Good nutrition is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (like heart disease and cancer), and promote your overall health. The link between good nutrition and healthy weight, reduced chronic disease risk, and overall health is too important to ignore. By taking steps to eat healthy, you can be on your way to getting the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy, active, and strong.
Eating healthy is a journey shaped by many factors, including our stage of life, situations, preferences, access to food, culture, traditions, and the personal decisions we make over time. All your food and beverage choices count. To build a healthy eating style, follow these steps.
- Focus on variety, amount, and nutrition or your food and beverage choices.
- Pick from all five food groups including fruits, vegetables, grain, protein foods, and dairy to get the nutrients you need.
- Eat the right amount of calories for you based on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level.
- Choose an eating style low in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.
- Read Nutrition Facts Labels and ingredient lists to find amounts of saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars in the foods and beverages you choose.
- Look for food and drink choices that are lower in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar. This can help you manage your calories and prevent gaining extra weight and obesity. It can also help reduce your risk of high blood pressure.
- Make small changes to create a healthier eating style.
- Start with a few small changes: eat and drink the right amount for you, make half of your plate fruits and vegetables and focus on whole fruits, make half your gains whole grains, move to low-fat and fat-free dairy, and vary your protein routine.
- Support healthy eating for your whole family.
Source: President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, United States Department of Agriculture
There are many ways to eat healthy. Here are some local resources to get you started:
Providing Fresh Organic Produce
The Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) community gardens expand upon WIC’s mission to provide nutritious foods and education to income-qualifying women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and children 5 years and under. Currently, Tri-County Health Department's WIC Program partners with three community gardens in Adams County and one community farm in Arapahoe County. The gardens provide access to fresh organic produce, engage families in physical activity and serve as an educational ground for home gardening, and nutrition education. Produce harvested from the garden is given directly to WIC families that participate in the work day. Any produce that remains at the end of the work day is brought back to area WIC clinics and/or donated to a local food pantry.
DeLaney Community Farm
Location: 170 South Chambers Road (between 1st and Alameda)
Delaney Community Farm is a collaborative partnership between Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) and Project Worthmore (PWM). Their joint mission is to support refugees from the local community through community-based food security programs. The Yu Meh Community Farmer Training Program is an intensive, educational training program on sustainable, community farming. For more information, click here.- Denver Urban Gardens
Multiple Locations, please check their website for a community garden near you.
For more information on how to eat healthy or inquire about the benefits of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program,
please go to Tri-County Health Department'swebsite Nutrition Services
