Getting Kids to Eat Well
The Role of School Nutrition Staff
School nutrition
staff have a big job. They must provide
meals that meet the Dietary Guidelines and the other regulatory requirements
all on a limited budget. Once the food
has been served, another challenge awaits: how to encourage young children to
be healthy eaters, eating and enjoying the food prepared.
The
following guidance is based on the work of Ellyn Satter, a registered dietitian
who has written and lectured extensively about child feeding:
Child
feeding requires a division of responsibility
·
The adult’s
role is to provide a variety of attractive, wholesome food offered in pleasant
surroundings at regular times.
Adults
encourage but not force children to eat.
Adults can
make children feel welcome and comfortable at lunch.
Adults
model desired behaviors.
Adults can
teach children to turn down food politely.
·
The child’s
role is to decide whether to eat, what and how
much to eat.
Children
are naturally cautious about trying unfamiliar foods.
Children
learn to like new foods by having them served over and over (even 10-15 times)
and by seeing their friends eat them.
Children
will waste food, but this is a necessary part of a child’s learning process to
eventually accept a variety of foods.
Serving new
foods in small quantities along with familiar foods can help reduce waste.
Cont’d
on Page 2
Inside this issue:
Getting Kids to Eat Well
Team Nutrition Classroom K-12 Connections Classes Offered
Team Nutrition Schools Working Together!
The Only Constant in Life is Change!
Tidbits from Julia
Gearing Up for Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
Meet Our New Staff Member!
Summer Short Course Classes—In Summary!
Sodium
Discover School Breakfast Toolkit
Food Distribution News
Check Out the Library!
·
They are
more likely to stop when they are full.
·
They eat
because they are hungry and because food tastes good and appeals to them at the
time.
·
They do not
eat because they paid for it, because it is good for them, or to keep from
getting hungry later.
·
Children
have inconsistent food preferences and intake from day to day.
Additional
information is available at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Resources/changing.html
and at http://www.ellynsatter.com/.
The Bureau of
Nutrition Programs and School Transportation is promoting opportunities to have
Team Nutrition curriculum from Food and Me (grades pre K -Kindergarten), Food
Time (grades 1-2), and Food Works (grades 3-5) presented on the IPTV channel,
direct to the classrooms through K-12 Connections. Iowa State University Extension Nutrition Specialists will teach
the classes. Tell teachers in your
school or day care center to check this out at: http://www.k12connections.iptv.org/.
The program
titles for the PreK-Kindergarten sessions are: Food Gives Us Energy to Move!
and All Kinds of Foods Help Us Grow and Learn.
Program titles for students in Grades 1-2 are: All Aboard the Grain
Train and Tasty Travels. The program
titles for grades 3-5 are: Bodies Grow and The Label Lowdown. Complete program descriptions are provided
when you click on these titles at the website listed above. The sessions will be offered more than once
but class size is limited. Pass the
word! Enroll your class now!
Team Nutrition Schools
Working Together!
Lots of great
ideas have been coming in to the State Agency for Team Nutrition
Mini-grants. One county has put
together a great team and has been energized by students at the college
there. Three non-public schools, the
county extension director, the county public health, the College of Nursing
professor and her students have worked on planning Team Nutrition activities
together. Their efforts will include
classroom instruction about Team Nutrition, the nursing students plan
activities for each of the schools, and involvement by the county public health
and extension to assist with additional information resources and
displays. The contact at College of
Nursing reported that it started as a simple idea and quickly grew because of
the enthusiasm by the schools to be involved in promoting the healthy messages.
They have monthly activities planned for each school that will be lead by the
nursing students.
Another school
has involved a local dietitian, principal, food service director, teacher,
parents, student council president, county health department, and athletic
director. During the Fall Open House
the plan involves parents by providing Healthy Snack Taste Testing and having a
Pyramid with food models and activity cards on display along with some
Lipo-Visuals showing the fat found in various foods. What a great way to show what children are eating! This school is also doing a Team Nutrition
event in conjunction with Jump Rope for Heart.
