Aging Out of Foster Care Makes Eating Right a Challenge
Tony Turner knew he had to improve his eating habits to reverse a recent diagnosis of prediabetes, but, after several years in the foster care system, he did not know where to start.
Turner realized he rarely received guidance on how to prepare nutritious meals or how to shop for healthy food on a budget so he decided to advocate for such programming at his foster care agency, which responded by introducing a 12-week nutrition program to address those deficits.
“It wasn’t until the nutrition program that I realized eating healthy doesn’t have to mean only salads,” says Turner, now a senior studying social work at Columbia University. “During the 12 weeks, we had a support group, asking each other, ‘Have you been eating healthy?'” . . .