I don’t know about you all, but I learned quite a bit about healthy living from Sesame Street. Sure, my parents played a huge role in developing my healthy habits (hi Mom and Dad!), but the Sesame gang taught me that everybody sleeps and that eating crunchy vegetables is good for me (hi Captain Vegetable!).

Today marks the show’s 40th anniversary (check out Big Bird’s legs on Google) and I’ve learned that there’s an even greater emphasis on health and nutrition on everyone’s favourite street. As part of the Sesame Workshop’s Healthy Habits for Life Initiative, you can download information on how to influence your children to adapt healthy habits (Michelle Obama recently visited Sesame to promote the program). There’s also information and videos on sesamestreet.org on everything from how to get your child to eat vegetables to enjoying cookies in moderation. (Who thought Cookie Monster would ever go this route?)

Share your Sesame Street memories in the comments section. And tell me, how do you instill healthy habits in your little ones?

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