The same Food Guide Pyramid will be shown with the Lipo-Visuals and
three Team Nutrition messages: “Eat a Variety of Foods,” “Eat More Fruits and
Vegetables,” and “Choose Lower Fat Foods More Often.” The menu for the day will indicate which foods are heart healthy
and everyone will “Be Physically Active” (the fourth Team Nutrition message) by
jumping rope. The media will be invited
to join in the activity. This school is
also considering changing the décor in their lunch area to encourage the four
Team Nutrition messages.
The Only Constant in Life is Change!
In the September
Lunch Line issue, we told you about our Bureau's new name. This time we are
sharing the new name of the American School Food Service Association. At the Annual Nutrition Conference in
Indianapolis this past July, and after 58 years of promoting healthy, balanced
meals for school children, members of ASFSA voted to change the name of the
organization to School Nutrition Association (SNA).
The membership
was told that the new name more accurately reflects who we are, what we're
about and how we want to be viewed by others.
Members work in all aspects of the school nutrition field, from directing
school programs to managing individual school kitchens and staffing cafeterias
and kitchens. The Association's mission
remains the same “to advance good nutrition for all children.” The New website is www.schoolnutrition.org
Iowa has also
changed its name to Iowa School Nutrition Association to reflect the change in
the national organization. If you would like more information on Iowa's state
organization, contact one of the executive officers:
Virginia
Bechtold, Council Bluffs; 712-328-6416
Laurie Peyton
Crane, Davenport; 563-386-4780
peytonl@mail.davenport.k12.ia.us
Tracy Knebel,
Cherokee; 712-225-6765
Janet Wendland,
Mason City, 641-421-8483
You can also go
to the Iowa website www.ISFSA.org.
Iowa School
Nutrition Association Conference
Plan now to
attend the Iowa School Nutrition Association Annual Conference on June 27-29,
2005 in Council Bluffs.
Julia’s
Tidbits
Award Opportunities
Be proud of what you are doing and take
time to apply for an award. During the next several months a variety of new and
existing award opportunities will be available for you to apply for school
recognition. Three of these are briefly described below:
For more
information on these awards, check out the Bureau web site for information that
will be posted soon under School Programs, sub category awards.
Cont’d
on Page 4
Cont’d
from Page 3
Recent Publications
The National
Action for Healthy Kids initiative has recently released and posted to its web
site a special report, titled “The Learning Connection: The Value of Improving
Nutrition and Physical Activity in Our Schools”. The report is available in its
full form, as an executive summary, and as a one-page handout. The special
report was developed in order to stimulate dialogue on this topic, encourage
additional research, and to motivate school leaders to make changes that will
improve nutrition, physical activity, and physical education in our nation’s
schools. The web site for this initiative is www.actionforhealthykids.org.
New
Training Resource
The National
Food Service Institute as part of its work with USDA is in the midst of
distributing hand washing kits to all school food authorities in the country.
The kit contains a number of different components to assist districts with
training their food service staff on the importance of and proper hand washing
procedures. If you haven’t received your kit yet, it should arrive by the end
of the calendar year. If you already received it, we hope you are putting it to
good use!
Change
Continues
By the time you
read this newsletter you should be in process of completing the annual
requirement for verification of a percentage of the free and reduced price meal
applications. As outlined in the memo regarding verification, additional detail
regarding the results is now being required by USDA. All of the information
from each School Food Authority will be submitted via the new web based system
to the State Agency. The Bureau will review the information, and forward it on
to the National level. The State Agency will be required to work with school
districts that have an unusually high rate of change in eligibility as a result
of the verification process.
Gearing Up for Summer Food Service Program
(SFSP)
Do you have one
or more schools with 50% or more of the students eligible for free or reduced
price meals? If the answer is yes, are you sponsoring the Summer Food Service
Program in these neighbor-hoods? If not, the Bureau encourages you to consider
being a sponsor for 2005. These children have just as much need for the program
during the summer as during the school year. Districts with one or more schools
meeting this criteria will be receiving a letter soon announcing informational
sessions to learn more about being involved with this very important program.
