Hannah Robertson Encourages Kids To Eat A Rainbow!
Hannah Robertson is a 10-year-old healthy eating activist who has already made a huge impact, including scolding the CEO of McDonald's in person!
We recently spoke with Hannah about why eating well is so important to her, and about some of the advice she has to get other kids to eat well.
"I became passionate about healthy eating when I was about 5 years old," Hannah told us.
That was around the time her mom, health food blogger Kia Robertson, started the website Today I Ate A Rainbow.
Today I Ate A Rainbow was created as a tool and game to help teach picky children healthy eating habits. The goal is to eat five different colors of fruits and vegetables everyday!
Hannah herself was once a very finicky eater, but with her mom's help, and a whole rainbow of fruits and vegetables to eat, she learned to eat healthy foods.
Along the way, childhood nutrition also became very important to Hannah. She wanted to spread the benefit of healthy eating to other kids.
"When kids are healthy, they can do things that make them happy like doing sports and running around and playing with their friends," she explained. "When kids are not healthy it makes everything harder, and not as much fun!"
In May of 2013, Hannah and her mother attended a McDonald's shareholders meeting, where they had a chance to speak to McDonalds CEO Don Thompson.
They had been invited by an organization called Corporate Accountability International to speak, and Hannah had some choice words for the CEO.
"I was asking Mr. Don Thompson to stop marketing to kids because young kids can get tricked into eating un-healthy food with toys and cartoon characters," she explained.
Her goal was to get people to think about the big downsides of marketing to children.
"Childhood obesity is a serious problem and a lot of it is because of the un-healthy fast food that kids are eating so much," she said. "Companies like McDonalds should do their part by not making their food seem good and fun. Healthy food can be fun!"
Today, Hannah is an active contributor to Today I Ate a Rainbow. She does photo shoots and stars in cooking videos with her mom.
"I also sometimes make special videos for kids that need extra encouragement to eat fruits and veggies," she said.
Hannah said that the road to becoming a healthier eater is super simple.
"I think the most important thing is for kids to think about eating a rainbow of fruits and veggies every day and drinking lots of water too," she said.
And for picky kids who don't really like fruits and vegetables, she had 5 simple steps toward healthier eating.
1. "Be willing to try new food."
2. "Keep trying because it can take at least 10 times to like a new food."
3. "Try fruits and vegetables in smoothies."
4. "Help your parents cook food with fruits and vegetables in it."
5. "Try fruits and vegetables in different ways, like in chips, roasted or even frozen. I love eating a bowl of frozen blueberries!"
We love that it's so easy to eat healthier food! Hannah believes that with some more hard work, she can encourage more kids to eat good food, and pass the word on.
"I just hope that everyone in my generation can be healthy and happy and that they will be part of a revolution of good eaters!" she said. "I also think it's important that girls can and should speak up for what they believe in!"
To learn even more about Today I Ate a Rainbow, check out their social pages below.
You can also subscribe to Sweety High's YouTube page here, and you can click here to join Hannah and many other girls as part of our Sweety High community!
- Official Website
- YouTube
