Being Healthy at School

You eat a lot of food at school. Lunches, snacks, a quick soda between classes from the vending machine, and even an early-morning muffin or doughnut before your first class can add up. And it isn't healthy.

It's no secret that it's a lot easier to eat junk food at school than to eat healthy. What may be surprising is that there's a very specific reason for that. Most school food programs are self-supporting and need to make money to stay in business. According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 71.9 percent of all high schools have contracts with soft-drink companies to sell soft drinks. Of those, 91.7 percent of the schools get a cut of the money they generate through the sales. The more soft drinks you buy, the more money the school gets. And this isn't limited to high schools. More than 50 percent of middle schools and even 38.2 percent of elementary schools have similar deals with soft drink companies. Many schools also generate revenue by allowing fast food or candy companies to promote their products on campus and in publications. They can even sponsor school events.

If that wasn't enough, more and more schools are cutting physical education, or even recess, from the school day. Time and resources that used to be spent on physical education is now being taken up complying with the strict standards of the No Child Left Behind Act. This at a time when the National Association for Sports and Physical Education have increased the recommended amount of physical activity for children ages 5 to 12 from 30 minutes to at least 60 minutes per day.

The CDC determined that in 2003, only 55.7 percent of high school students were enrolled in a PE class, with female students and students in higher grades more likely to not be involved in the recommended amount of physical activity. To promote greater physical activity, the CDC developed Guidelines for School and Community Programs to Promote Lifelong Physical Activity among Young People, which recommended daily PE for all students in high school. However, their studies showed that only 5.8 percent of high schools require daily physical education for all students throughout the year.

But it's not all bad news. People are recognizing this problem and trying to do something about it. The USDA teamed up with a coalition of five medical associations to get the ball rolling. Titled "Prescription for Change: Ten Keys to Promote Healthy Eating in Schools" the coalition advocates the following:

• Students, parents, food service staff, educators and community leaders will be involved in assessing the school's eating environment, developing a shared vision and an action plan to achieve it.
• Adequate funds will be provided by local, state and federal sources to ensure that the total school environment supports the development of healthy eating patterns.
• Behavior-focused nutrition education will be integrated into the curriculum from pre-K through grade 12. Staff who provide nutrition education will have appropriate training.
• School meals will meet the USDA nutrition standards as well as provide sufficient choices, including new foods and foods prepared in new ways, to meet the taste preferences of diverse student populations.
• All students will have designated lunch periods of sufficient length to enjoy eating healthy foods with friends. These lunch periods will be scheduled as near the middle of the school day as possible.
• Schools will provide enough serving areas to ensure student access to school meals with a minimum of wait time.
• Space that is adequate to accommodate all students and pleasant surroundings that reflect the value of the social aspects of eating will be provided.
• Students, teachers and community volunteers who practice healthy eating will be encouraged to serve as role models in the school dining areas.
• If foods are sold in addition to National School Lunch Program meals, they will be from the five major food groups of the Food Guide Pyramid. This practice will foster healthy eating patterns.
• Decisions regarding the sale of foods in addition to the National School Lunch Program meals will be based on nutrition goals, not on profit making.

In April 2007, the U.S. snack industry announced its backing of new voluntary nutritional guidelines created by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation designed to improve the nutritional quality of products sold in schools. Companies including Kraft, Mars, PepsiCo, and Dannon have pledged to reformulate certain products and introduce lines of healthier snacks for kids.

These guidelines, developed with the help of experts at the American Heart Association, cover snacks, desserts, and other items sold at school through vending machines, snack carts, school stores, and so on. They ensure that products have no more than 35 percent of their calories from total fat and 10 percent of calories from saturated fat. Also, products can contain no more than 35 percent sugar by weight and can have no more than 230 milligrams of sodium. And no trans fats are allowed at all.

These new guidelines come on the heels of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's May 2006 agreement with leaders in the beverage industry to only sell water, unsweetened juice and low-fat and non-fat milk in elementary and middle schools.

It's all a huge step in the right direction, but don't wait for your school to change its ways. You are in charge of your own nutrition. Make your own healthy choices at school, and you make healthy choices for life.

For more information on childhood obesity, check out the helpful links on the following page.

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition, and is solely for informational purposes. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 or your local equivalent for all medical emergencies.