In the Minneapolis public schools, we are supposed to have 15 minutes
to eat, which would be bad enough. But realistically we get only 10 to
11 minutes (we have been timing it).
Having to rush to eat is part of the reason for the obesity epidemic,
eating disorders, indigestion and kids not doing well in school. There
is research that proves all of these points. Kids just need more time to
eat at school.
The following is the first two paragraphs of an article two sixth graders, Talia Bradley and Antonia Ritter, wrote regarding school lunch policies for the Star Tribune. Not only is this a high quality and well researched article, but these two young ladies make a number of extremely valid points. I strongly recommend reading the entire article! Good job girls! Here is to a future in advocacy!
Now Playing: Happy National Registered Dietitian Day
For National Dietitians Day I thought it would be nice to celebrate a Community Nutrition graduate who is working to improve school nutrition and student nutrition knowledge here in Kentucky. Austin Dacci, the nutrition coordinator and school liaison for Harrison County school, has recently piloted a program to encourage middle and high school students to eat breakfast.
Noticing that the numbers for breakfast were low, with as few as 130 of the 1,000 high school student body, and 105 of 700 middle students participating in the school breakfast program, despite the district having a 57% free/reduced lunch rate, Austin conducted a student survey. The results showed that most students were skipping breakfast in favor of socializing before classes began. It became apparent that there needed to be a way to socialize while still fueling up for the day.
Austin's solution? Breakfast Grab-n-Go! This past week a trail went ahead with the following menu:
Monday: Whole grain biscuit and low fat/ low sodium gravy in a bowl
Tuesday: Yoghurt and berry parfait
Wednesday: Egg, cheese an turkey English muffin
Thursday: Mini pancake bites
Friday: PB & J wrap with rice cereal for crunch
I followed up with Austin after the trail week was completed, and was pleased to hear that the high school saw a 15% increase in breakfast participation, and 10% increase in the middle school. These numbers should help support this pilot program becoming a regular thing, and as the word gets out, we hope these numbers will continue to grow.
Ensuring the students of his district are encouraged to eat breakfast, and hopefully learn to recognize the importance of this first meal is not Austins only project this month.National Nutrition Month shares March with another great cause - Read Across America Day. Austin participated by reading nutrition themed books with his students.
Austin is also incorporating nutrition into everyday classroom lesson plans. For example, fractions is math core academic requirement for all Kentucky third grade students. But instead of using scissors to cut out paper circles into various slices, the 3rd graders of Harrison County will be rolling pizza cutters. "We will be learning fractions, all while making home made pizzas," said Austin. "I know
its not super healthy, but it does teach them measuring, portion
control, and family consumer sciences." And perhaps more importantly, it teaches students cooking skills that they will be able to utilities for a lifetime.
One Half is the same as Three Sixths
Austin is doing a great job of integrating the many facets of dietetics into the school environment, from the cafeteria to the classroom. I hope that many other dietitians involved in school food services follow in his footsteps!
Now Playing: Birke Baehr, age 11, gives a TED Talk on What is Wrong with Our Food System
From Birke's mother:
This is my son. He first started asking questions when he was 8 after he
saw a post online (over my shoulder) about mercury in HFCS. From there
he did his own research and changed our family's conventional
supermarket eating habits to local, organic, sustainable. He wrote this
talk on his own and he said, "How can I tell what's wrong and what's
right all in 5 minutes? Our kid had the freedom to think and learn for
himself and I think he did a fine job
Imagine if every child was this well educated in how our food system really operates... and what a difference it would make to both our health and our environment.
Today Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative turned two! This is one of my favorite Nutrition in Education related programs because finally someone who the world looks to, the FLOTUS no less, has said We Need To Do Something! The acknowledgement that we need to pay more attention to the health of our youth is awesome. The fact that Mrs. Obama is so passionate about it ia amazing. I love to imagine that when the Obama's climb into bed at night, or are eating a family meal with Malia and Sasha, they are talking about the importance of eating healthy and staying active.
Doesn't that warm you heart?
I hope you enjoy these clips from the first day of Michelle Obama's Let's Move 2nd Anniversary tour (I particularly liked the bit where she is doing The Robot with school children from Iowa)
Now Playing:Healthy Kids and Teens program In Shelby Co. TN
Students from Airways Middle, Caldwell Elementary, Craigmont Middle, East High, Fox
Meadows Elementary, Memphis Academy of Health Science, Millington
Middle, Southwind Elementary, Southwind High and Ridgeway Middle are all participating in a 12 week program hosted by Healthy Kids and Teens.
Clintonia Simmons, the president of Healthy Kids and Teens explained that the idea behind the program is to make being healthy as attainable as possible by eliminate the confusion and complexity of health information available to the public. "We don't necessarily have them counting calories, but we want them to
be aware of how that all works in their bodies and why they continue to
gain weight when they want to lose", said Simmons.
The program has been available at some of the local schools for the past two semesters, however, this is the first time the program will be offered to elementary aged children. Activities include dancing to keep in shape and examining food and fat models to help understand what it is we put into our bodies. The underlying idea behind the program is that you have one life, with one body, so you need to that body with respect so it will last you a lifetime. An important component of the program is offering resources and advice to parents so they can support their children in making healthy choices.
Now Playing is giving credit where credit is due. While Nutrition in Education has a long way to go, there are many groups out there that are making a difference at a grassroots level. For the duration of the blog, I will feature schools/ districts and the programs they are utilizing to help make Nutrition in Education a reality.
Name: E Pace From: Eastern Kentucky University About me: This is a blog about Nutrition in Education: The awesome programs that already exist, and what we can do to makes things even better!