For more
information, contact Rod Bakken, SFSP Lead Consultant at (515) 281-4760 or Rod.Bakken@iowa.gov
Meet
Our New Staff Member
We would like to
welcome Jaci Yetmar as the newest consultant. Jaci began work with the Bureau
on October 29, 2004. Her primary responsibility will be school programs and
child care facilities in Central Iowa. Jaci is married and has four children
ranging from age 8 to 15 years old. They claim residence in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Jaci has a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of
Northern Iowa. She has sixteen years experience in the Early Childhood Field,
including thirteen years as Center Director and Head Cook with two Early
Childhood Centers in Fort Dodge and one center in Webster City. She is looking
forward to working with and sharing information with Central Iowa schools. You
can contact Jaci at (515) 281-4758 or
e-mail
her at Jaclyn.Yetmar@iowa.gov.
Summer Short Course Classes—
In Summary!
·
Eight
sessions were held: Building Your HACCP Program, Advanced HACCP Seminar,
Manager’s Update, Food Service Basics, Financial Management, Strategies for
Effective Team Building, Basic Math for Food Service Employees, and New
Manager’s Workshop.
·
Over 272
food service professionals attended these classes.
·
Workshops
were held over the ICN, and at Iowa State University in June, July and August.
·
Twelve
Bureau of Nutrition Programs and School Transportation and Iowa State
University staff were involved in facilitating the learning in these workshops.
·
We all
learned a lot! Read on for the highlights of each workshop.
Building Your HACCP Program
Persons
attending this workshop received a starter HACCP manual and a CD-ROM with
resources developed through the Iowa school project. They began identifying the
areas of concern in their own operations with respect to HACCP procedures.
Participants
brought along recipes and HACCP plans that they had begun for their own
districts and received technical assistance in further customizing these plans.
For the first
time, this session was presented over the ICN, with Bureau consultants
facilitating learning through group discussions and activities at each site. We
reviewed current changes in program operations and areas needing more
attention.
Enthusiastic new
school food service employees were led through activities emphasizing program
basics, serving requirements, food quality and food safety.
A group of
managers, directors and school administrators worked on computer software
spreadsheet applications designed to pinpoint problem areas in food service
operations. Group discussion was also held on decisions that affect the cash
flow of the organization, and participants began an analysis of their own
school data.
Designed as a
follow-up to the Joys and Challenges Workshop in past years, this workshop helped
participants to focus on group dynamics in their work situations. They were
challenged to identify factors that can change the atmosphere and develop
action plans to improve their work environments.
The persons attending
this class used the new Food Buying Guide to determine the amounts of food to
prepare for sample recipes, learned how to re-size recipes, how to put this
information in production records, and how to figure the bread/grain,
vegetable/fruit and meat servings in sample recipes.
A large group of eager new managers and directors
were provided guidance and basic information about their role in planning and
preparing meals that meet the needs of the students in their schools. They practiced
what they were learning through many group activities, and had the opportunity
to ask a multitude of questions. A majority of the attendees indicated that
they would appreciate a follow-up session, which will be held over the ICN in
early January.
Dates and
registration information for the 2005 Summer Short Courses will be available in
early Spring.
Sodium
“Choose a diet
moderate in salt and sodium.” Those are words of wisdom from the current
Dietary Guidelines. USDA has not set a
national standard for sodium in school meals since an estimated annual
requirement (EAR) has not been set.
However, the Institute of Medicine has established the amount needed for
health or “adequate intake” (AI) and an “upper limit” (UL), which is the
maximum amount that healthy people should not exceed. Studies have shown that most Americans’ diets exceed the UL for
sodium. State Agency nutrient analyses
of Iowa school meals have shown similar results.
Dietary sodium
intake is of concern because excess amounts may lead to serious health
problems. The major concerns related to
excess dietary sodium are:
·
High
blood pressure that can
lead to heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.
·
Loss of
calcium from the body,
important because most children do not consume adequate amounts of calcium.
Most foods in
their natural state are low in sodium.
The majority of dietary sodium (77%) is consumed as a result of
processing while 6% is added during cooking.
Since most comes from processed foods, check nutrition fact labels on
the products you use or request information from distributors to help you
choose and request lower sodium products.
Follow these
guidelines when using the Nutrition Facts Label: products with 5% or less of the Daily Value (DV) are considered
low in sodium and products with 20% or higher are considered high in sodium.
The milligrams of sodium provided by a serving are also listed on the
label. The upper limit (UL) for adults
is an average of 2400 milligrams or less per day for adults (and the adequate
intake (AI) is only 1500 milligrams).
