March is the ideal time to reassess those New Year’s resolutions.

In fact, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics encourages everyone to take a “Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle” not just for the month of March but beyond.

National Nutrition Month, according to the academy, is a nutrition education and information campaign created annually. It focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

According to the academy’s website, National Nutrition Month is an opportunity to focus on “consuming fewer calories, making informed food choices and getting daily exercise in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, reduce the risk of chronic disease and promote overall health.”

Ashley Rachal, health promotion registered dietitian at Barksdale Air Force Base, said, “This includes adopting positive behaviors such as eating smaller portion sizes, choosing healthier food options and creating a more active lifestyle through regular physical activity.”

For people who are looking to taking advantage of National Nutrition Month and to improve their overall diet through healthier choices, Rachal issues one simple piece of advice. “Choose whole foods for a wholesome life. This means less junk, less packaged food with ingredients that sounds like they were created in a laboratory and more food that looks like where it came from. You know, real food.

“It is fine to eat some foods that come in a box or package, but try to limit the ingredients to only a few, mostly with ingredients that you can pronounce and understand what they are. That’s how I like to ‘Bite into a Healthy Lifestyle!’” To celebrate, several events were held around Shreveport-Bossier City and the region to showcase National Nutrition Month. For example, the second annual Greens on the Red Festival, sponsored by We Grow Together!, is an initiative to create a healthy regional food system for the Ark- La-Tex. Other sponsors for the event include the LSU AgCenter, the Red River Coalition of Community Gardeners, Slow Food North Louisiana and the Shreveport Dietetic Association.

The event was held March 15 at the Highland Community Garden, 520 Herndon St., Shreveport. This event was free and open to the public and featured the region’s locally fresh grown greens, such as Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kale, turnips, arugula and dandelion greens, just to name a few. Participants had the opportunity to taste test all of the greens. In addition, participants sampled a Gumbo Z’Herbes recipe. Entertainment also included live music. More information about future events can be found at the We Grow Together! Facebook page.

In addition to the We Grow Together! event, several members of the Shreveport Dietetic Association promoted National Nutrition Month through various community visits and projects. SDA President Elizabeth Ollendike spoke to preschoolers at Busy Bees Learning Academy on March 4 and to a local Girl Scouts troop March 11. Also, Emily Walker, SDA nominating chair, spoke to kindergarten classes at Glenbrook School in Minden on March 13.

At Barksdale Air Force Base, Rachal will conduct commissary tours to teach healthier grocery shopping and will partner with other groups on base to have a National Nutrition Month themed 5K Fun Run.

Also as part of the national campaign, the academy celebrated National Dietician Nutritionist Day on March 11. That celebration is intended to honor and raise awareness about registered dietitians and the services they provide. Dietitians are providers of food and nutrition information, and National Dietician Nutritionist Day recognizes the professionals for their commitment to helping people live healthy lives.

For those interested in reading more about health and nutrition, the academy provides a suggested reading list as well.

Reading list topics include child and teen nutrition, diabetes, food sensitivities, nutrition and lifestyle, pregnancy and breastfeeding, special needs and sports nutrition. Complete lists can be found at www.NationalNutritonMonth.org.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, formerly the American Dietetics Association, has a mission “to promote optimal nutrition and well-being for all people by advocating for its members.” The academy has more than 70,000 members and is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The majority of the academy’s membership are registered dietitian nutritionists and dietetic technicians, registered.

National Nutrition Month began in March 1973 as a weeklong event. Eventually, due to an increased public interest in health and nutrition, “National Nutrition Week” became a monthlong observance in 1980.

For more information, go to www.NationalNutritionMonth.org or www.EatRight.org..