Removing Junk Food From A School System: Enforcing Healthy Choices For Students Who Dont Want Health

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Removing Junk Food From A School System
Enforcing Healthy Choices For Students Who Dont
Want Healthy Solutions

• ISBA September 2003

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Childhood Obesity

• Muncie Community Schools decided to be part of
  the solution to the challenge of childhood
  obesity rather than contributing to the problem.

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Childhood Obesity

• As many as 25 percent of children and adolescents
  are overweight or obese.
• The percentage of youths who are overweight has
  more than doubled in the past 30 years.

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Childhood Obesity

• Nearly 40 percent of kids ages five to eight have
  conditions that significantly increase their risk
  of early heart disease.

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Childhood Obesity

• Whether mature or not, students are making
  health-related decisions (right and/or wrong) in
  and out of the school environment.

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Childhood Obesity

• Schools are definitely a key agent in this
  process and therefore, must create an
  environment where healthy lifestyles are
  constantly reinforced.

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Muncie Community Schools - Healthy Solutions
Committee
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Healthy Solutions Committee Members

• Co-chairs Directors of Curriculum and
  Assessment, Food Services, and Human Resources
• Administrators
• Teachers
• Support Staff

• Students
• School Board Member
• Parents
• Community Members
• Medical Doctor
• Dentist
• Registered Nurse

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Purpose

• To determine what our schools can do or what our
  responsibilities are in establishing healthy
  living standards/guidelines for students and
  implement programs that support the findings.

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Approach

• Reviewed recommendations from a previous Vending
  Machine/Health Solutions Committee that met
  during the 2001/2002 school year.
• Provided a history of employee wellness
  initiatives and how to develop an employee
  wellness program.

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Approach

• Shared information regarding the different
  courses available to students that address
  wellness and nutrition at the elementary, middle
  and high school levels.
• Provided information on the State guidelines and
  recommendations for Health and Physical
  Education.
  

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Open Dialogue

• The Committee expressed their concerns and made
  recommendations that would address healthy
  lifestyles.
• Sub committees were formed to address curriculum,
  nutrition and wellness initiatives.
• The Open Dialogue information has been provided
  to you in your materials.

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The 2002 Healthy Schools Summit

• Washington, D.C. October 2002

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Healthy Schools Summit

• This event brought together the nations leading
  education, childrens health and nutrition
  organizations in an effort to improve kids
  health and educational performance through better
  nutrition and physical activity in schools.

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Healthy Schools Summit

• David Satcher, MD, Ph.D., former U.S. Surgeon
  General was the Chair and presided over the
  Summit activities.
• Mrs. Laura Bush serviced as the Honorary Chair.

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Healthy Schools Summit

• A Fact Sheet from the Healthy Schools Summit has
  been provided to you in your materials.

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Healthy Schools Summit

• A vision, action plans and reasons to focus on
  nutrition and physical activity in schools
  evolved out of the Summit.
• Refer to your information materials titled
  Join Forces To Take Action For Childrens
  Nutrition and Fitness.

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Action for Healthy Kids

• Evolved from the 2002 Healthy Schools Summit.
• An integrated grassroots network of AFHK State
  Teams is launching state-level action plans
  focused on improving nutrition and physical
  activity opportunities in schools.

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Action for Healthy Kids

• Web-site www.ActionForHealthyKids.org

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The Indiana State Team

• Is working to achieve the following goals in our
  State.

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Goal 1

• Provide age-appropriate and culturally sensitive
  instruction in health education and physical
  education that help students develop the
  knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviors to
  adopt, maintain and enjoy healthy eating habits
  and a physically active lifestyle.

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Goal 5

• Provide food options, that are low in fat,
  calories and added sugars, such as fruits,
  vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat and nonfat
  dairy foods.

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Goal 10

• Provide daily recess periods for elementary
  school students, featuring time for unstructured
  but supervised active play.

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Goal 12

• Encourage the use of school facilities for
  physical activity programs offered by the school
  and/or community-based organizations outside of
  school hours.

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Healthy Schools Summit

• The future may hold some federal mandates
  addressing childrens nutrition and fitness
  because several speakers at this Summit referred
  to No Child Left Behind and the statistical
  data supporting the benefits of nutrition and
  exercise.

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Healthy Schools Summit

• Ironically the U.S. Department of Education is
  promoting the need to have schools drive its
  practices and curriculum with scientifically
  based research, especially as related to Leaving
  No Child Behind. The irony of this effort is
  that there is a wide body of research that is
  scientifically based and clearly outlines that
  when childrens basic nutritional and fitness
  needs are met, they have the cognitive energy to
  learn and achieve.

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Healthy Schools Summit

• Conversely, poor nutrition and a lack of
  physical activity lead to lower academic
  achievement. In essence, the goals of Leave No
  Child Behind in the academic core subjects can be
  greatly enhanced with the same national resolve
  and commitment to ensure that all students have
  nutritional means, engaging in physical activity
  and participate in health education programs.

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Healthy Solutions Committee

• Initiatives are worthwhile to pursue, but it will
  come down to money and commitment from our school
  corporation.
• Parent involvement is going to be very important.

