New Report Shows How Schools Can Help Students Make Better Food Choices
In 2001, the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity identified schools as a key setting for addressing the problems of poor nutrition and inadequate physical activity – two root causes of the current obesity epidemic among the nation’s children. In order to help schools in their efforts to combat obesity among children and youth, Action for Healthy Kids released a new report in January which showcases a demonstration project and technical assistance model developed to provide insight into the strategies, tactics, and actions necessary to help students make better food choices.
According to Action for Healthy Kids, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, which requires every school district to develop and implement a local wellness policy by the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year, provides an extraordinary opportunity to change school practices regarding nutrition and physical activity in a way that can greatly benefit children’s health and learning. However, schools are facing many challenges in developing and implementing wellness policies, including budgetary challenges.
To help identify what will be necessary for many districts and schools to successfully implement wellness policies, a dozen Illinois schools participated in a project to test various approaches to improving school-based nutrition. Several organizations and businesses, including Action for Healthy Kids, were part of a working group established to help provide technical support and expertise to schools that were willing to implement strategies to improve students’ food choices. Each school faced familiar challenges of budget and staffing constraints, crowded schedules, and numerous competing priorities.
Nine of the twelve participating schools/districts were able to complete projects. The report reveals that the strategies utilized by the schools/districts for improving student food choices included: introducing healthier choices for entrées, snacks, and beverages; repackaging to make healthy options more attractive; adding salad bars to the lunchroom; promoting and introducing new fruits and vegetables; increasing participation in breakfast; and accommodating healthier snack foods. An example of these applied strategies includes that a high school introduced plastic bottles of flavored milk during a one-week promotion in an attempt to increase milk consumption among students.
Among the results presented in the report was that most interventions appeared to succeed in making students aware of the new, more nutritious food offerings. Nevertheless, the report reveals that success in getting students to switch to those offerings did not come easily. The experience showed that this transition occurs much more quickly when the new choices replace less nutritious foods, as opposed to the two being offered together.
The report also emphasizes the importance of establishing a School Health Advisory Council to bring together key stakeholders to address the health and wellness needs of the school. It also describes the common challenges faced by the schools to implementing good nutrition practices such as resource limitations, product and equipment availability, and support and acceptance. Moreover, lessons learned from the project such as the need to involve students, promote food tastings, gain support and collaboration, and be consistent and comprehensive are also listed. In addition, recommendations such as the need for a systematic approach to developing, implementing, and monitoring wellness policies that are rooted in proven models, and that have “champions” for change inside and outside of the schools are described.
For additional information, please contact:
Action for Healthy Kids
4711 West Golf Road
Suite 625
Skokie, IL 60076
Phone: 1-800-416-5136
Email: info@actionforhealthykids.org
Source: "Helping Students Make Better Food Choices in School," Action for Healthy Kids, January 2006.