Healthy Schools Campaign

Nutrition Labels Don't Tell the Whole Story. . . and Cereal Doesn't Protect You from H1N1

By Mark Bishop, Deputy Director

Is there anything nutrition labels can't do? They brag about the fiber in cereal, urge us to see the health benefits of mayo, and now they even alert us to the ways that breakfast cereal can keep us safe from swine flu!

But wait. That last one has gotten some attention from critics pointing out that Cocoa Krispies, though quite fortified with vitamins, are not a good food for keeping healthy during flu season. The resulting media storm comes as the FDA moves to clarify the rules for "front of food" labels, the colorful ones (like the ubiquitous "Smart Choices" check mark) that go on the front of packages.

It got me thinking about the more traditional and less-controversial Nutrition Facts labels, the ones that have been required on food packages since 1990.

First, a quick quiz:

Below are the nutrition facts from two breakfast cereals. Which one do you think is a healthier option?

Before I tell you which products these labels belong to, I'll share a little story.

Last week, my Sunday paper was delivered along with a free, individual-sized sample of a sugary breakfast cereal. I don't think I've ever actually purchased this cereal before (though I later learned that my wife grew up on it. . . which explains why I later found the empty carton in the garbage), so I was intrigued to read the label.

What stood out to me was how healthy the nutrition label seemed. It was quite similar -- based on the nutrition label -- to the cereal I eat myself, and even to the cereal we feed our son. In fact, at first glance, the nutrition label for the sugar cereal may even look a little better than the label for the cereal I feed my kid. I mean, it lists more fiber, more vitamins. . . not bad. And the packaging even highlights the additional fiber in each serving. Maybe this is health food at its best?

So to the average label-reading consumer, cereal #1 seems great. (Of course, the average label-reading-consumer is already confused by what these labels mean, but that's a story for a different day.)

Labels aside, it didn't make sense to me that a highly processed sugary cereal would be more healthy than a less-processed one. The next step, then, is to check out what's actually in the cereal.

Let's look past the big bold letters of the Nutrition Facts and read the smaller print of the ingredient lists. Check out the lists below and ask again: which one is a healthier option? The labels are in the same order. And remember: ingredients are listed by weight, so the first ingredient is the one that's used most in the product.

To me, this experience illustrated  how unhelpful a nutrition label can be without context and information about ingredients. (And I'll take cereal #2, please.)

In the context of school food, this experience parallels the changes that the Institute of Medicine is recommending that schools move away from nutrition-based menu planning and moving toward food-based menu planning. This would mean that meals would be designed to focus on green and orange vegetables, for example, rather than on certain milligrams of vitamin B6 and Riboflavin. It puts the concept of real food into the way we think about our meal planning -- both at home and for kids at school. It's a simple, common-sense system that can help us avoid the trap of purchasing foods just because the numbers read well on a label.

And for those inquiring minds... Cereal #1 and Cereal #2.

Veggies, Hula Hoops and the Future of School Food: HSC at the White House Healthy Kids Fair

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

Yesterday I had the pleasure and privilege of participating in Healthy Kids Fair at the White House. It was a fun event with an important message and I was thrilled that Healthy Schools Campaign was able to be part of it.

Of course I've been following the First Lady's work promoting healthy food and fitness, especially around the White House Garden and the farmers market. But being able to actually participate in an event at the White House and hear first-hand her comments about promoting healthy eating at home and in schools, seeing her interact with children eating healthy food and engaging in physical activity was a real treat. And yes, she actually did the hula hoop (142 rotations, according to the AP) and jumped rope.  

Amidst her strong message about the need for healthy eating and physical activity, Mrs. Obama’s comments were humorous and filled with practical advice. The event included a policy announcement --  expanding the USDA’s existing Healthier Schools USA program -- that was great though not really game-changing in the movement for healthier school food.

But the First Lady's involvement clearly demonstrates a strong commitment by the Administration to improving school food.  In fact, Secretary of Agriculture Vlisack told the crowd at the fair that when President Obama asked him to become the Secretary of Agriculture, the President told him that improving school food needed to be his top priority.

