EHE News
Keeping supper simple for better health
Simple Suppers shows families that preschool-age children can help prepare healthy meals. See Simple Suppers in action.
12-10-10
Alumni Tina and Augie Cenname want to stave off childhood obesity before it starts. To the couple, that means beginning with preschool children. So they worked with the Department of Human Nutrition to fund the creation of Simple Suppers.
The seven-lesson curriculum blends information on healthy cooking with nutrition education. One of the few such programs for preschool children today, Simple Suppers is being field tested with the parents and their preschool-age children enrolled at the college's Schoenbaum Family Center at Weinland Park. The neighborhood is to the south east of Ohio State's Columbus campus.
At the first session in November 2010, a preschooler reported, "I ripped it all up!" after she tore some lettuce into bite sized pieces for taco salad. Jackie Pennywitt, Schoenbaum Center nutrition coordinator, led a discussion of what other kinds of chores are appropriate for young children, such as getting ingredients out of a refrigerator or cabinet, setting the table and washing vegetables.
Pennywitt and Carolyn Gunther, director of the Simple Suppers project, were assisted by six dietetic interns from the Department of Human Nutrition under the supervision of Julie Kennel: Stacy Castillo, Sarah Clark, Stacey Clausing, Stephanie Hillman, Becky Vaschak and Allison Weis.
Tina Cenname ('64, textiles and clothing) and Augie Cenname ('65, economics) of Columbus, have long been interested in the Schoenbaum Family Center, and helped tell the Columbus community about the state-of-the-art center as it was being planned and funded. They initiated Simple Suppers as a continuation of that interest.
The center's A. Sophie Rogers Early Childhood Laboratory School provides high-quality care and education for children ages birth to preschool. Half the enrolled children and their families are residents of Weinland Park, an urban neighborhood where people with dignity work to break the relentless cycle of poverty. The other half of the children and their families are from the rest of Columbus and surrounding communities.
The first Simple Supper lesson, "What's for dinner tonight?" sought to increase the frequency and quality of family meals. One mother said with a smile, "The kids certainly enjoyed it."
Pennywitt, a senior honors student majoring in human nutrition, is a USDA Multicultural Scholar. The Cenname gift has provided her with the opportunity to design the Simple Suppers curriculum and pilot test it for her honors research project.
Gunther and Schoenbaum Center Director Golden Jackson serve as Pennywitt's co-supervisors, providing input into the design and implementation of Simple Suppers.
"The purpose of the program is to support and encourage parents to improve the food choices and eating behaviors of their young children for increased diet quality and, ultimately, reduced risk of obesity," Gunther said.
Help make a difference with a gift to the college
You can make a difference with your gift to the college.
To contribute where the need is greatest, choose fund #301705, the College of Education and Human Ecology Dean's Discretionary Fund.
To discuss how you can make a difference, as Tina and Augie Cenname did, in a specific program area of interest, please contact Tracy Kirby, Senior Director of Development, at (614) 292-5538 or trkirby@ehe.osu.edu.
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