" foods such as casseroles. Parents can leave the ingredients separate. If the child doesn't like a plain chicken breast, make it into a sandwich.

"Cater to them a little bit, but not to the extreme that you are making different meals for everyone."

She said parents should not become short-order cooks.

The best way to help children create healthy eating habits is to lead by example.

"Kids need a role model. If parents have breakfast at home, kids can get used to seeing it, it becomes a habit that everybody is eating breakfast."

Breakfast For learning

Breakfast For Learning was founded in 1992 to address the needs of hungry children across Canada. The goal of the non-profit organization is to ensure every Canadian child attends school well-nourished and ready to learn. The more than 30,000 volunteers across Canada have helped feed 1.5 million children, serving breakfast, lunch and snacks.

In 2005, the organization was only able to grant 20 per cent of the funds requested for the programs. The games are free. Visit www.breakfastforlearning.ca or call 1-800-627-7922.