individuals desiring further informa-tion. The Web sites provided in thebooklet are http://ific.org, http://www.MyPyramid.gov, and http://kidnetic.com. The booklet is written at an 8th

grade reading level, making it appro-priate for the majority of the popula-tion. With the many strengths of theYour Personal Path to Health: Steps to aHealthier You!, a noted limitation isthe lack of examples of recommendedserving sizes. The reader may be leftconfused as to what constitutes a serv-ing size. The third page of the booklet,entitled Making Smart Choices fromMy Pyramid’s Food Groups, would be agood place to provide examples of rec-ommended serving sizes.

With the growing interest inhealthful eating, Your Personal Path toHealth: Steps to a Healthier You! maybe beneficial for individuals, families,and nutrition educators in the promo-tion of a healthy lifestyle. With appli-cations in household, academic, andcommunity environments, Your Per-sonal Path to Health: Steps to a Health-ier You! could be very useful for indi-viduals learning to use the MyPyramidfood guidance system.

Lindsay Schwarz, BS, Graduate Di-etetic Intern; Jennette Ryan, BS,Graduate Dietetic Intern; MelanieTracy Burns, PhD, RD, School ofFamily and Consumer Sciences,Eastern Illinois University, Charles-ton, IL 61920doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2007.01.011

EDUCATION SUPPORTMATERIAL

MyActivity Resources-MyActivityPyramid handout (downloadable orfor purchase, publication N386),MyActivity Log (downloadable file orfor purchase, publication N864),Physical Activity Cards (70 laminatedcards, $34, publication N862): 2006.From University of Missouri, Hu-man Environmental Sciences, www.extension.missouri.edu or call (800) 292-0969.

MyActivity resources are intendedfor use with children ages 4 to 15 and

support the 2005 Dietary Guidelines forAmericans and MyPyramid. The re-sources include activity cards, a MyAc-tivity handout and a physical activity log.The resources are designed to help chil-dren include a variety of physical activi-ties in their daily lives.

The physical activity cards are thecore of the MyActivity resources andcan be used with a variety of nutritioncurricula. The physical activity cardspresent activity ideas on 5x7 lami-nated index cards, which are colorcoded and easy to follow. The cardsare appropriate for use by individualswith varied educational backgroundswho work with children. The activityideas are fun and can easily be used ina variety of physical locations, as ac-tivity ideas are offered for both largeand small spaces. The activity ideasare also economically feasible in thatmany activities can be done withoutequipment, whereas others requireonly simple materials such as scarves,bean bags, and jump ropes.

Activities are intended for 4 agelevels from 4 to 15 years and are codedaccordingly. For the most part, activ-ity ideas are fun and age appropriate.Activity ideas for children 4-9 years ofage are most abundant and develop-mentally and socially appropriate. Ac-tivities like Bumper Cars, where stu-dents pair up as car and rider andfollow directions reminiscent of SimonSays, are intriguing for children andpromote fun movement. What is evenmore intriguing with the Bumper Carsactivity is the nutrition connection,where pairs drive to the store and pickup a food from each food group. Ideasto integrate nutrition themes such asthis one are on the back of each ac-tivity card, and suggestions relate togeneral nutrition concepts such as

food group recognition, variety, andbalance. Another very simple but ex-citing activity is Dragon’s Tail. In thisactivity, children form a dragon hold-ing onto the waist of the student infront, and the last person carries astreamer and is the tail. The “head”tries to catch the “tail,” leading chil-dren into what might be imagined as afun and giggly chase.

Youths 13-15 years may not be asamenable to some activity ideas, be-cause adolescents are more self-conscious and prone to embarrass-ment during this time in life. Forexample, And the Beat Goes On is anactivity suggested for those aged 13-15and requires volunteers to lead dancesand participants to follow their guid-ance. If boys and girls are dancingtogether, they may feel uncomfort-able. Educators should be familiarwith group characteristics before plan-ning activities such as this one.

The MyActivity Pyramid andMyActivity Log handouts are de-signed for children ages 6 to 11. TheMyActivity Pyramid handout is afun, colorful handout that translatescurrent physical activity recommen-dations into the types and amountsof physical activities recommended.Overall, the handout is culturallyappropriate for a variety of English-speaking audiences. The MyActivityLog handout is a companion piece tothe MyActivity Pyramid and helpschildren keep track of their dailyphysical activities.

Although the Physical Activitycards include ideas for children whoare older, educators who work pre-dominately with children 12-15years might be disappointed withthe purchase, since fewer ideas areprovided for these ages. The cost ofthe physical activity cards may be adisappointment because of the qual-ity of printing on the cards. The fonton the cards is readable, but blurred.

