Healthy Schools Campaign

Ideas for a Fit and Fun Valentine’s Day Party at School

For parents and teachers, Valentine's Day -- which traditionally involves colossal candy and cupcake consumption -- can cause a quandary. Many schools already have dietary restrictions on snacks for classroom celebrations to accommodate for children with nut or dairy allergies, and some school districts are adopting healthy snack and beverage policies for class parties.

So we’ve compiled a few naturally sweet tips to help parents and teachers create a fit and fun Valentine’s Day classroom party. And for even more tips, visit our Healthy Classroom Valentine’s Day board on Pinterest!

Naturally Sweet

Fresh fruit will provide sweetness and festive colors without the sugar rush of candy.

• Create fun fruit kebabs or carve pineapples, melons, kiwis and more into heart-shaped “lollipops” with popsicle sticks on the end for a colorful treat, or make your own granola bars for a more filling snack.
• If you must keep chocolate on the menu, we recommend this snackalicious chocolate-dipped fruit chips recipe that uses antioxidant-rich dark chocolate instead of the standard milk chocolate.
• Some parents and teachers have gotten creative and made little valentine robots, using fruit juice boxes for the bodies (watch for sugar content of the juice), applesauce-container heads, raisin box feet, pretzel rod arms and googly eyes to make a funny face. Or provide natural fruit juice with a fun caption, like “You are BERRY sweet!”

Great Giveways 

• There are plenty of cute, fun and affordable giveways and incentives that don’t involve tons of candy. Heart-shaped erasers, red mini race cars, bookmarks and friendship bracelets are some food-free options.  

Fit and Fun

In addition to being the month of Valentine’s Day, February is also, fittingly, American Heart Month! A few ideas for heart health include: 

• The American Heart Association has resources for schools to host Jump Rope For Heart (a day of jump rope and Double Dutch games) and Hoops For Heart (a basketball tournament) to raise awareness about how to stay healthy and prevent heart disease. Kids will love the opportunity to play and get active and may learn a thing or two about creating healthy habits for life. 

• This Spell-A-Heart game promotes early literacy in a fun, active way (and couldn’t be easier to make!), or have students go on a scavenger hunt around the school to look for letters that will spell a Valentine’s Day-related word, like “HEART” or “CUPID.” 

• If you’re teaching language arts or Spanish, hold a tasting of various fresh fruit or vegetable samples for the class and, as an avenue for talking about the joys of healthy eating, have them write poems about their favorite fruit or veggie. Use Pablo Neruda’s classic poem “Ode to Tomatoes,” published in English and Spanish for easy translation, as a jumping-off point. For more on promoting healthy lifestyles through fun, seasonal activities, check out our Fit To Learn program. 

Do Good, Feel Good

We shouldn’t forget that mental and emotional health are important for building healthy, successful adults. A few tips:

• Have students create “Cupid’s Compliment Cups,” where students decorate containers and then write one thing they admire about each of their classmates to put in their Compliment Cup. Not only will students beam with pride and joy at the positive affirmations from their classmates, but they will enjoy the opportunity to make someone else feel great, too! 
  
  
• Or, you can extend the theme of love to the community and the world at large. Have students craft, decorate and send homemade Valentine’s Day cards to local families, seniors or recent war veterans, or partner with an organization like Project Linus, where fabric squares are the canvas for students’ Valentine-themed art, and made into quilts and blankets given to people who need them around the country. Spreading the love will make everyone feel good!

Next week, we'll share another healthy Valentine's Day treat recipe!

Related, a post on the USDA's proposed national standards for competitive foods. 

Can Video Games Affect Kids' Wellness? New Research on the Connection Between Good Health & Games

At HSC, we've followed with interest over the years as video games have become a bigger part of the conversation about healthy eating and physical activity.  Gaming continues to become more a part of classroom and out-of-school learning. But what impact does it have? Do games really increase physical activity? Do messages about healthy eating of junk food really have an impact on what kids eat? With two new studies in the news, we're taking a moment to check in on this trend.

First, the food: one new study found that games involving food products may encourage unhealthy habits.

According to NPR's story earlier this month on the research:

...Children who play with these games may eat more, and eat more junk food, even if the game features fruit or other healthful choices.

Called "advergames" by their critics, junk food-centric games and apps have names such as "Cookie Dough Bites Factory" and "Candy Sports". It's easy for parents and teachers to guess that these may be dubious choices for chidren. 

