Visions of sugar plums may dance in their heads this holiday season, but Get Healthy, Live Well hopes some area children will dream of a piece of fruit instead.
Get Healthy, Live Well — a comprehensive community health collaborative led by Tanner Health System — has come up with an innovative strategy to educate local children about the importance of eating more fruit and vegetables. The initiative is producing a fun and educational play called “Eat a Rainbow” to show kids that eating healthy can be fun.
The 20-minute play features a mad scientist named Dr. FunKill who tries to feed a little girl evil doughnuts until she is thwarted by three vegetable superheroes. Broccoli Boy, Captain Carrot and Rude-A-Bay-Girl teach children to protect themselves by eating a rainbow — five portions of fruits and vegetables a day.
To get this message out, Get Healthy, Live Well reached out to west Georgia writers and artists who used their gifts to craft infotainment that would be attractive to kids.
About 200 families attended the play’s premiere on Halloween at The AMP during the Carrollton Fall Festival.
The play will also be performed at elementary schools in Carroll, Haralson and Heard counties. It will be shown to students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Kids who attend the play at school are given a set of five bands — each a different color. The bracelets will remind them to eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. Each morning, they will put the five bands on their left wrist.
After eating a serving of fruit or vegetables, they move one band to their right wrist. By the end of the day, the goal is to have moved all five bands, showing that they ate a rainbow.
“Eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day is such an important message to get out to kids especially during the holiday season when they are likely to be offered cookies and candy as a treat,” said Amy Riedesel, director of community health at Tanner Health System. “The play will help empower kids to make healthy food choices while showing them it can be tasty and fun.”
About 1 in 3 children and teens are obese, according to Tanner Dietitian Christina Schoerner.
“Because of our lifestyles and diets, our kids are expected to live shorter lives than their parents, so it’s crucial that they are provided the information and tools they need to lead a healthy lifestyle,” Schoerner said. “Doing something as simple as adding fruit to breakfast or vegetables to a pasta dish will help kids reach their health goals.”
Get Healthy, Live Well is funded in part by a Partnership in Community Health (PICH) grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The individuals and organizations who are part of this collaborative effort share a common vision to improve the overall health of residents in west Georgia. The impact of this collaboration depends on volunteers and partners from every sector of the community sharing their talent.
The cast of “Eat a Rainbow” includes Carrollton business owner Ginna Blair, local musician Mark Lyle and Samantha Cotton, who is a University of West Georgia student majoring in music. The play was written by Mimi Gentry.
Blair is the director and an actor in the play. This isn’t the first time Blair has worked on Get Healthy, Live Well productions for kids. She worked on two previous productions: one on nutrition and another on tobacco cessation.
The music was recorded locally at Southside Studio, which is owned by Lyle.
Cotton, who is the youngest cast member, is playing two characters in the play, Dr. FunKill and Captain Carrot. She described Dr. FunKill as a “mean and kind of scary” villain who “just wants all the little boys and girls to be lazy and eat junk food so she can be happy.”
“On the other hand, you have Captain Carrot who is a part of the superhero trio and is just laid back and really chill even when she's doing her super hero stuff,” Cotton said.
She feels her personality is a mixture of both characters.
“Dr. FunKill likes junk food and I love junk food,” Cotton said. “But that's about it on us being alike, because I'm not mean or scary. And I feel I'm a lot like Captain Carrot because I like to think I'm a pretty chill person who just goes with the flow.”
What she has enjoyed most about being involved with the play is the rehearsals.
“When I got the part, I was really kind of intimidated by everyone because they were older and really, really good,” Cotton said. “But Mark, Ginna and Mimi are so much fun to work with and have really helped me out.”
She described the play as being something kids can watch and apply to their own lives.
“Not only is the play funny and entertaining, but there's a lot of information mixed in with it,” Cotton said. “I've even learned a thing or two about reading labels when I go grocery shopping.”
She’s excited about being a part of the play.
“It’s educational and fun,” Cotton said. “I really think the kids will truly enjoy it while learning something.”
Free performances of “Eat a Rainbow” are available for schools throughout Carroll, Haralson and Heard counties. To learn more about Get Healthy, Live Well, visit www.GetHealthyLiveWell.org or call 770-812-9871.