From MSNBC, July 13, 2006ST. PAUL, Minn. – They’re promising to keep closer tabs on student lunch trays, pull sugary treats from vending machines and classroom celebrations and encourage more pulse-raising activities during the school day.
The nation’s public schools are under orders to adopt nutrition and exercise goals before classes resume in the fall. The written wellness policies are required by a federal law that took effect July 1.
“Some school districts and school buildings have already made a lot of these changes and some have done nothing just because they’ve never been required to,” said Alicia Moag-Stahlberg, executive director of Action for Healthy Kids, a 50-state nonprofit network. “Frankly, schools that have never had this conversation are having it.”
The law’s primary objective is straightforward: combating rising childhood obesity rates. Overweight children miss more school than their average weight counterparts, according to the National School Boards Association. Backers also argue that reducing sugar in students’ diets leads to greater focus in the classroom.
Some states are making similar efforts through new laws and policies, and the federal law gives school boards wide latitude, causing vast differences in their approaches.
More colorful lunches
In Tennessee’s Williamson County, for instance, the broadly worded policy runs 23 lines; in Hampton, N.H., the five-page plan is so detailed it suggests elementary students have “at least two colors other than white and brown as part of their lunch meal.”
Committees comprised of administrators, teachers, parents and students are looking well beyond the cafeteria for ways to promote healthier eating habits and more physical activity.
In St. Paul, students will find water, fruit juice and milk in vending machines that used to dispense soda. In Farmington, Utah, schools are holding recess before lunch so kids don’t give short shrift to their meals in the race to the playground.
Elegant lunches to replace candy
Teachers in Cape Girardeau, Mo., will encounter restrictions on goodies they can give out in their classrooms. Lollipops and sodas will be no-nos.
Fri, Jul 21, 2006
News, Parenting