Changing the way kids eat
Eric Paul Meredith rethought the possibilities of getting kids to eat healthy. He decided to reach children in their own play yard and launched a series of books that use visual narratives to provide health education named “Health Heroes Comics.”
The young superheroes show children that good nutrition is fun. “The superheroes break down what can be complex health information in a way that is easy to understand, entertaining and engaging,” said Meredith.
He launched the first pilot of the health-themed comic book creation curriculum at Passages Charter School in Chicago called Superheroes in the Classroom in September 2015. In this after school program, youth learn how to find credible health information and use it to plan, create and publish health related comics.
His newest project is the launch of Healthheroes.net, a social networking site dedicated to providing youth a safe environment to create content, learn and share knowledge about health topics.
“The site allows young people, parents, and other adults to post what they are doing to be healthy,” said Meredith. “They can write a blog, exchange recipes, post videos of working out, and more.”
Meredith credits his Graduate Certificate in Health Education from Union in also propelling his work forward with the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service.
“When I am not being a superhero for health, I oversee nutrition education programs for six states for the USDA. My certificate taught me how to plan, implement and evaluate nutrition education programs more effectively. It also showed me how to design a program and train other nutrition education professionals,” said Meredith.
The Graduate Certificate in Health Education is an excellent choice for students from different educational and professional backgrounds and levels of expertise (community and k-12 educators, non-profit leaders, social workers, and others), who are looking to expand on their existing experience and/or passion in the field of health education. The program also incorporates the coursework needed for the CHES (Certified Health Education Specialist) exam.
“Eric is a perfect example of an experienced and qualified professional working in the field of health education who used the coursework, Multicultural Competency, Grant Writing, and Planning & Implementation of Health Education programming to further his career goals,” said Brooke Bolton, Associate Director, Professional Studies & Continuing Education/M.S.O.L.
To learn how the Union Graduate Certificate in Health Education can energize your health education career, visit this link. To keep up with Eric and his work, visit Eric’s page on LinkedIn and Healthheroes.net.