• by Aaron Baar , August 27, 2013

Cookie Monster may have moved to regarding his favorite snack as a “sometimes food,” but "Sesame Street" is continuing to push better eating habits for kids through a new public service announcement in conjunction with UnitedHealthcare. 

In the new PSA, Sesame character Abby Cadabby and Dr. Reed Tuckson (United Health Foundation’s senior medical advisor) speak about the importance of “eating a rainbow” of colors when it comes to fruits and vegetables. “You can eat a rainbow of colorful fruits and veggies just like these,” Tuckson says in the ad, gesturing to produce boxes filled with apples, oranges, bananas, green beans and blueberries. “Mmm, that’s good rainbow,” the muppet says after eating a banana.

The new PSA is part of UnitedHealthcare’s ongoing “Healthy Habits for Life” partnership with Sesame Workshop, which has also included bilingual educational materials about eating well on a budget and establishing lifelong healthy eating habits. According to the organizations, the 3-year-old “Food for Thought” partnership has helped families change and reshape their knowledge, beliefs and behaviors around nutrition. 

“We are passionate about encouraging and enabling families to make healthy choices early in life and providing them with access to healthy food,” Dr. Tuckson said in a release. “We are thrilled to partner with Sesame Workshop to offer tools and resources to help parents and caregivers gain a greater understanding of the relationship between healthy habits and children’s healthy growth. The PSA is a great way to share tips with families to help them stay healthy.”