Keyser Campus faculty member shares importance of healthy eating with middle schoolers

Diana Niland, a faculty member with the West Virginia University School of Nursing Keyser Campus, recently helped educate more than 300 sixth-grade students about the importance of fruit and vegetable intake.

During Mineral County’s Outdoor School, held throughout May, Niland presented “Eat Your Colors” on May 2, 16 and 23, during which students learned about MyPlate and the importance of the colors and nutrients from fruits and vegetables.

“It was a pleasure to work with students of this age group to help them understand the benefits of fruit and vegetable intake and their role in preventing chronic disease,” Niland said. “It was rewarding to hear their creative solutions to problems we all face in meeting the daily intake recommendations.”

Niland offered students the opportunity to participate in creative, hands-on activities, games and riddles. They built a MyPlate plate based on their dinner from the previous evening, and also made a rainbow-colored bracelet to wear as a reminder to eat a variety of colors each day.

“We are so thankful to Robin McDowell with Mineral County Schools for inviting us to partner with them for this event,” said April Shapiro, Keyser Campus Chair. “Diana put a lot of time, effort, and passion into this project, so it was great to see the wonderful responses from students.”