The Importance of Good Nutrition for Healthy Kids and a Gr8 Recipe! #Gr8Recipes #SavetheChildren

Photo Credit: Elana's Pantry via Compfight cc

When it comes to the needs of growing children, research shows that a nutritious diet is crucial in providing a child with the fundamental basics they need to be able to effectively learn and concentrate to the best of their abilities in the classroom.  Malnutrition effects a child's ability to read, write, and even perform basic math equations. Malnutrition causes stunted growth in children and this in itself leads to further problems for these children.  In fact, "stunted children are 12.5% more likely to make a mistake writing a simple sentence and do 7% worse answering simple math questions than expected if they had not been stunted" (SavetheChildren.org).  But did you also know these effects can follow these children into adulthood?  Research also shows that malnourished children can earn up to 20% less as adults.  Those are some alarming figures, but organizations like Save the Children are working hard to change those numbers around!

How You Can Get Involved?

This month Save the Children is going to meet with President Obama and many other world leaders during two different global nutrition summits, known as the G8, to discuss the fight against childhood hunger.  You can help ask President Obama to put the needs of childhood nutrition at the top of his agenda, especially during a child's first 1,000 days when nutrition is so very crucial, by tweeting @whitehouse with your support and including the hashtags #next1000days and #Nutrition4Growth.

Sample Tweet:

@whitehouse Let's ensure kids get the healthy food they need in their #next1000days so they can get a great start on life! #Nutrition4Growth

How About a Gr8 Recipe?

Frozen Yogurt Bananas

Ingredients:

2 Bananas

2 cups of your favorite flavor of yogurt

2 cups of granola or crushed peanuts (my kids like the peanuts!)

Popsicle sticks

Directions:

1) Peel your bananas and cut them in half.  Place a popsicle stick into each banana.

2) Place your yogurt in a small bowl and your granola or crushed peanuts spread out on a plate.

3) Dip each of your bananas into the yogurt making sure each one gets coated well.

4) Now roll each banana around in your granola or crushed peanut mix to finish them off.

5) Place your bananas on a wax paper lined plate or tray and freeze for 4-5 hours and then enjoy!

You can follow @SavetheChildren on Twitter and visit them on Facebook here!