Nutrition Advisory Council (NAC)
Nutrition Advisory Councils (NACs) are student-led groups in which members work to affect healthy change through student-to-student nutrition education aimed at increasing the daily consumption of fruits and vegetables and physical activity among their peers.
NACs give students the opportunity to be nutrition education leaders by working directly with their peers. NACs are sponsored by a teacher, administrator or nurse, but the real work is done by the students. Their goal – to inspire healthy change at their schools.
Some NACs survey the students and recommend changes with the food that is served and sold in school cafeterias and student stores. They work on creating healthy fundraising strategies, fruit and vegetable tastings, or just talk one-on-one with their peers about the benefits of fruits, vegetables and physical activity.
Although the NACs primarily work at their school sites, their influence is felt throughout the school community and beyond. Many NACs initiate health fairs and invite the public to attend. They beautify their campuses with murals and care for school gardens. The students are dedicated and hard working. Most importantly, they know how to find the fun in being healthy – and their enthusiasm is wonderfully contagious! 
Check out the Network's NAC Resource Kit on the right for ideas on activities for your NAC.
For more information on the Network for a Healthy California—LAUSD (Network) NACs, contact Leticia C. Jenkins, leticia.c.jenkins@lausd.net or Ivy Marx, ivy.marx@lausd.net at (818) 609-2550.