The MyActivity resources aregood resources for educators workingwith children 6-11 years old. Thephysical activity cards offer fun andeasy ideas for children of these ages,and the accompanying handouts arechild- and user-friendly. The MyAc-

242 Reviews/New Resources for Nutrition Educators

tivity cards would be a great supple-ment to most any nutritioncurriculum.

Stephany Parker, PhD, AssistantProfessor, Department of NutritionalSciences, Oklahoma State Univer-sity, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078Joshua A. Phelps, MS, Lecturer,Department of Nutritional Sciences,Oklahoma State University, Stillwa-ter, Oklahoma 74078doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2006.11.007

WEB SITE

Take Action: Make a Difference!From United States Department ofAgriculture, Food and NutritionService, 3101 Park Center Drive,Alexandria, VA 22302. Web site,available at: http://www.fns.usda.g o v / o a n e / S N A P / T a k e A c t i o n /TakeAction.htm. Accessed Novem-ber 1, 2006.

Take Action: Make a Difference!is a Web-based series provided by theUnited States Department of Agricultureto encourage both Food and NutritionService (FNS) program staff as well asFNS program participants to make posi-tive changes in nutrition and related be-haviors.

Looking for ways to encouragepositive nutrition-related behaviorsby setting a good example for yourFNS program participants? In a timewhen many and varied messages aboutnutrition reach the ears of low-income consumers, this series empha-sizes consistent messages across allFNS programs, as well as positive rolemodeling by FNS program staff andimplementation of programmingwhich supports shared goals of all FNSprograms. Targeted for use by stateand local FNS staff, the first 2 mate-rials of the Take Action: Make a Dif-ference! series, Take Action: Promoteand Support Breastfeeding Across FNSPrograms and Take Action: PromoteFruits and Vegetables In Your Workplaceand Community, are currently avail-able by clicking on easily identifiablelinks on the Take Action Web site’smain page. In addition to these 2

downloadable PDF documents, linksto a feedback form and additionalbreastfeeding resources are provided.

The promotion materials forbreastfeeding and fruits and vegeta-bles are concise and understandable;both documents follow the same lay-out and format. The content of thedocument first describes the associ-ated FNS national goal. The majorityof the text reviews why the particularbehavior is important, how all stateand local FNS staff can encourage thebehavior for their FNS program par-ticipants, and what FNS programs andresources exist to promote thebehavior.

Take Action: Promote and SupportBreastfeeding Across FNS Programs de-scribes “Loving Support MakesBreastfeeding Work,” a national cam-paign implemented and led by theWomen, Infants, and Children(WIC) program that provides consis-tent messages for breastfeeding mate-rials targeted to FNS program partic-ipants. The PDF document isorganized under 4 major headingswhich provide FNS staff with usefulinformation for effective collabora-tion and consistent messaging withthe WIC program’s breastfeedinginitiative.

Take Action: Promote Fruits andVegetables in Your Workplace and Com-munity is similar in format and layoutto the breastfeeding promotion docu-ment. This document is organized un-der 2 major headings. The first en-courages staff to try out suggested fruitand vegetable related behaviors andpromotion techniques and then sharethe experiences and resources with

their FNS program participants. Thesecond section describes methods topromote fruits and vegetables in thecommunity. Just as the breastfeedingdocument referred staff to informationabout WIC, this document refers staffto the FNS-developed Eat Smart. PlayHard materials, which are targeted foruse with children.

Throughout each document, rele-vant and easily identifiable links arecontained within the text for ease inaccess while viewing on-line. Click-ing on a link opens the referencedWeb site in the same window; thereader must then use the back buttonin their Web browser toolbar to returnto the PDF document. This websitedesign hinders efficient navigation ofthe Take Action materials and links.Automatically opening selected linksin a new window would eliminate thetime consumed by reloading the PDFand would prevent readers from hav-ing to start at the beginning of thedocument each time they return froma link. If paper copies of the PDF aredistributed to staff, inclusion of Website addresses associated with the linkswould be beneficial. Additionally,photo graphics are blurry both on-lineand when viewed as a printed docu-ment; it may be helpful to reduce theirsize.

Overall, the first 2 materials of-fered in the Take Action: Make aDifference! series encourage an effi-cient referral network among FNSprograms. They also provide refer-ence to existing resources whichmay not be familiar to state andlocal staff of all FNS programs. Rep-etition of educational messagesacross FNS programs is promoted;the materials on this Web site serveas a resource for ensuring that thesemessages are consistent. And finally,FNS staff members are encouragedto adopt specific behaviors and pro-motion techniques that positionthem as role models and active lead-ers for their FNS program partici-pants. The Web site and download-able materials would be particularlyuseful for discussion during staffmeetings and implementation both

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior ● Volume 39, Number 4, July/August 2007 243