Healthy Arkansas | Worksite Wellness

5 A Day Challenge

The 5 A Day Challenge is an activity that encourages participants to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables and participate in a total of 30 minutes of physical activity each day. This activity could be done on many different levels, either as a challenge for one section/department/division at a time or as a competition between them. The steps below will help organize a challenge for the entire workplace. Steps could be easily modified for fewer participants such as a department-only activity.

One Month Ahead

Get the endorsement of management.
Designate a 5 A Day Challenge coordinator.
Develop a planning committee.
Brainstorm for ideas that focus on 5 A Day, physical activity and incentives for participation.
Schedule the event.
Solicit participation from community health organizations such as the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, YMCA or local hospitals.
Arrange for prizes. Many local businesses are willing to donate prizes.
Gather recipes, educational resources and other materials.
Create slogans, program logo and informational verbiage about the program and its benefits for employees and the organization.
Promote the Challenge with posters and flyers, newsletter, pay stuffers, etc.
Elicit family participation by having employees bring their spouses and children to an organizational healthy food picnic, with games requiring activity (volleyball, badminton, sack races, etc.).

The Week of the Challenge

Demonstrate ways to prepare fruits and vegetables that are easy and taste great.
Set up a taste test and/or other 5 A Day activity in the cafeteria.
Decorate the hallways, stairwells and bulletin boards with posters of fruits and vegetables and physical activity.
Copy and distribute the logs and instructions for completion to employees.
Guide the employees through the log each day.
Provide reminders to complete the log.

After the Challenge

Tally results and recognize employees’ efforts.
Give a certificate to each employee who participated. Consider recognizing the section/department/division that ate the most fruits and vegetables, that did the most minutes of physical activity and that tried the most new fruits and vegetables.

Copy the Servings Chart for each person participating in the 5 A Day Challenge and have them fill it out. Track everyone’s progress for a week and you’ll see that eating five to nine a day is easy.

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