If an exciting, colorful food is adorned with a cartoon character and advertised to kids, you can bet it’s probably a poor choice, says Holly McKinney ’18. But what if we can help kids discover that cucumbers, melons and eggplant are also amazing? McKinney, an exercise science major from Saint Charles, received a grant to study how much 8- to 12-year-olds know about food and nutrition, working with assistant professor of exercise science Sara Shuger Fox.
McKinney helped lead Central’s Fun With Food camp last year while working in the Central College Garden. In this day camp, students explore food and nutrition through field trips to area farms and hands-on activities including gardening, cooking and a Top Chef cooking competition with professional Central College Dining staff. This year, McKinney is also investigating how much these campers know about food — and which habits shape their current food choices.
Shuger Fox also leads Central’s Fun With Food camp, along with director of sustainability education Brian Campbell and coordinator of sustainability education Giselle Bruskewitz. Shuger Fox and Campbell were awarded an additional grant through the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. This grant also supports McKinney’s research, which the team will use to make Central’s camp even more outstanding, says Shuger Fox.
The camp provides a fun atmosphere to get excited about healthy foods, McKinney says. “There’s a lot of confusion about what’s healthy and what is not. We take kids out and show them where great food comes from, and it helps them make good choices down the road.”
All Central’s summer researchers will present their work at a symposium on campus this year. Soon after, many also plan to take their studies to international conferences and publications to share their findings.
Read about more summer research to discover Central students’ work in taboo language, jury psychology, prairie biology and more.
