CATCH Nutrition aims to teach, model, encourage and support healthy eating for all learners throughout the school. Nutrition education and promotion positively influences lifelong eating behaviors by using evidence-based techniques and nutrition messages, and by creating food environments that encourage healthy nutrition choices and participation in school meal initiatives.
CATCH Nutrition impresses on learners key lessons about the nutritional value of various food groups. CATCH Nutrition uses a stoplight model to break foods out into three groups: GO, SLOW, and WHOA foods. The goal is to eat more GO foods than SLOW foods and to eat WHOA foods only in very small amounts. GO describes foods that are whole grain, unprocessed fruits and vegetables, lowest in fat, contain no added sugar, and can be eaten daily. SLOW describes foods that are slightly processed and may have some added salt, fat, or sugar. WHOA describes foods that have the highest fat and sugar.