Bettina Elias Siegel, author of the popular childhood nutrition blog The Lunch Tray, has created a manifesto about the place of food in the classroom. Many schools have not yet addressed the issues of having food in the classroom, using food as a reward, and how junk food finds it's way into the hands of students, despite healthy lunches. This manifesto created by Siegel, states in clear bullet points why food in the classroom can he harmful to children's health and undermines what parents teach their children about food ...
Editor's Note: To recognize National Cancer Survivor's Day on June 2, 2013, SaludToday is telling the stories of Latino survivors through their own words. By Joan Treviño Lawhon I think women are blessed with a sixth sense. Recently, during a show on breast cancer survivors, several said they knew immediately that something was wrong. I could definitely relate. My basic tests were within normal limits, but I had what I can only describe as a “gut feeling.” I had some very supportive doctors who followed through on my instincts. It took five tests to confirm a malignancy. Within an hour of my diagnosis, I was at Barnes & Noble buying layman’s books on breast cancer. We can freeze and let the disease consume us, or we can fight. My choice was to fight. I was going to make ...
A study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine titled, "Pre-sliced Fruit in School Cafeterias: Children's Selection and Intake," determines whether or not students would be more likely to eat fruit if it was pre-sliced for them. The study found that consumption of apples increased when students were given the selection of pre-sliced apples, instead of only whole fruit. This is important information because students are given fruit and healthy options at school, but the preparation is sometimes a deterrent for small children when it comes to eating the fruit. When looking to make changes or improvements to school meals, this is an important factor to take in because it will increase nutritional value of lunches and decrease food ...
Schools in Wenatchee School District, Wa., will be seeing healthier meals in their lunch rooms and an improved effort to change the way food is used throughout the school day. The District's food service director, Kent Getzin, is focusing on encouraging students to try new foods, showing students where foods come from, and changing the way food is used in the school as reward or fund raising opportunities. “It comes back to our philosophy about our kids being healthy, and eating well, and the impact that has on learning,” said Superintendent Brian Flones, in The Wenatchee World article , “Like any other life skill, kids need to learn early what’s going to be best for them. And if we’re not modeling it with what we do at school, they’re going to probably leave with a lot ...
Featured on The Lunch Box's website, is an advise page for parents/caregivers about what they can do to make changes at their children's school. The Lunch Box initially suggests just making a little noise about what is going on with school lunches by visiting the school or conversing with other parents about the current school food. They go on to make suggestions like having parents do research on policies, eating at school, finding others who support you, involve the community, and many other ways to create beneficial changes to school lunches. This page is an excellent resource for those who want to make a change, but aren't sure where to ...
Parents Educators & Advocates Connection for Healthy School Food (PEACHSF) offers many How-to guides on their websites that help parents or other leaders take the first steps toward improving their school food. This website includes links to resources like glossaries of school food terms, how to organize your goals, how to be an advocate, rookie mistakes to avoid, how-to write a press release or talk to a reporter, where to start when tackling school meals, how-to fund raise without selling food, and other resources focusing on improving school ...
Students in Mason County, West Virginia, are able to begin their school day with a healthy, nutritious breakfast. They eat with their fellow classmates and prepare their brains for a day of learning. The success of school breakfasts for all students in Mason County has lead to the passing of a bill that will require all schools in West Virginia to provide a school breakfast to every student before the day's lesson's begin. The goal of this program is to improve achievement in the state and reduce childhood obesity, which is extremely important in this state with 29% of high school students being obese. Along with requiring breakfast, this bill requires every county to set up a fund to collect private donations that will go toward other healthy initiatives like buying more fresh produce ...
A new pubcast, "Obesity Control in Latin American and United States Latinos: A Systematic Review," examines research programs that combined physical activity and healthy eating to address obesity can help guide efforts to tackle the epidemic in the United States and Latin America. The pubcast, published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is from the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health at San Diego State University. Read more about this research ...
Unhealthy drinks are the source of many extra calories in kids' diets, especially among Latino children. Unfortunately sodas and other sugary drinks are easy to find in almost every community---even in hospitals! Let's be real: hospitals and sugary drinks just don't mix! In order to encourage patients and their families to make healthy beverage options, Indiana University Heath has begun removing all sugary drinks from cafeterias, vending machines and gift shops. Starting with their downtown Indianapolis and Fishers hospitals, the hospital system plans to eventually move sugary drinks out of its about a dozen other hospitals around the state. This sort of internal policy helps patients and families make healthier choices in a place that should serve as a role model for healthy ...
