Nutrition Fair at School of American Ballet with Heidi Skolnik
Heidi Skolnik, MS, CDN, FACSM is an acclaimed sports nutritionist and director of the Nutrition program at the School of American Ballet (SAB) and Julliard, two of the most prestigious dance training centers in the world. Given my work as a lifelong dancer and my passion for dance, I could not be more excited to work with Heidi in educating dancers at the School of American Ballet and Julliard on the importance of proper nutrition. Our first event together was a Nutrition Fair for young dancers at the School of American Ballet. The event included a variety of fun and interactive tables designed to promote interest and knowledge in nutrition, including a “Wheel of Fortunate Foods” with true or false nutrition questions, a healthy meal building station, a calcium foods station, and a nutritious snack table. Heidi had developed the ideas and materials for all of the stations, and it was highly educational for me to see how she communicated nutrition information through simple, practical, enjoyable, and hands-on activities. All of the stations successfully engaged the children and their parents.
I ran the calcium foods and meal building stations, and tried to make them as interactive as possible by asking the children questions and having them participate in developing the answers. For example, I helped the children build a nutritionally balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the healthy meal building station, and explained the appropriate additions to their parents. At the calcium foods station, the children guessed the milligrams of calcium in foods and placed them into 100, 200, and 300 mg categories; this showed them that dairy foods are the best source of calcium, and I explained their daily calcium needs and the importance of calcium for bone health.
Participating in this event was highly enjoyable and educational for me. Not only was I honored to be teaching nutritional information in one of the most prestigious dance schools in the world, but the event was truly a way for me to “pay it forward” and teach young dancers – who are so susceptible to undereating and low bone mass like I was – the importance of good nutrition for their dance training and overall health.
Heidi Skolnik, MS, CDN, FACSM is an acclaimed sports nutritionist and director of the Nutrition program at the School of American Ballet (SAB) and Julliard, two of the most prestigious dance training centers in the world. Given my work as a lifelong dancer and my passion for dance, I could not be more excited to work with Heidi in educating dancers at the School of American Ballet and Julliard on the importance of proper nutrition. Our first event together was a Nutrition Fair for young dancers at the School of American Ballet. The event included a variety of fun and interactive tables designed to promote interest and knowledge in nutrition, including a “Wheel of Fortunate Foods” with true or false nutrition questions, a healthy meal building station, a calcium foods station, and a nutritious snack table. Heidi had developed the ideas and materials for all of the stations, and it was highly educational for me to see how she communicated nutrition information through simple, practical, enjoyable, and hands-on activities. All of the stations successfully engaged the children and their parents.
I ran the calcium foods and meal building stations, and tried to make them as interactive as possible by asking the children questions and having them participate in developing the answers. For example, I helped the children build a nutritionally balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the healthy meal building station, and explained the appropriate additions to their parents. At the calcium foods station, the children guessed the milligrams of calcium in foods and placed them into 100, 200, and 300 mg categories; this showed them that dairy foods are the best source of calcium, and I explained their daily calcium needs and the importance of calcium for bone health.
Participating in this event was highly enjoyable and educational for me. Not only was I honored to be teaching nutritional information in one of the most prestigious dance schools in the world, but the event was truly a way for me to “pay it forward” and teach young dancers – who are so susceptible to undereating and low bone mass like I was – the importance of good nutrition for their dance training and overall health.
