Educating on Food Day

Students from 10 different Long Island high schools listened and participated in lessons at Adelphi University about nutrition, exercise and food Monday for Food Day.

These high school students were being taught so that they could take what they learned and teach younger students in their districts some of these lessons. The students who attended the Adelphi programs were from Valley Stream, West Hempstead, Freeport, Long Beach, Hewlett, Woodmere, Oceanside, Plainedge, Malverne and East Rockaway.

The morning began with a discussion by Director of Public Health Initiatives Nancy Copperman who discussed portion sizes and how to make healthier choices and fast food restaurants. She noted that students were surprised when given the amount of sodium, calories and saturated fat contents of some of the fast food products and in particular several of the male students couldn't believe what they ate.

Another area Copperman talked about was the speed at which people eat.

"It takes 20 to 30 minutes for your stomach to know that there's food in it," she said.

Copperman encouraged the students to wait a half hour after to eating to determine if they really need more food.

With approximately 100 students present at the Adelphi program, Copperman hopes those students will affect 1,000 students in their districts to spread the word. She added that there was a waiting list of other schools who wanted to attend this program which was filled to capacity.