Every Saturday, after an intense fun workout with friends, I spend the majority of the day reading, studying and preparing to take an online quiz. I usually set a target time of when I need to hit the “Take Quiz” button; otherwise, I would just keep studying. I actually really look forward to this time as I love learning! It certainly helps to be learning about a subject that I am really passion about. Whether you are taking a class or not, I cannot overemphasize the importance of challenging yourself mentally and to always be researching and learning. This will stimulate brain activity and keep you young and sharp! Specifically, I would like to challenge everyone to learn something new about nutrition every day! It affects us all.
Nutrition education is different from education in general because its goal is to change dietary habits. Several requirements must be met for behavior change with nutrition to occur. These are the 4 C’s of nutrition education.
- Commitment – You must be motivated to adopt health-promoting behaviors and committed to maintaining a new food behavior.
- Cognitive processing – This is where the research comes in. You must understand how a food behavior contributes to health and then you must plan how it will fit into your life.
- Capability – Acquiring the skills to practice new food behaviors is part of nutrition education. An example is learning to identify whole grain products or how to cook vegetables.
- Confidence – You have to have a “Can Do” attitude – “Nothing breeds success like success!”
To age is to adapt and learning new nutrition habits is part of aging. Going back to school and having to read and study has proven to myself that I can still learn. And, it’s already getting easier as I have found that with practice I can concentrate and retain information much longer than I use to. So, anyone at any age can do this. Do you have a question in your head that you have been wondering about? Google it! I do this several times a day! While you can’t rely 100% on the validity of what answer you may find, keep at it! When surfing the Internet, pay attention to the three letters that come after the period when looking at websites. This suffix usually describes what type of entity hosts the website. Here are just a few reliable examples.
- .edu = educational
- .mil = military
- .gov = government
- .org = nonprofit
The bottom line is that you are in charge of the course that your health will take over the next several years. It begins with nutritional education. It’s a must for anyone who wants to thrive and be their happiest and healthiest self. Implement the four Cs every day to get there. What one piece of nutritional information will you learn today?
Amy