Eat Smart to Play Hard (ESPH) is a 6-week campaign during which the community comes together to engage students, parents, teachers, school staff, and other community members in a common goal to “Eat Smart to Play Hard.” This campaign focuses on helping 8- to 10- year-old elementary school children increase their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables by introducing and reinforcing the concept that eating healthy will help them to play.

Families have a great deal of influence over children’s behaviors, so this campaign is designed to involve family members in making healthy decisions regarding diet and physical activity. Our campaign includes using a passport, student champions, posters, banners, newsletters and the Fun Day for a successful outcome. We strategically developed these tools to make it a fun learning experience for children and their families to make healthy recipes and engage in fun activities at home.

Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is an initiative developed by the New Mexico Department of Health, our partner in improving the lives of our New Mexican communities. The 5-2-1-O Challenge was introduced through Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities, and highlights four behavior changes directed to 3^rd grade students. 5-2-1-O motivates children to eat more healthfully and live more actively.  It is based on American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations to improve children’s health and acts as an additional campaign strategy within schools participating in ESPH. Fifth grade ESPH Champions will serve as role models for third graders during the 5-2-1-O Challenge. More information about this can be found in the Champions page. More information about Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities and the 5-2-1-O Challenge can be found at their website.

Today's students face many obstacles when it comes to academic success, including inadequate nutrition. A healthy diet and exercise can help increase your students’ learning capacity and test scores. By helping kids learn about proper nutrition early on, we are not only allowing them to make a lifelong commitment to healthy living, but will create students who are better prepared for lifelong learning!

The purpose of this 6-week campaign is to support students, their families, and the community in their efforts to achieve healthier lifestyles by bridging the gap between the classroom and the home through a combined effort to encourage students to eat more fruits and vegetables. By performing formative research, we have produced a campaign tailored to our New Mexico communities, with the needs of our educators in mind. We provide the tools to help kids live healthier lives, you get to watch them grow into better students! Join us to engage students, parents, teachers, school staff, and the community in a common goal—to “Eat Smart to Play Hard.” Information about campaign tools, including the passport, weekly newsletters, and more can be found under the Eat Smart to Play Hard tab above.

Although many of us try to lead healthy lifestyles, it can be difficult to do so. “Eat Smart to Play Hard” is designed to make it easier for students and their families to eat their recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables. Our campaign is designed to provide the materials that will motivate your child to eat their fruits and vegetables. When children eat a well-balanced diet, they have more energy to play harder, and to do better in school!

This campaign can help to bridge the gap from classroom to home and to encourage students, their families, and the community to get on track to a healthier way of life. The students will need the help of their families to successfully complete the “Eat Smart to Play Hard” challenge. Parents play the most vital role in the health of their children, so we need your help in order to succeed at improving their diets!

Our campaigns are just the beginning of a lifelong commitment to healthy living! We have provided additional recipes, videos about nutrition, and other resources in the menu to the left and the links below to help your family expand your new nutritional goals beyond the campaign. We hope to encourage you and your family to always eat smart to play hard!

“Come Inteligente para Jugar Duro” es una campaña de 6 semanas donde la comunidad, los padres, maestros y las escuelas se unen en un objetivo común de " Comer bien para jugar duro. " Estamos enfocados en ayudar a niños de 8 a10 años de edad para que aumentan su consumo diario de frutas y verduras al introducir y reforzar el concepto de que la alimentación saludable ayudará a que los niños juegan. 

Las familias tienen una gran influencia sobre el comportamiento de los niños, esta campaña está diseñada para involucrar a los miembros de la familia en tomando decisiones saludables sobre la alimentación y actividad física. Nuestra campaña incluye el uso de un pasaporte, campeones, carteles, pancartas, boletines y el día de la diversión para un resultado exitoso. Utilizamos estas estrategias para que sea una experiencia divertida para los niños y la familia donde tienen la oportunidad de hacer recetas saludables en casa y jugar actividades divertidas.

The Eat Smart to Play Hard Program was created and is managed by the social marketing team at the University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center (UNM PRC). The UNM PRC, housed in the Division of Prevention and Population Sciences at the UNM Health Sciences Center, serves as a home for transdisciplinary community engaged prevention research and health promotion.

It is with the Center’s support that the Social Marketing team plans to expand Eat Smart to Play Hard to every county in the state through the Healthy Kids Healthy Communities initiative and local school districts, working closely with students, parents, schools and communities to achieve our goal.

Funder

This project is funded through the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Grant. We work closely with the New Mexico Department of Health and the New Mexico Human Services Department who administer the funding at the state level.