As I left this event, I couldn't help but think of something that many of us who care about kids' wellness have been saying again and again lately: it really is a new day for school food and fitness.

Seeing this type of enthusiasm for veggies and hula hoops coming from the White House is more than just encouraging and fun: it changes the conversations we have about good food and physical activity by creating a climate in which these things are valued and applauded. 

Real Healthcare Reform Must Include Prevention (That Is, Don’t Forget Food & Fitness!)

By Amanda Chablani, HSC Policy Specialist

Healthcare reform policy is finally making some progress in Congress and, while it’s great to see movement, we’re worried that prevention efforts – the proven strategies such as food and fitness initiatives that are key in making our nation healthier – are getting sacrificed in the effort to cut costs.  

While both House and Senate healthcare bills have included provisions to fund community prevention programs, those provisions may well be cut over the next few days. Now, we need our elected leaders to know how important prevention efforts are to real healthcare reform

As we and others have noted, prevention is the most cost effective way to address our public health crises of asthma, obesity, and diabetes.  Slashing prevention at a time when an unprecedented number of children are afflicted by these epidemics will leave us with healthcare reform that does not address the root of our problems.  

If we seriously want to improve the health of millions of Americans, we need to provide adequate prevention services to children and families.  That’s why we will be contacting our legislators and urging them to protect the prevention initiatives in the healthcare bill; we’ll be asking them not to forget about food, fitness, and the other fundamental parts of being healthy.  We hope you will too.

It’s Global Handwashing Day! Spread the Word, Not the Germs

Today we have a guest blog by Donna Duberg, assistant professor of clinical laboratory science at Saint Louis University, a leading hygiene expert and a member of the Tork Green Hygiene Council (TGHC.) Tork created the TGHC to assist in its commitment to providing environmentally friendly and hygienic away-from-home washroom solutions and to make the world a greener, cleaner place to live and work. Tork is a Green Team Leader sponsor of HSC's Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools.

Teachers and students around the world are being reminded of proper hygiene techniques on October 15, Global Handwashing Day. With flu season beginning and concerns regarding the H1N1 virus top of mind for parents and schools, advice from authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remains the same: good hand hygiene is a powerful public health preventative measure.
 
Despite this advice, a new Harris poll, commissioned by SCA Tissue North America’s Tork® brand, shows:

• Thirty-eight percent of U.S. adults won’t be washing their hands more frequently this flu season and
• Forty-eight percent of U.S. adults are not planning to take advantage of available flu shots

Considering that we use our hands for almost everything and that the flu virus can live for up to eight hours on common surfaces like faucets and door handles, it’s especially important to teach students proper hand hygiene techniques early on to ensure healthy, lifelong handwashing habits.
 
To celebrate Global Handwashing Day, below are some handwashing tips and advice to help keep our students and teachers healthy and safe.
 
When should students, faculty and staff members wash their hands?
Good hand hygiene is especially important during flu seasons and during school hours. Students, faculty and staff members must wash their hands often and dry them thoroughly. If available, an instant hand sanitizer can be a good supplement between washes. To prevent infection and cross-contamination, wash hands:

• After arriving at school.
• Before meals or eating any food.
• After visiting the restroom.
• After sneezing.
• After coughing.
• Before preparing food.
• Before and after visiting a sick person.
• After arriving home.
• When hands are visibly dirty.

After washing and drying hands, be sure students, faculty and staff members:

• Avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
• Avoid close contact such as shaking hands, especially with people who are sick.
• Cough or sneeze against their sleeve or in a paper tissue that is then thrown in a waste basket.

The best way to wash and dry hands:
Hands are full of surfaces that can be difficult to reach, which means that many tend to forget certain parts. When using a public washroom, handwashing should take as long as singing “Happy Birthday” twice. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Wet hands with clean warm water.
2. Apply soap.
3. Rub hands together vigorously and scrub all surfaces for 20 seconds. Remember to wash both thumbs as thumbs are quite often skipped in the handwashing process!
4. Make sure to wash under nails, watches and jewelry since millions of germs gather there.
5. Rinse with clean water.
6. When at school, a single-use paper towel ensures that hands can be completely dried and virtually germ free.
7. Use the paper towel to avoid contact with frequently touched surfaces when leaving the washroom, such as the faucet and door handles.
8. Since hands are to be washed frequently, use mild and gentle soaps.