But even more intriguingly, all food-themed games seemed to negatively affect kids' eating habits -- even when fruit played a starring role.

The researchers say they assumed that the children who played the fruit game would choose fruit. But boy, were they wrong. All the children who played a food-themed game ate more, and ate more candy, even if they played the fruit game.

"We were very surprised," Frans Folkford, a graduate student in communications at the University of Amsterdam who led the study, tells The Salt. The children who played food-themed games took in about twice as many calories as children who played a non-food game, or played no game at all. The work was published online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Other studies have found that video games involving fruit can boost kids' fruit consumption -- but also tend to increase their overall calorie consumption. "A lot depends on the game and the actual messages in there," said Jennifer Harris, director of marketing initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. "It's very complicated." In that context, experts say that parents should keep an eye on mobile games and tablet apps. Harris adds: 

Pay attention to what your kids are downloading... A lot of parents figure as long as it's free and it's listed as for children, they assume it's safe and not harmful. You really can't assume that.

Here's the full story on this new research.

And on to physical activity: research also suggests that physically active video games can actually help kids be more active and play a role in efforts to curb childhood obesity. Researchers said: “It appears as though e-gaming may provide an effective adjunct to traditional PE activities in promoting recommended daily levels of — at least in younger children and perhaps in overweight/obese children.”

The lesson, as always, is about getting kids moving in fun, educational ways. We'll continue to follow the research and conversation emerging around games as one approach to boosting activity.

Looking for an offline way to help kids get active? We love the idea of using yoga in the classroom. Check out this post from mindfulness expert Carla Tantillo for more on a unique, engaging way to increase student health!

 

Making Student Health and Wellness a Priority in Chicago Public Schools: An Interview with Dr. Stephanie A. Whyte

by Kadesha Thomas, HSC Writer and Researcher

Chicago Public Schools has recently achieved several milestones that support the district’s efforts to prioritize student health. Those milestones include collaborating with the Chicago Department of Public Health to create a new Chief Health Officer position, filled earlier in 2012; reinstating recess at elementary schools throughout the district; officially passing an updated school wellness policy in October 2012 and a healthy snacks and beverages (competitive foods) policy in November 2012; and winning a $4.4 million federal grant to fund school health initiatives.

The leader of the new Office of Student Health and Wellness, Stephanie A. Whyte, MD, MBA, recently sat down with Health Schools Campaign to talk about these milestones and how organizations like HSC helped the district get there.

 

HSC: Why has school health and wellness become such a big priority for Chicago Public Schools?

Dr. Whyte: CPS has realized that student health has implications for academic performance. For example, asthma is one of those illnesses that can have a great impact on student achievement if it’s not controlled. So CPS created the Chief Health Officer role, which was vacant for four years. I joined 9 months ago to lead the new Office of Student Health and Wellness (OSHW). The staff were housed in Nutrition Support Services, Special Education and other departments prior to settling under OSHW. The new Community Transformation Grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will allow us to build the office’s capacity with six additional staff. The department will have grown from eight to 23 since February.

 

HSC: What is the Community Transformation Grant?

Dr. Whyte: In collaboration with the Chicago Department of Public Health, the school district had already launched an initiative called Healthy Chicago Public Schools that focused on nine of the 12 key priorities of Healthy Chicago, the city’s first public health agenda. Of these nine areas focused on student health, three are targeted by the grant: obesity prevention, decreasing tobacco use and violence prevention. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the district nearly $4.4 million to support outcome measures of: changes in weight, changes in proper nutrition, changes in physical activity, changes in tobacco use, and social/emotional well-being, which, for us, includes bullying and violence prevention.

 

HSC: How did community partners like Healthy Schools Campaign help CPS reach its recent milestones in school health?

Dr. Whyte: The district by itself can’t do it all. We just don’t have the capacity. We can say ‘this is the law of the land,’ but in order to successfully change a culture you must have support from people who are well-versed and informed about the changes. Healthy Schools Campaign has been a subject matter expert on parent engagement, student wellness and health school environments. Before anyone was watching, they were calling attention to these issues. That energy has helped us build school wellness teams and to support the mission of the Office of Student Health and Wellness.

 

HSC: What was HSC’s role in positioning CPS to win the CTG grant?

