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KIDS AND FOOD COLORS: THE NUTRIENTS THAT GIVE FOODS THEIR COLOR
ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS
Color it nutritious! Teach your children that a colorful plate means lots of "grow foods." What a beautiful array of colors fruits and vegetables have! You can use this eyeful of color to your advantage by teaching your child to choose naturally colorful foods. The brightest colors are found in produce that is in season, fresh, and eaten raw or lightly steamed.
  • Play a color-matching game. What's in the reds? Why is it good for you?
  • When you're in the supermarket's produce section, send your children out on a color- finding mission. Assign one child orange and green, and another child gets the job of choosing two yellows! This can also be an excellent way of introducing new foods and getting variety into the family diet.
  • When you serve fruits and vegetables, ask your children what vitamins and minerals they are high in, and why these are good for them.
  • Have children color the fruits and vegetables. Then have them paste them on a sheet of paper in groups according to their colors.
  • Have children draw pictures of food on paper plates. Are all the food groups represented? Use colorful markers.
  • Ask your children what color foods they ate today. Talk about each food and its color. "Did you eat your yummy yellows and great greens today?"
  • Create a "rainbow lunch," a trayful of colorful foods cut into bite-sized servings.
  • Kids remember colors. To get your children to appreciate the nutrient value of foods, teach them that colors mean healthy foods, or, in kid-language, "grow foods." Remind them: "Did you get your reds today?"
HEALTHY COLORS

Colors Food Sources Nutrients Health Benefits
Red tomatoes
tomato sauce
ketchup
watermelon
pink grapefruit
guava juice
red peppers
Lycopene
Beta carotene
Vitamin C
Lycopene is a potent antioxidant and is one of the top ten anticancer carotenoids. It has been linked to reductions in the risk of prostate cancer. Anthocyanins have anti- cancer properties. Red peppers contain much more beta carotene (and more vitamin C ) than green peppers.
Pink pink grapefruit Lycopene
beta carotene
Like lycopene, beta carotene is an antioxidant that is good for the eyes. It also reduces the risk of cancers and cardiovascular disease.
Orange or deep yellow apricots and peaches
(especially dried)
sweet potato
carrots
pumpkin
winter squash
mango
yellow peppers
Beta carotene
vitamin C
Some orange/yellow vegetables, such as pumpkin and summer squash, contain the phytonutrient, lutein, which helps protect against degeneration of eye structure with aging. Carotenoids, like beta carotene, are the phytos that protect plants from sun damage. Perhaps they do the same for humans.
Dark green kale, other "greens" asparagus
watercress
spinach
broccoli
parsley, fresh
dill, fresh
romaine lettuce
zucchini
green peppers
Beta carotene Dark green foods are rich in antioxidants.
Blue or dark purple blueberries
bilberries
cherries
grapes
red wine
plums
purple cabbage
Anthocyanin The pigment anthocyanin has anti-cancer properties.
Black or dark red black beans kidney beans Calcium
Iron
Black beans are higher in fiber and calcium; red beans contain slightly more iron.

   
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