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Healthy Solutions Committee

• The Committee narrowed their focus to deal only
  with students and the school day.

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Nutrition

• Recommendations to the Superintendent and School
  Board

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Selling of Food/Beverage Items During the School
Day

• Effective 2003/2004 All sales of food and drink
  outside of Food Services were prohibited during
  meal periods.

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Selling of Food/Beverage Items During the School
Day

• Effective 2003/2004 All sales of food and drink
  outside of Food Services (including vending
  machines), including approved fund raisers, are
  prohibited during the entire instructional day.

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Selling of Food/Beverage Items During the School
Day

• Effective 2003/2004 Remove products from Food
  Services areas (including vending machines)
  which do not meet MCS nutritional guidelines.

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Selling of Food/Beverage Items During the School
Day

• These guidelines include
• 1) No more than 35 total calories from
• fat (excluding nuts and seeds) or
• 2) No more than 35 total weight from added
• sugar (excluding fruits and vegetables) or
• 3) The USDA standard for a lunch component.
• The Indiana Department of Educations
  Competitive Food Policy has been included in your
  materials.

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Clarifications What Ifs

• The restriction is in effect continuously from
  the start of your breakfast program until the
  student dismissal bell at the end of the school
  day. There are no restrictions at other times.

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Clarifications What Ifs

• Products sold in staff lounges are exempt from
  the restrictions as long as students are never
  permitted access to these lounge vending
  machines. Products sold in staff lounges may be
  taken outside of those areas if food and beverage
  consumption is permitted by building
  administrators in other areas.

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Clarifications What Ifs

• There are no restrictions on food and/or
  beverages brought to school by a student for
  his/her personal consumption in the areas
  designated for food consumption during meal
  periods (breakfast-lunch). Students are not to
  black market food/beverages to other students.

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Clarifications What Ifs

• Our Director of Food Services has been designated
  as the district-level contact person for this
  issue. All questions, complaints, concerns, etc.
  should be directed to her for review.

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Clarifications What Ifs

• Schools still have the choice of full-service
  vending (vendor counts money and pays school
  commission) or self-service (school employees
  count money and pays vendor for products.)

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Comments/Feedback

• High School Administrator
• The financial aspect will hurt but we need to
  make our kids diets more healthy.

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Comments/Feedback

• High School Student
• I think it stinks. Its not the schools fault
  students are obese.

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Comments/Feedback

• School Nurse
• I am pleased that awareness of the content of
  the snacks are being looked at and that changes
  are being made to encourage healthier choices.
  We also need to encourage exercise to help with
  the obesity issue.

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Comments/Feedback

• Parent
• As a matter of routine, my children did not
  purchase snacks at school, so we did not notice
  the change. I am however in favor of children
  being able to have an occasional treat. That is
  part of childhood!

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Curriculum

• Recommendations to the Superintendent and School
  Board

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Curricular Offerings

• Effective Immediately Establish a
  corporation-wide curriculum oversight committee
  to work with content area curriculum committees
  to review curricular offerings to strengthen and
  endorse behavior-focused wellness, physical
  fitness and nutrition. This would include any
  investigation of extended physical education and
  recess time. This committee would also work with
  textbook selection committees.

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Curricular Offerings

• Linkage with curriculum content areas through the
  yearly textbook adoption/curriculum revision
  cycle.
• Targeted curriculum emphasis within the
  following Physical Education, Health Education,
  Family and Consumer Sciences.

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Curricular Offerings

• Specific course curriculum development within
  K-12 Health Education, K-12 Physical Education,
  and specific courses such as Nutrition and
  Wellness, Advanced Nutrition and Wellness, Adult
  Roles and Responsibilities, Fit for Life, Child
  Development and Parenting, and Advanced Child
  Development.

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Curricular Offerings

• Development of course curriculum in relation to
  new Indiana Health Academic Standards Standards
  1, 3, 4 and 6 and related indicators at all
  grades K-12.

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Wellness

• Recommendations to the Superintendent and School
  Board

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Partner with Outside Agencies

• Effective Immediately The Healthy Solutions
  Committee is to consider ways to support or
  partner with outside agencies that address
  wellness, nutrition and physical fitness for our
  students.

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Partner with Outside Agencies

• Muncie Community Schools has already received
  1,000 from the Dairy and Nutrition Council to
  put a pilot countertop refrigeration unit in to
  sell dairy products at one of our middle schools.

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Partner with Outside Agencies

• Muncie Community Schools has met with the Ball
  Brothers Foundation to discuss future initiatives
  in the area of developing wellness programs for
  our students.

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Issues Outside of Our Committees Scope
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Issues Referred Back to the Superintendent

• Search for new funding sources due to loss
  revenue from sales. Perhaps a committee would
  assist in this search.
• The Corporation Wellness Committee would remain a
  separate functioning entity, concentrating on
  employee wellness.

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Issues Referred Back to the Superintendent

• Consideration of a district-wide, exclusive
  vending contractor would be assigned to another
  source at the discretion of the Superintendent of
  schools.
• Subsidy to the Food Services to offset any
  shortfall in revenues vs. expenditures is a
  decision to be considered by the Superintendent
  of schools.

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Next Steps