Happy handwashing! 

Global Handwashing Day Today - Win a Glitterbug Kit!

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UPDATE: Congratulations to @dese2, winner of our Global Handwashing Day Twitter contest! She'll receive a Glitterbug handwashing kit for her school. 

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Today is Global Handwashing Day! So, Healthy Schools Campaign wants to remind everyone that good habits can protect us all from getting germs -- and spreading germs -- at home, school, or work. Simple actions such as covering your mouth and nose and cleaning your hands often, can stop the spread of germs, prevent illnesses and cut back on absenteeism.

Three Steps to Stop the Spread of Germs

Make sure you:

1. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough
   
2. Clean your hands often
3. Remind your children to practice healthy habits, too

1. Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing

Cough or sneeze into a tissue and then throw it away. Cover your cough or sneeze if you do not have a tissue. Then, clean your hands, and do so every time you cough or sneeze.

2. The "Happy Birthday" song helps keep your hands clean?

Not exactly. Yet we recommend that when you wash your hands -- with soap and warm water -- that you wash for 15 to 20 seconds. That's about the same time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice!

3. Alcohol-Based Hand Wipes and Gel Sanitizers Work Too

When soap and water are not available, alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers may be used. Non-alcohol-based hand sanitizers may also be useful. You can find these in most supermarkets and drugstores. 

Resources

You can download and print these posters from the CDC to help educate people in your schools about the importance of hand hygiene.

Poster of Boy	English	Spanish
Poster of Girl	English	Spanish
Cover your Cough	English	Spanish

Win a Glitterbug Handwashing Kit for Your School!

In honor of Global Handwashing Day, HSC is hosting a drawing to give away a Giltterbug Handwashing Kit for you to provide to your school. This kit includes everything one needs to present an effective and memorable hand hygiene training event. The kit includes: GlowBar lamp with 4 D-Cell batteries, AC adapter for plug-in convenience, Handwash DVD (HCU.DVD), GlitterBug Potion (240ml), GlitterBug Powder (68gm), GlitterBug Instruction Manual, How to Wash poster (P132), two pages of "I Was Rude" stickers (ST6), two Hand Brushes and one GlitterBug Champion Medallion. Estimated Retail Value: $185.

All you have to do to enter the drawing is to tweet on Twitter about handwashing on October 14 or 15, 2009 with @healthyschools in the tweet. For example:

@Healthyschools - Global Handwashing Day Today! RT to win free Glitterbug kit for your school! http://tiny.cc/X19IZ

Good luck -- and happy handwashing!

Schools Show New Focus on Wellness in NW Indiana

By Cynthia San Miguel, HSC Intern

 

HSC is excited to see our neighbors in Northwest, Ind. making changes in wellness and environmental health in schools, two areas where HSC focuses our work. Lake Central School, located in St. John, Ind. will be exploring new avenues for wellness, according to an article The Times of NW Indiana.

"Developmentally, we know play and exercise is good for primary students," Superintendent Gerald Chabot said. The article goes on to explain:

There are 15 wellness goals that focus on such things as nutrition, exercise and fitness at all grade levels.

The district also is installing at the high school an ultraviolet water purification system that helps to disinfect the water nonchemically.

The wellness plans include a wide range of tactics: a breakfast program is planned for the high school; vending machines will be stocked with healthier options; and 20-ounce beverages will be replaced with 16-ounce beverages.

Students will also benefit from the non-chlorine water purification, as chlorine can react with organisms in the water to create a compound that causes skin and eye irritations.

As a Lake Central alum, I remember smelling like chlorine after pool class. I’m sure the students will appreciate all the new and healthier changes! 

School Siting and Sprawl

By Mark Bishop, Deputy Director

 

I just read a great post by Kaid Benfield about a school in North Carolina that's exploring locations for a new building. It's an interesting read. It highlights the challenges of prioritizing a walkable school for new construction.

