1. Improving the School Nutrition Environment
By:
Janet Jones
The purpose of this presentation is to motivate primary and secondary schools in the community to improve their school nutrition environment. My audience will be the school board, the administrators, and parents who allow their children to eat in school cafeterias.
Dudiak, Z. (2007) Focus on healthy eating changes food selection. Your Norwin. Retrieved on April 22, 2010 from Photo by Lillian DeDomenic
Improving the School Nutrition Environment

2. Overview Childhood obesity Dietary guidelines for children
Link between diet and lifelong health
Healthy People 2010
Selection of foods in schools
Recommendations
In this presentation, you will find information on childhood obesity, dietary guidelines for children, information on the linkage between diet and lifelong health, the initiative of Healthy People 2010, information on the selection of foods in school cafeterias, and recommendations for bettering the overall school nutrition environment.

3. Expected Learning Outcomes
The importance of childhood obesity and its long term effects into adulthood
The recommended dietary intake for children and adolescents
Current initiatives that have been put in place to better the school nutrition environment
Recommendations for better selection of foods in school cafeterias
After this presentation, my audience will have a better understanding of the importance of childhood obesity and its long term negative effects that are seen well into adulthood. In addition, the audience will learn about the recommended dietary suggestions for children and adolescents per the food pyramid. Moreover, current initiatives will be discovered that have been put into effect to better the overall school nutrition environment. Finally, recommendations for better selection of foods in school cafeterias will be discussed.

4. Childhood Obesity
A medical condition that is affecting children and adolescents at an exponential rate.
Will lead to diseases such as:
Hypertension
Diabetes
Cardiovascular disease
According to the CDC (2010) over the past 30 years, obesity has increased:
From 6.5 to 19.6% among 6-11 year olds
From 5 to 18.1% among year olds
Childhood obesity is a medical condition that is affecting many of our nation’s youth. It is characterized as a disease in which one’s weight is above the normal range for one’s height and age (Mayo Clinic, 2010). This is of grave concern because the effects of this disease not only influence a person’s childhood, but will eventually have impact on their adult health. Subsequent diseases that will occur include hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease to name a few.
According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), there are currently seventeen percent of children ages 2-19 that are obese (CDC, 2010). This percentage is alarming because it has increased dramatically over the past thirty years shifting from 6.5 to 19.6% and 5 to 18.1% among 6-11 and years olds, respectively (CDC, 2010).
There are numerous risk factors that contribute to this growing epidemic that will be discussed on the next slide.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010) Childhood overweight and obesity. Retrieved on April 23, 2010 from
Mayo Clinic. (2010) Childhood obesity. Retrieved on April 23, 2010 from
Obesity Society. (2010) Childhood Overweight. Retrieved on April 22, 2010 from

5. Childhood Obesity (con’t)
Risk Factors
Diet
Lack of exercise
Family history
Family factors
Socioeconomic factors
Of these risk factors, we can influence diet
Mayo Clinic. (2010) Childhood obesity. Retrieved on April 23, 2010 from
Risk factors for childhood obesity include: diet, lack of exercise, family history, psychological factors, family factors, and socioeconomic factors (Mayo Clinic, 2010). One’s diet and food choices can be the key component in influencing weight. Consuming foods that are high in fat, cholesterol, and sugar will inevitably cause significant amounts of weight gain. Additionally, lack of physical activity and one’s genetic predisposition can also be contributors to an unhealthy body weight. There are however, various factors that are seemingly uncontrollable such as one’s socioeconomic status and food selections made in the household. Although we cannot target all of these risk factors, we can reduce one’s risk of developing childhood obesity by restructuring our school lunch programs to be more conducive to a healthy diet and lifestyle choices.

6. Dietary Guidelines for Children
According to the food guide pyramid, children need a well balanced diet. This entails consuming adequate portions of the five main food groups. Referring to the slide, you can see what the recommended daily intake is for each respective group.
Ideally, we would like for students to consume these recommended servings. However, this is not the case. Vending machines containing junk food and other types of snacks enable children to make poor nutrition choices and not receive their recommended daily intake of these main groups. With this being said, consumption of fats, oils, and sweets (such as those bought from vending machines) has increased and is contributing to obesity and an overall decrease in the quality of life.
Dietary Guidelines for Children

7. Link Between Diet and Lifelong Health
Children develop lifelong eating habits before the age of twelve (Haas, 1994).
Poor diet choices can be detrimental to mental and physical aspects of health
Mental
Depression
Low Self-esteem
Risk for Eating Disorders
Physical
Type 2 Diabetes
Hypertension
High cholesterol
Stroke
Cancer
Early puberty
How do we stop the cycle?
Haas, E. (1994) Revising school lunches. Nea Today, 13(2),
Obesity Society. (2010) Childhood Overweight. Retrieved on April 22, 2010 from
Since as early as the 1980s, researchers in medical science and nutrition have found a link between diet and lifelong health. It has also been found that children develop lifelong eating habits before the age of twelve (Haas, 1994). Further research has shown that obese children are more inclined to be obese as adults (Obese Society, 2010).
During the primary years, a child is developing lifelong eating habits. Because much of this time is spent in school, their eating habits can be easily swayed. It is vital for the school to provide a vast assortment of healthy foods from which the child can select. People seldom realize that poor diet choices can be detrimental to mental and physical aspects of health. Some of the mental problems that can arise are depression, low self-esteem caused by perceived negative self image, and a risk for developing eating disorders (Obese Society, 2010). Moreover, some physical complications that may result due to poor diet are type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and an increased risk for stroke and cancer (Obese Society, 2010). Research has indicated that consumption of diets high in fats and cholesterol may expedite the developmental process by initiating an early onset of puberty.
Now that we’ve identified the problem, how do we stop the cycle?

