Because the American Dietetic Association designated March as National Nutrition Month, the Student Dietetic Association is teaming up with ISU Dining to promote awareness of truthful nutritional information and healthy eating.

The theme this year is “It’s a matter of fact.”

Mary Tidwell, senior in dietetics and co-president of the Student Dietetic Association, said it’s vital to be aware of nutrition now, instead of later in life.

Judy Trumpy, program coordinator for ISU Dining and registered dietitian at the Thielen Student Health Center, is working with the club to promote the month.

“We hope to be able to raise students’ awareness of eating healthy foods in their daily diets,” Trumpy said.

Tidwell said they hope to provide students with information and answer questions as well as “draw attention to the importance of making informed decisions.”

The group will be at various places on campus during the month, offering students the chance to learn more about nutrition through quizzes and games designed to debunk nutrition myths. Tidwell noted one myth is the idea that low fat content is always better.

“There are no good foods or bad foods,” Tidwell said.

She also noted the link between quality nutrition and school performance.

“The sooner you start developing healthy habits, the better,” Tidwell said. “Seek out information to your questions from reliable sources.”

Trumpy has noticed people eating more whole grains but still lacking in the fruits and vegetable department. To increase your intake, Trumpy suggests keeping fruits and vegetables within reach.

“Fruits are the regular convenience foods,” Trumpy said.

Trumpy said the ISU Dining program Farm to ISU, which uses locally grown fruits and vegetables, is one of the options dining services offers.

“ISU Dining makes an effort to make lower-fat substitutions in all of their dishes,” Trumpy said. “ISU Dining works toward promoting the health of its patrons.”

Net nutrition is another choice students can use for making healthy decisions.

“Net nutrition is an effort to increase the nutritional awareness of the foods [students] eat on campus,” Trumpy said.

Tidwell suggests getting nutrition information from reliable sources, such as dietitians or Web sites, such as the United State Department of Agriculture’s Web site, www.usda.gov.

“The sooner you start to develop healthy habits, the better,” Tidwell said.

National Nutrition Month @ ISU

Wednesday, March 5

4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Hawthorn

Monday, March 10

4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Maple Commons

Wednesday, March 12

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the MU

Wednesday, March 26

A drawing for prizes for quiz

participants

Further Information

For more information about National Nutrition month, visit www.eatright.org

Use Net Nutrition to create meals and see nutritional content on ISU Dining’s Web site,

www.dining.iastate.edu.