PLAINVILLE

Lessons about health and nutrition don't typically cause students to break into hysterics. But the FoodPlay nutrition theater show at the Wood School Tuesday morning had youngsters squealing and doubling over with laughter.

The award-winning combination of education and entertainment featured two characters - Tobe Fit, the fictional coach of the U.S. Olympic juggling team, and team member Johnny Junkfood - both of whom delivered a message of healthy eating and regular exercise through skits, music, magic and feats of juggling.

Sure, Johnny Junkfood (Michael Karas) was content to juggle bottles of soda to "The Macarena." That was until Tobe (Jeremy Phillip Rubenstein) became a mad scientist in a white lab coat, Mr. Junkfood became his bug-eyed assistant, Igor, and the pair entered the "Co-laboratory" to count out how much sugar is in a single can of Coke: 10 teaspoons.

In place of soda, the pair recommended that students drink milk, fruit juice and "Soda Naturale" - half fruit juice and half seltzer - along with eight glasses of water a day, which Tobe emphasized by squirting water on the audience.

The 45-minute performance also illustrated the difference between "up foods," such as apples, and "down foods" such as fast food apple pie, and reminded students to exercise, eat breakfast, get five fruits and vegetables every day, and left students with a few important maxims. They included: "Kids with brains eat whole grains," "Be true to your teeth or they'll be false to you," which had several adults laughing, and "Read it before you eat it," which reminded students to read ingredient labels instead of believing advertisements.

The production ended with the game show "Pyramid Power," when three students were called up from the "studio audience" to answer questions about the day's lessons. During the bonus round, the trio worked together to place mock foods in the correct MyPyramid food categories (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and beans) while Johnny Junkfood played the "Jeopardy" theme on a xylophone. The prize?

"A trip to the principal's office!" Tobe shouted.

Actually, it was a FoodPlay poster for each of the children to bring back to their classrooms.

Along with the performance, FoodPlay provided the schools with a resource kit for teachers, a healthy snack card for children to take home, a letter to parents with ideas for reinforcing the FoodPlay message, and a pack for food service staff with ideas on how to integrate FoodPlay in the school cafeteria.

Food Service Director Judy White said the performance fits in with the schools' new wellness program and healthier eating initiatives, including this week's Harvest for Students featuring fresh fruits and vegetables from a local farm.

"It just reinforces the message," White said.

The play was organized and paid for by the PTO to support the new federally mandated wellness program. PTO Vice President Deb Lacy said FoodPlay's visuals and comedy help to drive the healthy message home.

Two different performances were put on Tuesday morning - one for kindergarten through third grade, and the second for third through sixth grade - with the content tailored for each age group. "It's educational no matter what the age group was, but it's entertaining enough for the kindergartners," Lacy said.

The play included plenty of comic interludes, but the message is a serious one.

According to FoodPlay, obesity rates have doubled among elementary school children and tripled among adolescents in the past 20 years, while eating disorders and harmful dieting practices have become increasingly common.

Cyndi Bush, a mother of two students at the Jackson School, said she read about FoodPlay in a local newspaper and attended a performance in Avon with her son. Bush said after his reaction, she brought the idea of the program to the PTO.

"He loved it," she said. "Now at dinner he'll say things like, 'Mom, this food is an up food.' I was surprised how much it resonated with him."

LAUREN CARTER can be reached at lauren-carter@hotmail.com.