While these levels are very difficult to meet, the following efforts can
result in progress toward reducing sodium in school meals:
·
Limit the
frequency or serving sizes of processed foods.
This effort can have the biggest impact.
·
Serve more
foods made from scratch where the amount of salt or other high-sodium
ingredients can be controlled.
·
Reduce
sodium in local recipes as appropriate (not in yeast breads).
·
Serve
plenty of fruit and fresh or frozen vegetables that are naturally low in
sodium, and high in potassium, which can help offset blood pressure elevating
effects of salt.
·
Experiment
with herbs, spices and lemon for all or part of the salt in selected recipes.
·
Limit
portion sizes of condiments.
Lower sodium
USDA recipes have been developed and are available online in “A Toolkit for
Healthy School Meals” http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Resources/toolkit.html.
Sodium contributes to flavor and
acceptability of school meals, so efforts to reduce it need to be carefully
approached to limit any negative potential impact on customer satisfaction and
meal participation.
Below are considerations
when reducing sodium or making other changes to provide healthier school meals:
·
Make
changes gradually.
·
Communicate
with staff, teachers, administrators to educate them about the issue, your
concern and planned efforts.
·
If
possible, collaborate with teachers and gain their assistance in educating
students about the health benefits of the changes.
·
If possible
work with student groups to develop announcements, make posters, or to write an
article for the school newspaper.
You may find that
others in the school have similar concerns and will partner with you to promote
acceptance of healthier school meals.
There’s a new
toolkit that can help you jump-start your breakfast program. The toolkit can be found at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Breakfast/toolkit/Default.htm. This kit is designed for stakeholders at all
levels who have an interest in increasing access to the School Breakfast
Program. This kit helps school meal
programs determine the type of meal service most suited to their needs and
develop a marketing plan that will capture and keep their customers. The following tools are included in the kit:
ü Parent and student surveys to help
determine what parents expect and what students need
ü Worksheets to calculate revenue and costs
of serving breakfast
ü Descriptions of and ideas for various
meal service options
ü Information and problem solving ideas for
stakeholders at every level
ü Marketing ideas
ü Resources to meet operational needs
ü
Evaluation
tools for measuring success
Here is an
example of a tool from the section “There is more than one way to serve
breakfast.”
Secondary students like Grab ‘n’ Go
breakfast for opportunities to eat at different locations and times.
Cont’d
on Page 8
|
1. Participation in the breakfast program is significantly lower than lunch. |
YES |
NO |
|
2. Food carts are available or space exists for placement of tables in entrances for “curbside” services. |
YES |
NO |
|
3. Teachers realize the importance eating breakfast has to the learning process. |
YES |
NO |
|
4. Breakfast needs to be served faster and serving areas need to be more accessible. |
YES |
NO |
|
5. Students already grab soft drinks and snacks from vending machines as they rush to class. |
YES |
NO |
|
6. Additional labor hours are not available. |
YES |
NO |
|
7. Flexibility is needed in scheduling serving times. |
YES |
NO |
|
8. Meal payment system does not require cash at point of service. |
YES |
NO |
|
9. Congestion in cafeteria dining room needs to be reduced. |
YES |
NO |
U.S. Department of
Agriculture www.usda.gov
American
School Food Service Association www.schoolnutrition.org
America’s
Second Harvest www.secondharvest.org
Research
on childhood hunger
Dairy
Council of California www.dairycouncilofca.org/edu/index.html
Nutrition education activities
for the classroom
Dairy
Council of Wisconsin http://dairycouncilofwisconsin.org/menukit/menus.html
Sample
menus from the web
Food
and Nutrition Service www.fns.usda.gov/fns
Food
Research and Action Center (FRAC) www.frac.org
School
Breakfast Score Card
Healthy
School Meals Resource System http://schoolmeals.nal.usda.gov/framework/about-hsmrs.html
Resources for healthy school meals
http://schoolmeals.nal.usda.gov/States/statestuff.html
Learn what other states are doing
Mid-Atlantic
Dairy Association www.dairyspot.com
Nutrition
education activities for the classroom
National Dairy Council www.nationaldairycouncil.org
National Food Service Management
Institute www.nfsmi.org
Provides information, conducts applied research,
and offers training and education opportunities
Nutrition Explorations www.nutritionexplorations.org
Resources
for educators, parents and food service staff