Nutrition at School
by Malcolm Maddox
CBS 42 News
2007-11-07 15:36:09.0
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What was once thought to be an adult problem has suddenly become a deep threat to our children: Obesity in children. It’s become an epidemic, one that ultimately leads to heart disease.
So what are the root causes? According to the National Institute of Health, it lies with a poor diet, a lack of exercise and family history or genetics.
School lunches have come a long way in the 18 years that Cheryl Wooten has been working at Oak Mountain Elementary School.
“We went from frying just about every menu item to frying just a couple of menu items a month," said Wooten.
Lunch room staffs work with child nutrition coordinators, like Maureen Alexander to make sure every meal is healthy.
"Over the past two years, there’s been dramatic changes because the State of Alabama instituted new requirements along with the USDA's more rigid requirements for nutrition in schools,” said Alexander.
“It's really amazing how they've accepted all the changes,” said Wooten
One of the ways administrators are helping children accept that change is by using popular characters to help promote the idea of healthy living and by making nutrition part of the lesson plan.
"Teachers can incorporate these lessons and it may be a math lesson, but it's going to bring in aspects of nutrition and activity and wellness and it will help them meet their objectives in the classroom, but it will also be teaching those lessons,” said Alexander.
That should make learning time almost as much fun as lunch time. A healthy lifestyle is about healthy choices and it only makes sense to start that lesson early.
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