The UK National Foundation for Educational Research studied the impact of PhunkyFoods in 18 primary schools across the country between November 2007 and September 2008. The findings include: 1) Parents and teachers saw improvements in the knowledge, awareness, attitudes and behaviour towards exercise and healthy eating. 2) More than half of children said they ate more healthily as a result. 3) More than half of children demonstrated that they had improved their understanding of why healthy eating was important. 4) The number of pupils who could provide a sophisticated response about what ‘balance’ meant to them in diet doubled after the project.
Archive for category School nutrition
PhunkyFoods works!
Jan 2
At the request of USDA the Institute of Medicine (IMO) assembled a committee to recommend updates and revisions to the school lunch and breakfast programs. The first part of the committee’s work is reflected in the December 2008 IOM report Nutrition Standards and Meal Requirements for National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs: Phase I. Proposed Approach for Recommending Revisions. You can let them know what you think at http://www.iom.edu/fnb/schoolmeals See also http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE4BG79720081217
On December 28th Danish authorities for the first time published specifications on food served in kindergardens. I believe that Denmark could be the first country to demand that school and kindergarden food should be healthy. Here you can see what is considered healthy. That is if you read Danish!
A 2-y intervention targeting increased physical activity and healthy eating in primary school children in New Zealand was followed up after 2 years. Despite the main intervention initiative being discontinued at the end of the intervention, continued benefits to BMI remained apparent in intervention children approximately 2 y later.
A group of nutritionists is teaming up with chefs from the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec to provide culinary expertise to Quebec daycares and early childhood centres. The goal is to help childcare centres develop healthier and tastier meals and snacks for kids.
Reducing the energy density of multiple meals decreases the energy intake of preschool-age children
Dec 13
In this crossover study 10 boys and 16 girls aged 3 to 5 were served manipulated breakfasts, lunches, and afternoon snacks 2 d/wk for 2 wk. Children consumed a consistent weight of foods and beverages over 2 d in both conditions, and therefore their energy consumption declined by 389 +/- 72 kcal (14%) in the lower-ED condition. Children’s energy intake is influenced by the ED of foods and beverages served over multiple days. These results strengthen the evidence that reducing the ED of the diet is an effective strategy for moderating children’s energy intake.
The study included 598 adults who were surveyed at the ages of 24 and 27; almost 400 had taken part in the Seattle Social Development Project during elementary school, while the rest had not. The program trained teachers in classroom management, offered parents classes in encouraging positive behavior and helping their children with schoolwork, and gave children lessons in getting along with their peers and controlling their own behavior. The goal was help children excel at school and cut their risk of drug use, early pregnancy and getting involved in crime. Researchers found that students who had gone through the program were, in general, doing better than their peers at the age of 27.
School vending machines and cafeterias in Colorado will by June 2009 no longer sell soda or other sugary soft drinks under regulations approved by the Colorado Board of Education. High school students will still be allowed to buy low-calorie sport drinks. But board members specifically barred diet soda. “If we allowed diet soda, kids get in the habit of drinking soda,” said board member Evie Hudak.
School Health Law
Dec 13
The School Health Law Project is a program in the Public Health Law & Policy unit at the Public Health Institute. The Public Health Institute is an independent nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California. This is their website on Promoting access to nutritious foods/beverages and physical activity in public schools and reducing or eliminate the advertising of non-nutritious foods/beverages on school campuses.
5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1
Dec 11
The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children has introduces a new program called 5-4-3-2-1 where 24 high school students teach nutrition classes to elementary age children. The classes are being held at various after-school programs and day care centers. The students are teaching students the 5-4-3-2-1 principle, which advocates five servings of fruits and vegetables, four glasses of water, three servings of low-fat dairy products, two hours or less of screen time and one hour or more of exercise daily.