 

In this case, the district is proposing a new building that is beyond the edge of the town it will serve, Durham NC. As Kaid says, "I won't say that there is nothing around there, but what's there now is scattered and absolutely nothing is walkable."

 

I know I want my son to be able to walk or bike to school, and if he went to this proposed school, that would probably never happen. It makes it harder for us all to lead active lives if we need to rely on our cars so much.

School siting has such an influence on all of our levels of activity. Can we do a walking school bus? Can kids bike to school? Do parents need to drive 45 minutes or more each way to bring kids to school? And that's before we start considering other issues related to a school's site, such as being able to use schools as community centers, shared use spaces, green design, brownfields, use of existing facilities and so much more.

 

Take a read. This story does a great job of highlighting the school siting issue in an engaging manner.

The Tomatoes are Coming! The Tomatoes are Coming!

By Mark Bishop, Deputy Director 

Please note: We interrupt our regularly scheduled Friday recipe post to bring you some of the happiest fresh-from-the-garden joy that comes around this time of year. Enjoy!

The garden is coming along, but this past weekend I actually purchased a few local tomatoes to get my pre-fill of really juicy homegrown tomatoes. Luckily our purchases will not be necessary for too much longer because Henry is getting his hands in the dirt.

The joy of him picking and then eating his own tomatoes and cucumbers is infectious.

Quick.

Go plant a garden.

And smile.

Senator Gillibrand Speaking Up for School Health

By Amanda Chablani

We’re happy to see a new face in Congress, one that not only makes sensible health policy but also recognizes the important role schools play in making sure our kids are healthy.

Kristen Gillibrand, the junior senator from New York who filled Hilary Clinton’s seat earlier this year, has become the newest proponent of children’s health by sponsoring two important school-related bills in the Senate, one of which expands eligibility for free school meals and another that prohibits schools from serving foods that contain trans fats. 

As the new Senator stated, "We can't afford to let our children grow up in a culture of obesity.  If our children are going to have the opportunity to reach their potential, they need a healthy start. The most effective way to address obesity is to provide healthier food and exercise opportunities for our children. We need to be taking real steps to give parents, schools and communities the resources they need to give our children access to fresh fruits and vegetables."

We couldn’t agree more!

Senator Gillibrand, while new to the Senate, has a great track record of supporting children’s issues, especially in the arena of healthcare.  As a U.S. Representative, she supported the extension of Medicare benefits to children of low-income families, and the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). She has also worked on childhood health issues including autism, juvenile diabetes and child obesity and considers herself a "fierce advocate" for the health of our children.

We're glad to see another proponent of school health – welcome to the club!

Dancing in the (Open) Streets

By Mark Bishop, Deputy Director

Photo courtesy of Lucy Gomez-Feliciano, Logan Square Neighborhood Association

Last weekend, community organizations opened up 8 miles of Chicago's beautiful boulevard system for bikers, runners, walkers, unicyclers and a few other 'ers' that I don't quite have the vocabulary for. And it was great.

As a resident of the west side of Chicago (Logan Square, to be specific), I've been all over the boulevards --  but this was my first time experiencing them so personally and without the distraction of cars whizzing by. I was able to experience Humboldt Park Boathouse, the Garfield Park Field House, Independence Square and Douglass Park which are all interconnected by an extensive network of (under-utilized) green space.

And when I saw thousands of people outside, playing games, biking, listening to music or just being physically active, I couldn't help but think that this is such a great intersection of health and community building. I mean, even the transportation management authority workers were smiling and laughing during this event.

This was a complex event with coordination needed between hundreds of volunteers and city services. And from my perspective, it was a huge success. To make this event happen every year (and maybe more than once a year?) we'll need to get the support of our city aldermen, our mayor, local businesses and community groups. Let's make sure this happens!

So thank you all around to the organizers of Open Streets. This was a great event that served our city so well. My only question... Do other US cities have similar events?

Photo courtesy of Lucy Gomez-Feliciano, Logan Square Neighborhood Association