by Kristin Harmel
June 21, 2010

When we were kids, many of us learned spelling from Cookie Monster, counting from Count Von Count, and cheerful tenacity from Big Bird. Today’s children are learning much more than that. The folks behind Sesame Street—the show that’s been educating children since 1969—are reaching out to a new generation in a new way, teaching kids the ABCs of healthy eating and healthy living.

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational group that developed Sesame Street, has partnered with AmeriChoice (the UnitedHealth Group company that provides health benefits for public and state programs) to develop a bilingual education outreach program that helps families make food choices that are affordable and nutritious and will set the stage for lifelong healthy eating habits.

What’s at stake?
More than 20 percent of children in the United States currently don’t have sufficient access to nutritional, affordable food, largely as a result of the recession. Those most impacted are low-income families who are dealing with “food insecurity,” which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services say takes place in households where family members don’t have adequate access to enough food to meet basic needs. According to the USDA, as of 2008, more than 49 million Americans, including more than 16 million kids, live in households that experienced hunger more than once during the previous year.

Meanwhile, childhood obesity continues to rise and has tripled over the last three decades. This might seem to conflict with the USDA’s hunger statistics, but in many families where finances are limited, healthy foods aren’t an option; children grow up learning poor eating habits, which, over time, leads to weight gain and a greater risk for obesity.

The new initiative from the Sesame Workshop is designed to tackle some of the contributing factors to the rise in obesity, and specifically to provide resources for parents of children ages 2 through 5 years who may not have sufficient access to healthy foods. According to Sesame Workshop, a child’s eating habits are largely shaped by 4 years old, so it’s important to get kids on the right track early.

How does the program work?
The new program, Healthy Habits, will give a fresh look to the materials developed in 2004 by the Sesame Workshop, Nemours, and KidsHealth for the Healthy Habits for Life program. Information about the Healthy Habits kits and how to get your free kit will be available online at Sesame Workshop’s website.

In addition, program sponsor, AmeriChoice will be sending Healthy Habits for Life messages to three million low-income families participating in its health care programs.

Available in both English and Spanish, the kits include an original DVD starring Sesame Street characters, as well as kid-friendly recipes, activity cards, and a guide for parents about nutritional and economical food choices, including tips on making the trip to the grocery store fun and educational. In addition to tips for parents, the kits also provide activities for kids to learn about healthy eating and healthy living, including a lesson on “sometime foods” (like cookies and sweets) and “anytime foods” (like fruits and vegetables).

Cookie Monster (of all characters) teaches kids about fruits and vegetables in Build Me a Salad where children learn to put together their favorite foods in a healthy way; in A Meal For a Monster and Me, kids get to make choices about healthy meals for Elmo and friends. And in Adding Up to Five, children are asked to keep track of their own fruit and vegetable choices during the day.

“This is an opportunity for Sesame Street to continue to harness its power to help families and their children make healthful, nutritional decisions despite a limited income, at a time when nurturing children’s overall development is so critical and the subsequent positive effects can last a lifetime,” says Gary E. Knell, president and chief executive officer of Sesame Workshop, in a press release.

The program is a smart, effective way to get kids excited about making good choices for their bodies and their minds, and is designed to help both children and parents learn about health and nutrition. As Michelle Obama says in a video clip on Sesame Workshop’s website, “If you want your child to have healthy habits, practice healthy habits too, because you are your child’s best role model.”

Not just sometime but anytime.