Dr. Whyte: The partnership with HSC and other organizations, like the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Respiratory Health Association, brought a very specific intelligence to the table and then helped us step back and look at the big picture. That was really critical for the grant. The timing was perfect. We were already updating the district’s wellness policy. Partners like HSC helped us culminate all of our activities for the grant and thus create a well-rounded 24-month strategy.

 

HSC: The specific role HSC plays in implementing the grant’s activities is developing a parent engagement toolkit. Why is parent engagement such an important factor?

Dr. Whyte: I’m from the community and have worked in the community. I’ve seen how a condition like asthma, for example, can have a great impact on a student if it’s not controlled. I’ve seen moms sit and cry because they didn’t know what to do. There were a lot of assumptions that when parents got the inhaler they knew how to use it, when to use it. Then, they were sent home — confused. But having open, honest and engaging dialogue with parents makes a huge difference. That is the environment the district is working hard to create, one in which parents can freely ask questions and we improve on how we react and relate to parents. Parent empowerment is huge!  So if you’re coming to the school to discuss your child’s asthma, you’re an active participant in your child’s care. That’s what I want.

 

HSC: So what do you hope parent engagement looks like after CPS and HSC develop the parent engagement toolkit for schools?

Dr. Whyte: Right now, being a principal is like being in a buffet line with so many options that things are falling off the plate. It’s 100 people saying, ‘All you need to do is this.’ But they can’t do everything. Remember when you would order a computer from Dell? The service guy arrives after it’s delivered, sets it up and you’re ready to go. That’s how I want this toolkit to function. I want any school that uses this toolkit to be full of engaged parents and know what to do when parents want to get involved.

 

HSC: How does the district’s health and wellness strategy compare with the national prevention and health promotion strategy for students?

Dr. Whyte: That’s another conversation to have after we’ve reached our goals. We are the third largest school district in the nation, so I know there are national implications. I know there are people watching. We’ve already heard from other school districts. But right now, it’s important for us to focus on doing a good job for our students. Our focus is on having an impact on improving student health locally.

Having a Happy & Healthy Halloween in the Classroom

Halloween is here -- which means that classroom parties are in full swing! While Halloween celebrations often come with bags of candy and trays of cupcakes, the truth is that a fun Halloween in the classroom doesn't have to be unhealthy.

Try these quick tips for a healthier holiday, with fewer sweets but just as much fun!

• Have a scavenger hunt for items or information in the classroom or around the school. Have children search for items related to the party theme.
• Have a dance party, with music themed for Halloween.
• Set up a photo board. Take photos of students in their costumes and post copies, using a digital camera and printer or Polaroid. 
• Try a fresh fruit tasting. Cut up fruits in interesting shapes and give prizes for students who try each one.

How are teachers putting healthy Halloween ideas in action?

We talked to a few of the teachers taking part in HSC's Fit to Learn professional development program here in Chicago and heard these great examples of creative and healthy ways they're celebrating Halloween:

• Fall Festival: Duprey Elementary hosts a no-candy Halloween Fall Festival where the eighth graders create different stations with activities and games for the younger kids, such as face painting and a scarecrow photo station.
• Field Trips: Ray Elementary School schedules field trips on Halloween, in order to best make the focus about an event, rather than candy. The "little kids" are going to the pumpkin patch and the "big kids" are going to an international film festival screening at the University of Chicago. In the past, the school has hosted a literacy parade, where students dressed as their favorite character from a book and then marched in a parade outside for parents and then in the building for each other.
• Vampire Tag! At Boone Elementary, Students are celebrating Halloween during physical education class. They are playing Vampire Tag, Zombie Escape and other Halloween-inspired games that involve moderate-intensity physical activity.
• Wax Museum: At Lincoln Elementary, different classes are celebrating in ways that connect to what they are learning. For example, the sixth-grade classes will create a “wax museum” on Halloween, where each student dresses up as a character from ancient Egypt (which they're studying) and will give a monologue on their historical character to museum visitors.
• Hallow-green: At Stockton Elementary, first graders will participate in “Hallow-green” science and nature activities that will include a nature walk/Halloween parade, followed by Hallow-green arts and crafts and language arts activities using recycled materials.  Students will also do twisting and stretching yoga-style to eeeerie music and poems.

For more ideas on healthy classroom celebrations, check out our tip sheet!

What are your ideas for a healthy Halloween?

