Fourth graders at Molly Stark Elementary School learned about proper nutrition and proper dental care on Friday, thanks to presentations by the Abbey Group and the Bennington Oral Health Coalition.

Maureen O'Neil, Southern Vermont food service director at the Abbey Group, and Stephanie Gates, assistant director, spoke to the students first, demonstrating to students how they can "Eat Smart, Play Hard."

"We want you kids to grow up healthy and wise, full of the vim and vigor that comes with good nutrition," said O'Neil. Together, they walked students through the recommendations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPlate program, and talked about the importance of small portion sizes and avoiding empty calories.

"A soda might have 250, 300 calories in it, and it does absolutely nothing for your body," said O'Neil. They also passed out to students a list of "go," "slow," and "whoa!" foods, organized by how often people should eat them. They had students rank several boxes of cereal from most to least healthy, and then used the nutrition facts and ingredients to show them how wrong some of their assumptions had been, and that you shouldn't necessarily believe everything you read on the front of the box.

Of course, eating healthily isn't the only aspect of good health, they said, you also have to exercise. Despite the "play hard" aspect of the program, O'Neil and Gates told the students that there were many ways to exercise besides playing, including cleaning their rooms. "Anything you do that's moving is exercise," said O'Neil.

The students then turned their attention to Dr. Robert Cauley, a local dentist with a practice on Union Street in Bennington. He quizzed students on the different parts of the tooth, and tied into the Abbey Group's presentation, talking about the negative consequences of eating sugary snacks. Passing around a tooth with a cavity, Cauley explained the chemical reactions that occur between sugar and bacteria that can wear down one's teeth. "Even with a little sip of soda, that bacteria is sitting on your teeth, creating that acid, for 20 minutes," he said.

Cauley showed the students a poster board, which had bottles of soda glued to it, with the caption "Rethink Your Drink." Beneath each bottle was a baggie filled with how much sugar was mixed into the drink. Cauley cautioned students to brush at least twice a day, for at least 2 minutes each time. "Once you get that toothache, it's too late," he said, "and you only have one set."

Lisa Kazazean, of the Oral Health Coalition, and teacher Donna Stone passed out paper, on which the students were told to write short essays about the importance of oral health. The essays will be judged by Stone and members of the coalition, with the best writers receiving gift certificates to the Bennington Bookshop, courtesy of Kathy Hoisington.

The Abbey Group serves 17,000 lunches every day across Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York, and provides lunch and breakfast to the schools of the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union. You can learn more about them at their website abbeygroup.net.

The Bennington Oral Health Coalition, the organization behind the proposal to fluoridate Bennington's water, continues to work to find ways to improve oral health in Bennington. They will be hosting a community advisory meeting on April 22 at 6 p.m. at the Bennington Fire Department, to hear new ideas about how that goal can be achieved.