Schools in southern Florida are implementing more changes to promote healthy eating amongst students. Various schools have started providing a salad bar, changing the vending machine options, and introducing more fruits and vegetables. The USDA's Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act standardized calories per meal and what types of foods must be offered. However many schools in southern Florida are trying to go beyond that to create. They were making these changes before the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which has helped the changes become less objectionable. They have gotten rid of deep fryers in many schools, and began eliminating some high fat foods (like hot dogs, corn dogs, and fried foods). Although they are facing obstacles like the student's acceptance and intake of new food, they ...
According to this news article UnitedHealthcare has teamed up with Konami, the producer of DanceDanceRevolution (DDR), to bring a new version of the game, called the DDR Classroom Edition, to schools. Some suggest that minority children, such as Latinos, living in inner-city neighborhoods may benefit the most from this game. According to this news article, researchers from George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, D.C., are finding that active video games may provide a new avenue for kids to participate in physical activity. Already many schools have begun to use interactive video games as part of their curriculum. According to to this news article, researchers from the University of Montreal say that exergaming--playing video games that ...
In 2011, San Antonio started Siclovia--an event that closes off a busy road to street traffic, in order to open it up to cyclists, skaters, and pedestrians. The free event was a huge success and has served as a way to promote fitness, and awareness of the obesity problem in San Antonio. Since 2011, Siclovia has become a yearly tradition in San Antonio and the number of people who attend the event has continued to grow. According to this article from Bike Texas, in 2012, the event drew close to 40,000 participants. The response has been so overwhelming that two events were planned during 2013. Now the YMCA has taken charge of organizing San Antonio's yearly Siclovia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XteTXq5zxA The idea for Siclovia comes from the original closed streets ...
Through a grant from the Let's Move! Salad to Schools program, salad bars are being implemented into schools in Cordova, Alaska. These salad bars have a variety of fruits and vegetables, mostly raw, that the students love choosing from. Foods like raw spinach, cut up cauliflower, slide cucumbers, corn, peaches, orange slices, and many other items are featured in the salad bar, depending on what seasonal produce they can purchase. The students are responding well because they prefer being able to make their own choices on which fruits or vegetables to eat, which results in less food waste for the school and more healthy foods are actually eaten by students. The success of salad bars, like this one, are dependent on the foods being cut up, fresh, and easy for kids to see. This all ensures ...
Saludable Omaha, a Latino Health Movement created by youth activists, began to see the affects that obesity was having within South High School. In the 2011-2012 school year student leaders from the Saludable Omaha Movement decided to address the issue of the lack of nutrition knowledge that affected student’s ability to make healthy choices at lunchtime. In order to educate students about foods being served, Saludable Omaha students began a Green is Go marketing campaign. This campaign highlights the healthy foods, while also drawing attention to foods that have less nutritional value, that can be found in their cafeteria. Saludable Omaha students brought in a nutritionist to assist them in finding accurate facts and information about the food being served in the school cafeteria. ...
Due to concerns over the safety of infrastructure near schools, District 1 Councilman Diego M. Bernal of San Antonio, Texas has proposed a plan for repairing sidewalks and lighting around schools. The new plan to implement new funding strategies, would require collaboration between city officials, CPS Energy, and San Antonio school districts. Read Councilman Bernal's Council Consideration Request for Safe Access to ...
In October of 2012, Lincoln School in Prescott became the first school in Yavapai County to implement a Walking School Bus program. According to this report from The Daily Courier, so far parents and students have given positive feedback about the program. In the article, Lincoln Principal Teresa Bruso said: "We are excited to offer this program...It's a great opportunity for students to build community and healthy lifestyles as the walk to school each day." A non-profit organization called Prescott Alternative Transportation (PAT) received a grant, which helped the program get started. A few months prior to starting the program the Arizona Department of Transportation sponsored a walking school bus, workshop taught by PedNet. The workshop helped equip PAT with the tools necessary ...
School districts in Texas are responsible for encouraging children to be physically active. In doing so, some believe that school wellness policies should not use physical activity as a form of punishment. This September 2011 recommendation developed by the Texas School Health Advisory Council (TSHAC) aims to guide local School Health Advisory Councils (SHACs) to include provisions in their school wellness policies to prohibit physical activity as punishment. Click the document, or click here to view the full ...
Since 2001, physical activity requirements for Texas schools have been in place. Still if students are not meeting requirements for daily physical activity, other programs--such as after school programs--should provide them with an opportunity to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity. The following recommendations, created in November 2008, were provided in response to Texas SB 530, which was passed at the 80th legislation session. The bill requires that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in consultation with the Texas School Health Advisory Council (TSHAC) provide a report to the legislation, that details options for students to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity, outside the seven-hour instructional school day. The recommendations ...