Changing School Lunch: Engaging Students in Creating Healthy School Meals They Want to Eat

A recent editorial (pdf) by David Katz in the journal Childhood Obesity highlights an aspect of school food reform that's often overlooked. New school food standards matter -- a lot -- but there's another factor that's just as key. Katz says: "Improving nutrition for kids will only ever be as impactful as their willingness to swallow our successes. If they don’t eat it, it won’t matter."

We've seen this play out recently in the news, as students in various cities protest new meal standards. 

 Katz urges us to have faith that kids' tastebuds will eventually respond to new flavors:

"People like the food they know. It is not coincidence that babies in Mexico grow up learning to eat hot chilies, while babies in Japan learn to love raw fish. A large volume of research that I have reviewed for several of the books I have written, as well as 20 years of clinical practice, convince me that taste buds are malleable little fellas: When they can’t be with a food they love, they pretty readily learn to love the food they are with. Once they do, familiarity becomes a powerful reinforcing agent. We like what we know."

At the same time, he notes, we must engage students in the process and give them the knowledge and experiences to make their own healthy choices. Katz says: "We must recall that the ultimate decision here -- what to eat -- resides with the children themselves. . .  we must work with them, as well as for them, to ensure that health is a common priority and to ensure that we share a taste for salutary change."

We agree that involving students is key.  That's why we continue to engage high school culinary students through the Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest! Cooking up Change challenges high school students to create a healthy school lunch within the budget and time constraints facing public schools. HSC will launch the national series of contests on Friday, November 9 in with the flagship Chicago contest and benefit. Winners selected by a judging panel that includes Chicago’s leading chefs will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national finals and present their meal to Congress.

We invite you to join us for one of the most exciting, fun and meaningful nights of the year as teens show us how they would change school food. Learn more, check out stories from student chefs, and purchase tickets online at www.cookingupchange.org.

For more from Dr. David Katz, follow him on Twitter: @DrDavidKatz or check out another recent article of his, The Road to Loving Lunch (That Loves Our Kids Back).

Plus: The same issue of the journal Childhood Obesity features a spotlight on Cooking up Change! Check it out on pages 3-5 of the "success stories" section of the journal [pdf].

What Does School Food Mean for National Security? Retired Military Leaders Speak Up for Healthy Schools

By Ashley Hofmann, HSC public policy intern

Ashley Hofmann is completing the final practicum to earn her Masters of Social Work from the University of Missouri. Her academic research focuses on disparities in access to health care and how policy can act as a catalyst for social justice.

We all know that excess body fat is a concern for our individual health, but did you also know that it’s a concern for national security?  A group of retired military leaders at the nonprofit Mission Readiness has released a report [pdf] urging schools to decrease junk food sold in vending machines, a la carte lines, and stores as a way to stop the rising rates of childhood obesity, which leave 1 in 4 young people ineligible for military service.  

The report, "Still Too Fat to Fight" (a quick read with stories and graphs), begins with a simple statement: “We cannot succeed in teaching our children to eat healthier foods while selling them 400 billion junk food calories in our schools every year.”  The report goes on to explain:

The problem of junk food sold in schools is not just a national health issue. It’s a national security issue.  Over the past 40 years, obesity rates have more than tripled for children and teens. . . .  Meanwhile, too many schools across America still have vending machines and other venues where children can routinely buy candy, potato chips, cakes, cookies and sugar-sweetened fruit juices or sports drinks.  The calories add up.

While limiting the sale of junk food is not a solution by itself for the childhood obesity epidemic, it is part of the solution.  When schools sell candy and sugary drinks in cafeterias and vending machines, it works against national efforts to serve healthier school meals and parents’ efforts to help their children develop healthier lifelong eating habits.

This is not the first time we’ve heard that schools need standards for food sold outside the lunch program.  A report released earlier this summer from the Institute of Medicine, along with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, focus on these “competitive foods” (snacks in school)  as a culprit in childhood obesity.  But the push from military leaders highlights a different consequence of the epidemic.  The national problem is not only affecting individual health, productivity at work, and medical expenses (though the military report does mention that the government spends over $1 billion each year on weight-related injuries and cardiovascular diseases for members of the military and their families), but also has an impact on our ability as a country to build a strong military.