8. Healthy People 2010
Goals:
1. Increase the overall quality and years of life
2. Eliminate health disparities
(US Department of Health and Human Services, 2010)
Developed objectives to focus specifically on the school nutrition environment (USDA, 2009)
United States Department of Agriculture. (2009) National School Lunch Program. Retrieved on April 21, 2010 from
U.S Department of Health and Human Services. (2010) Healthy People Retrieved on April 22, 2010 from
Healthy People 2010 is a set of objectives to better the health of the American people. Created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this project has two main goals. The first goal is to increase the overall quality and years of life, while the second goal is to eliminate health disparities (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Focusing on the first goal of Healthy People 2010, we can target the school nutrition environment in an effort to better the quality of life for children and adolescents.
As part of an effort to offset the rising incidence of overweight and obesity and improve the quality of
students’ dietary intake, Healthy People 2010 has developed objectives to focus particularly on the school nutrition environment. These objectives encourage us to “increase the proportion of children and adolescents, ages six to nineteen years, whose intake of meals and snacks at school contributes proportionally to good overall dietary quality” (USDA, 2009).

9. Selection of Foods in Schools
School lunch program
Progress has been made toward meeting new nutrition standards, but still some concerns that need attention (USDA, 2009)
Large majority of children not meeting dietary recommendations (USDA, 2009)
United States Department of Agriculture. (2009) National School Lunch Program. Retrieved on April 21, 2010 from
In the previous five years, USDA have established new nutrition standards for school meals as
part of the Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act of 1994, which requires
consistency with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) (USDA, 2009). There has been lots of progress
made toward meeting the new nutrition standards. Nonetheless, there are still
concerns that need our attention. For example, the data from the Continuing
Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals show that a large majority of children are not
meeting the dietary recommendations for daily intake of saturated fat, total fat, fiber and
sodium and are not meeting the recommended milk group servings either (USDA, 2009).

10. Selection of Foods in Schools (con’t)
Access to snacks and beverages in school cafeterias
Teenagers drink more soda and fruit drinks than milk (USDA, 2009)
Males are especially heavy consumers of soda and fruit juices --3 servings of soda and fruit drinks a day (USDA, 2009)
United States Department of Agriculture. (2009) National School Lunch Program. Retrieved on April 21, 2010 from
The statistics also show that teenagers drink more soda and fruit drinks than milk daily. Males are said to be especially heavy consumers of these drinks and they average more than three servings of soda and
fruit drinks a day (USDA, 2009).

11. Recommendations Removing junk food selections from school cafeterias
Replace junk food with healthy choices
Limit number of servings students are allowed to purchase
Nutritious Food Awareness
We have examined the problem of minimal nutrition selections in school lunch programs. Now here are my recommendations for improving the school nutrition environment.
Remove junk food selections from school cafeterias—This would include vending machines where students can get unhealthy snacks during any time of day as well as the soda machines which typically contain sodas or fruit juices which are high in sugar. By eliminating these selections, students are forced to wait until their lunch period where healthy food options are provided as well as milk and other low sugar drinks.
Replace these junk foods with healthy foods– Schools should add in fruit and salad bars to replace the unhealthy selections. This allows children and adolescents to get in one or more of their daily recommended servings for fruits and vegetables. In place of the vending machines containing sodas, machines containing water and low sugar fruit juices could be brought in.
The number of servings students can purchase should be limited– Cafeteria staff should educate themselves and children on the appropriate serving size of foods and discourage them from purchasing more than the needed serving size.
Students need to be introduced to some form of Nutrition Awareness– As apart of health curriculum, children and adolescents should be educated on the daily recommended intake for the food groups shown on the food pyramid. Students should be given activities in which they can plan a meal with the appropriate servings. This will help them learn better eating habits and allow them to see what food groups are missing from their diet. Another way to encourage awareness and get students involved with taking control of their eating habits is to have a day out of the week, or out of the month dedicated to nutrition awareness and eating healthy foods.

12. References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010) Childhood overweight and obesity. Retrieved on April 23, 2010 from
Dudiak, Z. (2007) Focus on healthy eating changes food selection. Your Norwin. Retrieved on April 22, 2010 from Photo by Lillian DeDomenic
Haas, E. (1994) Revising school lunches. Nea Today, 13(2),
Mayo Clinic. (2010) Childhood obesity. Retrieved on April 23, 2010 from
Obesity Society. (2010) Childhood Overweight. Retrieved on April 22, 2010 from
Oregon Health and Science University. (2010) Food Pyramid. Retrieved on April 23, 2010 from
United States Department of Agriculture. (2009) National School Lunch Program. Retrieved on April 21, 2010 from
U.S Department of Health and Human Services. (2010) Healthy People Retrieved on April 22, 2010 from
Here are my references.

13. Additional Sources
My Pyramid Plan
The Advocate
The USDA-National School Lunch Program
For more information on this topic, here are some sources for further reading.
My Pyramid Plan is where you can find out how much of each food group you need daily per your age, sex, weight, height, and daily physical activity.
The Advocate Weekly shows an online article entitled, “Earth Day 2010: Local schools working toward providing students with healthy, nutritious food in the cafeteria.”
On the USDA website, you can get more information on the National School Lunch Program and get informed on the up-to-date changes as they occur.