How Important is Nutrition in Schools?
Childhood obesity and diabetes are growing epidemics, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Where does school nutrition rank in importance for you? This week and next, Rohnert Park Patch will be profiling the school lunch program — what the kids at Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified are eating. We're working on a series looking what kind of food is served, where it comes from and what the kids think of it. We'll also shine light on some cool community garden projects underway at different sites, where students actually eat the food they're planting in class.
Communities locally and regionally are growing more aware of where the food we put in our bodies comes from, and in Sonoma County, the locavore movement — eating local, sustainably-produced foodstuffs — is strong. But has the school lunch program kept pace? We'll answer that question and more this week, so stay tuned!
America's is paying more attention to the role food plays in our health and daily lives. First Lady Michelle Obama has added fuel to the national movement. In February 2010, she launched an initiative, calling for better school nutrition, access to healthy foods and more physical activity for children.
"Let's Move!" combines programs that provide parents with access to health information, aims to foster environments that support healthy food choices, to make available healthier foods in our schools and calls for kids to be more physically active.
The goal is to solve "the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams."
Childhood obesity and diabetes are on the rise nationally. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 percent of children, or 12.5 million, ages 2-19 are obese. That number has tripled since 1980.
And nationally, for children and teens below 20 years old or younger, diabetes is the most one of the most common chronic diseases. Roughly 151,000 young people in that age category across the country have diabetes, according to CDC data.
Today, we'd love to hear from you readers. Does this matter to you? Have you thought about your son or daughter's food choices at school? How much do you know about what's offered? Do your kids bring their own lunch or eat at school? Take our poll and tell us in the comments. We'd also like to know what questions you have. What do you want to know about the school nutrition program and guidelines?
Janet Daley
5:45 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
If you have a stubborn insulin you hold fat and have a hard time losing weight.
You can eat very little and the weight still does not come off. YOU HAVE STUBBORN INSULIN that holds fat and diets won't work
BUT when researchers used a specialized diabetes diet on people with OR without diabetes they lost the stubborn insulin and the weight. It works!
This was shown on MIdland News "The lesson of thin people" Click here http://www.ourmidland.com/voices/health/article_062da990-12cf-11e1-a523-0017a4aa8e72.html
Kimberley Peterson Roberts
10:05 am on Thursday, February 23, 2012
I have one child in the Elementary school and one in the MIddle school. The younger hates the food at her school and she is not a picky eater. The pizza is processed and is like cardboard, the pasta noodles sit and get this yucky collection of starch looking substance on it, the rice is never fully cooked and still hard. She loves the salads and fruit but there is not enough of it. On the other hand my middle school student loves the food at her school. She says its always fresh and they have a variety of selections and things are nice and hot when served. She loves to eat lunch. The younger child does not so when she comes home from school she is starving.......... Go and see for yourself. Huge difference in each school. And yes nutrition is a huge part of any human body and should not go without it..........
LP
7:42 am on Friday, March 2, 2012
There is a big difference between elementary, middle, and high school options. The elementary schools seem to get the worst food. Most of it is frozen and simply reheated, I think they food managers find this most cost effective. When there is actually something fresh and healthy done for a trail run, even if the kids like it, it never lasts long. They rarely ask how the kids actually like the food, and don't change it so the kids will enjoy it.
Kimberley Peterson Roberts
8:35 am on Friday, March 2, 2012
LP I absolutely agree with you. If the elementary food was served anywhere else, or in a restaurant no one would eat it........ It is frozen and reheated. Its really gross.
Renee Mitchell
2:31 pm on Monday, March 5, 2012
The most important thing for children learning is to have healthy, FRESH, foods available, that has reduced allergens and complex carbohydrates for the youngsters brains to learn.
I feel that we need to come together to change the multi-million dollar contractor who provides our Districts nutrition services.
Sodexo sounds like they are doing great things for the fns but their products are the cheapest and most unsustainable choices mass produced and frozen..
please see my speech to the School Board on the CRPUSD website, under the archive videos the first web recording on the list, any feedback or any parents/ community members interested in helping with this movement please contact me 707-239-6759 We have the choice to change what our children are eating at school, it would benefit the teachers, local economy and parents as well... :)