Thursday, December 13, 2007

9: School Nutrition Services

To help students maximize education achievements, develop healthy lifestyles and lower their risk of chronic diseases, schools need to recognize that nutrition is an essential first step in developing healthy minds and bodies in our students. It has been proven that students who are well nourished perform better in school then those who lack the essential nutrients. Students are skipping breakfast, and three percent of females are becoming bulimic and anorexic. In a school nutrition service, it calls for a stop to all of this. The essential function of a school nutrition program are; access to a variety of nutritious, culturally appropriate foods that promote growth and development, nutrition education that empowers students to select and enjoy healthy food and physical activity, and screening, assessment, counseling, and referral for nutrition problems. National school lunch program (NSLP) and the school breakfast program (SBP) are affordable health meals that appeal to the students. These programs have been set up for all students, especially those ones who are deprived of proper nutrition. The problem is that many of the students don’t take advantage of NSLP and SBP. Students with money are bringing in their own foods, and the ones who can not afford it buy from vending machines and snack bars. There is also nutrition education that can help students practice better eating habits, and educates them on the importance of a proper diet. For nutrition services to be successful it needs the full support of all the staff members, and the proper screenings assessments taken place. There are many individuals and organizations out in the community who are willing to help and support a nutrition program; it just comes down the leadership and the school working together to reach the same goal.
The more I learn about the health content, the more I start to believe that nutrition is the most important component of health. Physical activity is not too far behind, but nutrition is so important to the overall wellness of the body. I really believe that vending and soda machines need to be abolished from the school. I also think that there should be a nutrition week once a year. Kind of like how a lot of schools have winter games every year. They could make nutrition into games and competition that really hammers home the importance of a proper diet. I think that a CSHP should really focus on the community and guardians as well. If we can’t stop vending machines and students buying from snack carts and what not, then we need to educate the parents on how what their allowing their children to eat affects their health. More activities that involve parent involvement can only help. There are so many things that need to be done and could be done to help with the students nutrition, it starts by making an effort to help the students understand how what their doing now will affect them as they grow.

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