What is Nutrition in Education: School Meals
School lunches get a bad wrap... and honestly, they often deserve
it. They are supposed to follow strict guidelines, but sometimes the
stringency to which they are followed is more than a little
questionable. School lunches consist of a lot of breaded chicken product
and a lot of heat-and-serve, super processed food products. Do they
have to, no. But it's a lot less work for the foodservice workers, and a
lot less complaining in the lunch line if they are.
The Healthy Eating Index survey of children aged 2-17 finds that children have inadequate intake of fruits,
vegetables and whole grains. The NSLP is designed to meet 1/3 of a child's recommended intake for the day, and the School Breakfast program provides for an additional 1/4 of a child's dietary needs. these statistics show that the school meals that are served to over 31 million school children each school day may be falling short of their designated goals.
Meanwhile, children who eat school lunches are in general more adequately nourished and consume foods from a wider variety of food groups than those who eat a packed lunch. Condon et al found that while intake of these plant foods among children is
inadequate, NSLP
participants are more likely than nonparticipants to have an improved intake of
these food groups. Meanwhile, Clark & Fox found that NSLP
participation was associated with higher intake of calcium, potassium, and fiber
and reduced prevalence of inadequate intake of magnesium, phosphorous, vitamin
A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, and thiamin.
This says very little for what is being fed to children by their parents - which brings us to another component of nutrition in education - reaching out to the families. I will have to go back, and add that one to our list of Nutrition in Education topics!
Condon et al: School meals: Types of foods offered to and
consumed by children at lunch and breakfast.
Clark & Fox: Nutritional quality of the diets of US publicschool children and the role of the school meal program Labels: What is Nutrition Education
What is Nutrition in Education?
How is nutrition in education defined? Ideally, I would like it to mean that children in every school, took a nutrition and life class along with math, science, reading and writing. No one have ever died from from spelling receive "R-E-C-I-E-V-E" or forgetting the formula for Pythagorean theorem. Meanwhile poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle has us dropping like flies.
But for now, that is little more than a pipe dream. Especially since we are currently facing battles like "kids should get a daily recess" and "pizza is a vegetable" on the school nutrition front.So, what are the topics that affect nutrition in schools?
The first one that comes to mind is school lunches - the actual food available in schools. The next most obvious is PE or "gym". After that, people may think of recess or maybe nutrition workshops or after-school programs.
Another consideration is the school food environment - say what? Well that covers things like the availability of sodas in vending machines, and the appearance of the cafeteria.And the of course there is nutrition as part of curriculum.
In the following days, I will post a brief explanation of these Nutrition in Education topics, because in order to advocate, we must first need to understand the beast we are about to battle!Labels: What is Nutrition Education
A New School Lunch
For the first time in 15 years, the nutritional standards for school lunch meals will be raised. Yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and First Lady Michelle Obama announced the new lunchtime standards
These changes come as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.
Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy
Vilsack describes the changes as " historic opportunity to improve the quality and quantity of the school meal programs".
The new standards, which will go into affect in 2012-2013 acedemic year, are intended to improve the nutrient intake of the nearly 32million children who participate in the National School Lunch Program each school day. Highlights of the changes include:
- Establish a caloric limit for meals
- Establish a sodium limit for meals (this standard will have a 10 year implementation period).
- Requiring schools provide students vegetables from the five vegetable subgroups each week.
- Requiring schools make fruit available to students daily, and in larger portion sizes.
- Requiring milk be low fat or fat free.
- Requiring "whole grain" to be the first ingredient on all grain items. (This standard will have a 2 year implementation period).
- Requiring that no food item served contains trans-fats.
In order to meet the costs of these stricter standards, schools will be reimbursed an additional 6 cents per meal.
sources: USA Today
Billing Code: 3410-30-PLabels: Policy
Introductory Summary
The Cause, and the Reason for Advocacy
The industrialized world is facing a weight epidemic. In the United States, 2/3 of adults have BMI's that classify them as overweight or obese. Many other countries of the western world, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are seeing similar increases in the prevalence of overweight/ obesity.
Alarmingly these trends are not limited to the adult population. Children and adolescents are on a fast track to matching these statistics. As overweight/ obese children experiencing symptoms of chronic disease that have previously been associated with the "middle-age spread"; and are at heightened risk of becoming overweight/ obese adults - it is imperative that an intervention occurs in order to cease this trend towards an overweight population.
Despite the recent gains in government recognition of the
importance of early nutrition education and physical activity interventions,
practical life skills which could help lifestyle choices which are directly
correlated to preventable diseases are not being addressed in the school
environment.
It is unquestionable that children are the future, and what
is more desirable than a healthier tomorrow? I strongly believe in the
importance of providing children with the opportunity to make positive
lifestyle choices through promoting a healthy school environment with a
practical life skill curriculum, including cooking skills, physical activity,
and nutrition education. It is my goal to advocate such a change, to support the occasional program or
after-school activity that promote healthy lifestyles but moreover, to advocate for making health and nutrition a more
regular aspect of traditional education.
Current Legislation on the Issue
While there is no legislature that directly addresses nutrition becoming part of regular K-12 curriculum, there are a number of bills, laws, and regulations that affect child nutrition, physical activity standards in schools, and the school food environment. These include
Advocates on the Issue
While there is little activity towards nutrition becoming part of regular K-12 curriculum, there are a number of groups that advocate for improving the the health of children through nutrition interventions and increased physical activity.
- Kids Eat Right
"Kids Eat Right is the first joint initiative from the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Foundation, that supports the efforts of the White House to end the
childhood obesity epidemic within a generation."
- Let's Move
"Let’s Move! is a comprehensive initiative, launched by the
First Lady, dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a
generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able
to pursue their dreams."
- FIT Kids
"The Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids Act (FIT Kids) aims to help prioritize quality physical education in our schools."
- National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity
"The National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity's mission is to
unite the strengths of public, private, and industry efforts into
collaborative partnerships that inspire and empower all Americans to
lead more physically active lifestyles."
- Recipe for Success
"Recipe for Success Foundation was launched in 2005 by Gracie & Bob
Cavnar to lead the way in hands-on nutrition education aimed at
preventing childhood obesity and encouraging long term health."
- Healthy Kids and Teens
"The
Healthy Kids & Teens vision is: To help educate, motivate, and
assist America’s youth in living healthier lives. There is a mirage of
information available that addresses the problem of childhood obesity
and its effects on our children’s health. After much discussion with
kids, parents, school administrators, church staff, and others, the
assessment is not that information is not available, but that it is not
available in a simplified format that can be utilized by parents and
kids alike."
- Alliance for a Healthier Generation
"The Alliance for a Healthier Generation works to address one of
the nation’s leading public health threats—childhood obesity. The goal
of the Alliance is to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity by
2015, and to empower kids nationwide to make healthy lifestyle choices.
Founded in 2005 by the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton
Foundation, the Alliance works to positively affect the places that can
make a difference in a child’s health: homes, schools, doctor’s
offices, and communities."
- School Nutrition Services DPG group (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)
"We believe children should be empowered to make healthy food choices
that reflect the nutrition principles of the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans and USDA recommendations.
We strive to Keep Nutrition in Our Schools."
Kid's Safe and Healthful Food Project
" The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are
working together on the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project to
provide nonpartisan analysis and evidence-based recommendations to help
ensure that:
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) adopts science-based nutrition standards for all foods and beverages served and sold in schools;
- Schools have the resources they need to train cafeteria employees and replace outdated and broken kitchen equipment; and
- USDA develops and implements rigorous school food safety policies.
Kids deserve safe, healthy meals to help them grow, learn and succeed. Together we can help school foods make the grade."
