The document provides tips and guidelines for establishing healthier eating habits for families. It encourages filling half of the plate with fruits and vegetables, choosing whole grains, lean proteins, low-fat dairy, and drinking water. It also stresses the importance of regular physical activity and limiting screen time. Establishing healthy habits at a young age through education is key to reducing childhood obesity.

1. Ready to stay stronger, live
longer and boost your family’s
fitness? These tips will jumpstart
your healthiest habits yet.
Easy Hints for a Healthier Home
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2. MyPlate
• MyPlate illustrates the five food groups
that are the building blocks for a healthy
diet using a familiar image—a place
setting for a meal. Before you eat, think
about what goes on your plate or in your
cup or bowl. The tips on this page, can help
you choose a diet that includes healthy
foods from each of the food groups.
Promote Produce
• Post the MyPlate diagram at home. It’s a
great reminder to fill half your plate with
colorful fruits and veggies.
• Fruits and veggies come in all sizes, shapes
and taste – find them frozen, canned, dried,
diced, pureed, and best of all, fresh.
• Buy in-season produce—it often costs less,
tastes better, and boasts the best nutrition.
Focus on fruits
• Choose whole or cut-up
fruits over fruit juice.
• Keep fresh fruit handy for
snacks, salads or desserts.
• Blend ‘em in a smoothie, toss
some in your salad, freeze juice into pops,
stack them in a kabob, or layer in a parfait.
Be inventive!
Vary your veggies
• Raw cut-up veggies make
handy snacks.
• Red, orange and dark green
veggies pack the most nutrition.
• Try them stir-fried, grilled, tossed in pasta,
topping a salad, stacked on a sandwich or
folded in a wrap.
Greater Grains
• Make the switch to whole-
grain bread, bagels, rice,
pasta and crackers
• The best whole grains contain 20% or more
of your recommended daily value of fiber
Delight in Dairy
• Dairy foods help build strong, healthy
teeth and bones.
• Switch to skim or 1% milk, yogurt and
cheese for the same great nutrition but less
calories and fat.
• Limit your flavored milks,
fruit yogurts, frozen
yogurts and puddings –
there may be added sugar
in dairy desserts.
Keep your
Protein Lean
• Protein comes in many
forms, from meat, poultry, beans and peas to
seafood, eggs, nuts and seeds.
• Forego the fry pan and added fats – learn to
grill, broil, poach, bake and roast instead.
Think Before You Drink
• Sugar lurks in sodas, sports drinks, energy
drinks and juice drinks.
• Whenever possible, opt for water – it’s
thrifty, convenient, calorie-free and best
for your body.
Pack a Snack
• Save money and empty calories – sidestep
the snack machines.
• Prepare grab-and-go snacks for the family –
make travel-size bags of raisins, whole-grain
cereal, dried cranberries, nuts and seeds.
Just Move It!
• Healthy eating and physical fitness go
hand in hand. Whether you dance, run,
walk, hop, skip, bike or jump, it’s lots
more fun!
• Get physically active as often as pos-
sible – every bit adds up to a healthier
you. Adults need 30 minutes of physi-
cal activity most every day, and kids
need at least 60 minutes.
• Make your home an electronics-free
zone, starting with one day each week.
Plan lively times together with chil-
dren, to build strong bodies and fond family
memories.
Be Label-Able
• Beware of the tiny print!
Does that drink contain
100% juice? Is that fiber
whole-grain? Watch out for
salt (sodium) in processed
meats, canned foods,
and “brined”
fresh meats.
For the
healthiest
heart, avoid
trans fats and
saturated fats.

3. “Educating young
individuals, and their
parents, about leading
healthy lifestyles at an
early age is the first step in the fight to reduce childhood
obesity,”explains Thad Simons, President and CEO of Novus
International, Inc.“As children grow mentally and physically,
it is important they have access to knowledge and resources
that will help them develop healthy eating and lifestyle
habits at an early age. From improving access to healthy
food choices to getting children more physically active, we
each have a responsibility to combat this growing epidemic.”
Novus International, Inc., creates Health through Nutrition
products for livestock, pets and people. Novus has
employees working in more than 90 countries, serving
more than 3,000 customers worldwide. Based in St. Charles,
Mo., Novus has facilities including corporate offices, research
and development laboratories and manufacturing
operations in more than 35 countries, as well as smaller
offices with field staff in an additional 60 countries.
“Instilling healthy eating
habits at a very early age
is key to lifelong health,”
says Michael Wilson, CEO
and president of Agrium Inc.“Surprisingly, more and more of
our rural youth are overfed, yet undernourished in addition to
engaging in less physical activity. We support the Rural School
Lunch Program challenge grant to empower the children and
their parents to make healthy eating choices one meal at a
time. Strong and healthy children build strong and healthy
communities.”
Agrium Inc. is a major Retail supplier of agricultural products
and services in North America, South America and Australia and
a leading global Wholesale producer and marketer of all three
major agricultural nutrients and the premier supplier of specialty
fertilizers in North America through our Advanced Technologies
business unit. Agrium’s strategy is to grow across the value chain
through acquisition, incremental expansion of its existing
operations and through the development, commercialization
and marketing of new products and international opportunities.
Our strategy places particular emphasis on growth opportunities
that both increase and stabilize our earnings profile in the
continuing transformation of Agrium. For more information
on Agrium Inc., please visit www.agrium.com
“Childhood obesity continues to
pose a significant health risk to
rural America, and we are pleased
to be helping the Progressive
Agriculture Foundation deliver
health and nutrition education
through its farm safety and
health educational program,”says
Christina Bowen, director of Farm
Credit’s National Contributions
program.
For 95 years, Farm Credit has been
a national provider of credit and
related services to rural America
through a cooperative network
of customer-owned lending
institutions and specialized serv-
ice organizations. Created in 1916,
Farm Credit provides more than
$175 billion in loans and leases
to farmers, ranchers, rural home-
owners, aquatic producers, timber
harvesters, agribusinesses, and
agricultural and rural utility
cooperatives.
For more information about the
Farm Credit System, please visit
www.farmcredit.com.
Eat!
Play!
Live!

4. Ready set grow!
Write down three goals you’d like to work on, to improve your family’s
eating habits and promote a healthier lifestyle. Post these goals where
everyone can see:
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____________________________________
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Progressive Agriculture Foundation
P.O. Box 530425 • Birmingham, AL 35253
(work) 888-257-3529 • (fax) 205-871-2137
www.progressiveag.org
Progressive Agriculture Safety Days® are one-day
events, run by local communities, that teach children
farm, home and ranch safety and health lessons. Each
year, the Progressive Agriculture Foundation provides
training, resources and support for more than 400
communities throughout the U.S., Canada, the U.S.
Virgin Islands and American Samoa. These Safety Days
reach more than 100,000 children and adults each
year. For more information on how you can become
involved, go to www.progressiveag.org.