Over the past 3 months I have been exploring the concepts of Nutrition in Education. I have explored the reasons that Nutrition in Education are important, and the exciting things that have been going under that umbrella, from awesome grassroots movements and children pushing for change to advocating for school lunch and school environment reform, and the success we have achieved in that advocacy in even these few short months.
For easy of reading I have divided the posts up by topic, so you can pick those you are most interested in to explore. These topics are as follows:
What is Nutrition in Education - an explanation of the various ways in which nutrition can be part of the educational system. Many of these posts include statistics that support the importance of this inclusion.
The Numbers - posts that are dedicated to the statistics.
Advocacy in Action - a collection of advocacy efforts I have been a part of in the past 4 months that are relevant to the topic of Nutrition in Education.
Policy - these posts discuss some of the policies that are related to Nutrition in Education, mostly those which have changed since the onset of this blog, but also those for which we are advocating for.
Now Playing - posts that celebrate people and organizations who are doing awesome things in the field of Nutrition in Education. By far my favorite category.
So, this is it for now... but I hope to see you again soon!
I thought I was done blogging, but Bettina over at
The Lunch Tray has written a manifesto in response to her children being consistently "rewarded" with junk food in the class room (the treat bucket is one of my pet peeves as a person who has worked in the public school system) that I just had to share!
And I hope you will share it too!
Labels: Advocacy in Action, Grassroots Movement
Grassroots Movement: Fit Kids
I decided to take my own advise earlier this month and do some grassroots advocacy for the FIT Kids Act. Using the very cute poster that the American Heart Association has designed (as seen below), I put posters up around campus to increase knowledge of the cause.
You can download your own version of this poster
here in order to canvas your own community.
Below is a snapshot of a poster I places on a bulletin board.
Labels: Advocacy in Action, Grassroots Movement
What is Nutrition in Education: Workshops and After-School Programs
When I first started this blog, I spoke of how it was my dream to have nutrition education as part of regular school curriculum. As we know, this is a long way off. For most children, nutrition education comes in the form of after-school programs and workshops. Some nationally recognized after school programs include:
A great many programs exist on the local level also, frequently funded by your states Board of Education or by Extension Agencies, as well as the private sector and non-profit sector. For example, Girl Scouts in Kentucky is currently running a short nutrition education program for little girls through the school system ( I had the pleasure of going to one of these lessons with a fellow dietetics student earlier in the semester).
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Girl Scouts make fruit salad at a cooking class
by justjorie |
After school programs are important as the National Center for Education Statistics reports that only 35% of teachers provide stand-alone nutrition lessons to their students, and even when nutrition information is incorporated into other lessons such as the science of digestion or health science, children are exposures to an average of about 13 hours a school year. Considering children spend in excess of 700 hours of school this year, this number is fairly meager.
After-school and workshop nutrition education programs tend to address both physical activity and dietary behaviors. A literary review of such interventions reveals that such programs are responsible for modest changes in behavior, particular changes in behavior that promote weight maintenance and prevent overweight. For these two reasons alone, nutrition after school or as special events should be strongly encouraged in our schools.
Resources:
Labels: What is Nutrition Education
Now Playing: From the Mouths of Babes
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!
Labels: Now Playing
Advocacy in Action: Proposals
Throughout this blog I have spoken a lot about asking representatives to support a bill that is currently being considered by one committee or another. But have you ever considered that you can impact policies before they are even made?
The United States Department of Agriculture is currently reviewing it's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). The purpose of FFVP is to provide children with a variety of fruits and vegetables as healthy snack options at participating schools.
With the help of Prevent Obesity I have written a letter to Tom Vilsack, Secretary to the USDA, to let him know I support FFVP and requesting that the review addresses a few key points.
Dear Secretary Vilsack,
I am writing to show my support of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Program and your effort to standardize it so that more children will
benefit. Having a program that teaches students about the importance of
eating fruits and vegetables by allowing them to try the produce helps
educate them about nutrition and helps kids’ lead healthier lives.
As you finalize your proposal, I ask that you include the following requirements:
1. States conduct outreach to schools serving the highest percentage of children eligible for free or reduced-price meals;
2. State agencies provide schools with the training and technical assistance necessary to operate the program efficiently;
3. Schools implement the program five days per week;
4. Schools incorporate nutrition education into the program; and
5. Schools use only fresh, fresh-cut, and nutritionally equivalent fruits and vegetables in the program.
To ensure that schools can reach the goal of serving nutritious
snacks as part of this program, it is also important that your agency
allow them to use a portion of their total funding for non-food
costs—such as the purchase or lease of kitchen equipment.
This program can and does help improve students’ dietary intake,
which in turn reduces their risk for obesity, diabetes, high blood
pressure and other serious chronic diseases. Healthier children do
better in school and we all benefit.
If you would like to let the USDA know you also support FFVP, you can do so here. Labels: Advocacy in Action, Policy
Advocacy in Action: Fed Up With Lunch
Sarah Wu, the author of
Fed Up with Lunch and
a blog of the same name, is an amazing school lunch reform advocate. For a year, Wu committed to eating lunch as her students did in the school cafeteria, and documented each lunch so the public to see what was really being served. Her book and blog got a lot of attention from health advocates and the general public alike and has been a key element in recent health reform.
Recently Wu
blogged about the reaction she gets from people when she tells them about the work she does. "Parents should just pack a lunch for their kids” she is told time and time again. But this is the furthest thing we can do to cause reform.
I had some thoughts of my own to share:
I strongly recommend checking out
Fed Up with Lunch - it is among the best school lunch reform resources out there.
Labels: Advocacy in Action