A focus on this connection between school food and military readiness is not a recent development.  In fact, when the National School Lunch Program was created in 1945, it was in part “as a measure of national security.”  Military leaders, concerned about the number of young men who were too malnourished for military service, called upon the nation to make sure that students received proper nutrition.  This drive shaped many of the program’s details, such as the fact that school lunches were required to provide a minimum number of calories but had no upper limit on calories.  Today’s children, of course, are facing a different set of challenges.  In 2009, Mission Readiness released its original “Too Fat to Fight” report that called on the nation to provide healthier school food, reduce access to junk food in schools, and offer nutrition education lessons.  (For more about the history of school food and how our nation’s vision for this program  has evolved over the years, check out HSC President and CEO Rochelle Davis’ recent blog.)

Schools play an important role in reversing the obesity rates because of the amount of time children spend at school and the calories they consume there.  A 2005 study by the USDA found that approximately 400 billion calories from junk food are consumed at school each year.  Districts that have put regulations in place to limit these low-nutrient, calorie-dense foods, along with providing health education and increasing physical activity, have seen a decrease in obesity rates in their students.  Efforts to remove unhealthy snacks from schools, along with healthier lunch standards and support from the community, will help to ensure a brighter, longer future for our children.

As adults, we hold responsibility for the health of our nation’s children.  And more than responsibility, we have the power of our voice and vote to protect our children’s health and future.  You can write to your members of Congress and tell them you support healthy food in schools; call your school district superintendent to talk about the district’s wellness policies; and meet with your school principal and teachers to ask how you can work together to make sure the school supports kids’ health.  You’ll make a difference not only for individual children but for our nation as a whole.  What could be more patriotic than that?

Recess: "A Treat Kids Never Tire Of"

We truly believe in the proven benefits of recess: kids who exercise during recess are more alert in the classroom and are healthier overall. In fact, sometimes students who seem to have the most trouble focusing and completing assignments may need recess the most. That's why one school makes it a policy to use recess as a reward, never as a punishment.

Deborah Reese, principal at Hitch School in Chicago, spoke to us about her school's philosophy towards recess. There, teachers are encouraged to add extra recess as an incentive instead of taking it away as a punishment. She said that overall, "we found our discipline problems going down when we focused on being less punitive and more rewarding."

Principal Reese gave a recent example of how this policy worked:

"Kids in the upper grades were spiraling out of control in the hallways between classes.  [Teachers] wanted to meet with us because they wanted permission to 'take away recess.'  My assistant principal, Diane Kieres, said that rather than take it away, she would add an extra recess when she 'caught' classes being appropriate.  On the second day, she named a classroom that was going to get the extra recess, and doubled the reward by telling the teacher that she (Diane) would supervise it, and the teacher would get a few minutes to herself.  Word spread – EXTRA RECESS!"

Her other advice?

"If students misbehave while they are at recess, we give them a 2- to 5-minute timeout.  Then we let them rejoin the play.  Kids don’t like having to stand next to the teacher for 5 minutes and watch the others having fun –- this is more effective than sending them to another classroom to work."

In short, she said, recess is "a treat kids never tire of."

Special thanks to Principal Reese for sharing her school's success story with us!

Plus: For more recess success stories and tips, check out the physical activity section of the Go for the Gold website!

What Do the New Nutrition Standards Mean for School Lunch?

As kids across the country head back to school this month, they’re finding something new in the cafeteria: healthier school meals shaped by updated nutrition standards. This year, the USDA updated the nutrition standards it sets for school meals for the first time in more than 15 years. (For more on how these standards came about, check out HSC’s blog.)

What do the new standards mean for the lunches kids see on their trays? The highlights: more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and age-appropriate portion sizes.

We’ve created a new infographic that shows the new standards in a simple format. Take a look and let us know what you think! Click the image below to check out the new infographic.



In addition to the changes we’re seeing in the cafeteria this year, the new nutrition standards include changes that schools can phase in over the next several years.  The years ahead will bring even more whole grains (by 2014, all grains served in school lunch will be rich in whole grains) and less sodium.

For more information about the updated standards and what they mean for school lunch, visit the USDA’s Healthier School Day site or check out this detailed comparison chart [pdf].

Throughout this week, we’ll be featuring more perspectives and insight on the new nutrition standards. Stay posted for more!

Plus: Share your tray! The graphic HSC created represents one way the new nutrition standards could be put in action. What do the new standards look like in your school? Show us a picture of your school lunch! Tweet your photos to @healthyschools or tag Healthy Schools Campaign on Facebook.

