Contributed by Bruce Boling
This summer, Abundant Life’s 5/8 Club partnered with UVA Health Office of Community Engagement and Health Outcomes to pilot a healthy eating program. The second week, we took the boys shopping and learned how to read nutrition labels and ingredient lists, to know what we are putting in our bodies. We did a fun activity where the guys were tasked with finding the healthiest and unhealthiest items in their assigned food groups. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how much the guys would really focus on the labels and take it seriously, but they did great.
Case in point: Several weeks after our exercise, the grandmother of one of our participants shared with me that her grandson was now checking nutrition labels in the grocery store! Kenyon was in his third summer as a participant of the 5/8 Club. When his grandmother relayed this story to me, I gave him a call to ask him about it. He told me that he remembered what he learned that day at Food Lion and “wanted to know what was in the food they were getting.” When I asked him why, he said, “I wanted my mom to know about getting healthy food.” Way to look after your family and yourself, Kenyon, and thank you, UVA Health!
