Want children to choose healthy foods in the school cafeteria and at home?

"Make it fun," said nutrition educator Michelle Marker, director of programs for The Nutrition Group, a food service contract company with corporate offices in Irwin. It works in more than 120 school districts in Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.

One of the company's clients is the Penn Hills School District, where Ms. Marker and educators from the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium met with students at Dible Elementary recently to demonstrate that animals - and humans - need healthy foods that meet their particular needs.

The animals that arrived in their aptly named "Zoo-mobile" - a porcupine, a lizard and a boa constrictor - were not only perfect examples of good health, but provided the needed segue to discussing healthy eating for humans.

The program was a collaborative effort among the Nutrition Group, the zoo and the Reinhart Group, a food distributor.

The zoo-themed program will be offered in seven to 10 districts this school year. One was conducted Tuesday at George Washington Elementary in the McKeesport Area School District.

There will be a similar program - a nutritional fair without animals - at 11 a.m. next Thursday at H.D. Berkey Elementary School in the New Kensington-Arnold district. It was organized by the Nutrition Group, Perriello Produce, of Brackenridge, and Turner's Dairy, of Penn Hills.

"Why do you think the zoo has signs that say, 'Do not feed the animals?' " Ms. Marker asked the students in Penn Hills.

Most of the students knew it was because humans might feed them the wrong things.

"If animals eat too much of the wrong things, they might not eat the things that are good for them," she explained. "That's true for humans, too."

The students enjoyed finding out that animal keepers feed the porcupine bananas, sweet potatoes and greens, and that the lizard eats dried fruit and grain "salads." News that the mainstay of the snake's diet is rats may have caused a more visceral reaction.

The program was part of a day of animal-themed activities at Dible, orchestrated by The Nutrition Group. The lunch menu featured hippo- and kangaroo-shaped chicken nuggets; lunch was served on placemats with animal-themed games; and students were encouraged to wear their favorite animal print clothing to school.

Increasingly, food service providers such as The Nutrition Group are taking the lead on providing nutrition education in schools, said Ms. Marker, a certified nutrition educator. One reason is the prevalence of obesity, she said. Ms. Marker's job is to develop creative ways to talk to kids about healthy food.

"You can't just remove junk food from the school and set out healthy foods and expect kids to eat it," she said. "You have to teach them about the food and give them a chance to sample it."

Offering just one fruit or one vegetable in a school meal does not work, she added.

"We've learned to offer several instead of just one. The more choices in fruits and vegetables they have, the more they will eat."

In cafeterias run by the Nutrition Group, a variety of fruits and vegetables is offered every day, she said.

In Penn Hills, the company offers taste testings and other food-centered activities, and schools will have carving stations with ham and turkey beginning this month, said Lisa Dalletezze, director of food service in the district for The Nutrition Group.

The company helped Dible and Washington elementaries win a grant this year for additional fruits and vegetables.

Food sampling in schools is a new trend. A recent one in Penn Hills featured three types of barbecued turkey - Cuban, tinga and mojo.

"If we simply put these items on the menu, the students wouldn't try it," Ms. Dalletezze explained.

Taste testing is not just for exotic-sounding foods, said Ms. Marker, referring to a lesson she recently taught about cucumbers in one of The Nutrition Group's districts. Before the lesson, the classroom teacher expressed concern that none of her students would try the cucumber slices she had brought in.

"You will be surprised how many do, "Ms. Marker told her.

The students feasted on the cucumbers and eagerly took home cucumber seedlings to grow and, later, to eat.

Ms. Marker said she enjoys her job as a traveling nutrition educator and overseer of programs that school-based personnel carry out.

"We are always looking for ways to be creative," Ms. Marker said. "I want every child to understand that every time we eat and drink, it's a chance to do something good for your body."

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