How Do Snack Policies Shape Student Health?

by Ashley Hofmann, HSC public policy intern

Ashley Hofmann is completing the final practicum to earn her Masters of Social Work from the University of Missouri. Her academic research focuses on disparities in access to health care and how policy can act as a catalyst for social justice.

My food philosophy is “out of sight, out of mind” – if I don’t have cookies in my kitchen, I’m less likely to eat them.  A new study shows that the same principle applies to schools as well.  The study found that students in states with strong nutrition standards for snacks gained less weight than their counterparts residing in states with weak standards or no standards at all. 

States were placed into two categories based on laws regulating snack and a la carte items sold in schools, also known as competitive foods.  (Click here for a recent blog on the USDA’s proposed rules regulating snacks in schools.)  The researchers monitored the BMI of 6,300 students in 40 states between 2004 and 2007, as they progressed from fifth to eighth grade.  The results showed that over the four years, students living in states with strong nutrition laws gained 0.44 fewer BMI units, which is about 2.25 pounds for a 5-foot, 100-lb child.  While this may seem like a small number, it’s actually quite significant -- imagine the effect of gaining or not gaining an extra two pounds every year!

While this is new and important information, the study is not saying that the laws are directly responsible for the decreased weight gain, only that there is a correlation.  Many child health experts believe that these types of school nutrition polices are a key step in the right direction when it comes to creating environments that support health.  These policies also reinforce healthy messages students get through nutrition education and help students develop good eating habits. As Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, pointed out, “What are the downsides of improving the food environment for children today?" 

Something we see consistently at HSC is that policies, such as the state laws in this study, really do make a difference in student health.  Without them, progress is limited to situations where a parent or teacher not only is passionate about healthy food, but also has the motivation, time, and resources to actually make it a priority.  Strong school nutrition laws, along with the assistance and incentives that can come with them, provide schools with a foundation on which to build health-promoting environments.

The good news is that we’re starting to see more strong policies that support student health.  Proposed recommendations in a recent Institute of Medicine report, along with higher nutrition standards in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, are putting more emphasis on the role of government, both federal and local, in creating environments where health is a priority and making the healthy choice the easy choice.

Dr. Daniel Taber, an author of the study and fellow at the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said that nutrition standards are most effective when they “are specific, required and consistent.”  Strong language is an important factor for school food laws to be implemented and have a meaningful impact, but so is the support of parents, teachers, and school administrators.  Here is a handy guide from the CDC that discusses ways for parents, teachers, and staff to support healthier school food options. 

Does your state or school district have polices for snack foods sold in schools?  If so, how do they shape the wellness environment? 

Plus: Take a look at this infographic, designed for the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Initiative, which shows snack options in school vending machines across the country.

Elementary School’s Annual Play Promotes Healthy Eating with “The Snack Wizard"

by Alyse Festenstein, HSC's Go for the Gold intern

Thomas Hoyne Elementary School parents, teachers, and students filled the school gymnasium recently for the all-school performance of “The Snack Wizard.” Directed by Physical Education Teacher Paulette Franklin, students participated in a creative take-off of The Wizard of Oz -- only this time Dorothy found herself caught in “The Land of Candy.” I was lucky enough to join a couple of other Healthy Schools Campaign interns to enjoy the performance and celebrate the success of the students and inspiring school leaders behind the production.

“The Snack Wizard” story follows Dorothy and her friends as they set out on a quest to find the perfect, healthy snack and to defeat Bad Witch Calorie for good. As they travel along the Chocolate Road, they meet tempting, unhealthy snacks like the flaming hots and jelly beans, who try to lure them away from their goal. Along with showcasing their knowledge of healthy food choices, the K-8 students impressed the audience with their ability to move their feet and exercise. Throughout the show, they danced, flipped, and cheered to promote their message of health and wellness. Check a snippet of the play below!

 

Principal Yvonne Armour-Calhoun introduced the play as an effort inspired by the First Lady’s Let’s Move program and highlighted the school’s recent accomplishments around healthy eating and nutrition education. Thomas Hoyne has a new, full salad bar in the cafeteria, which Calhoun said both students and staff enjoy on a daily basis. Franklin echoed the importance of the related initiatives in schools and said these are especially important because many students come to school without the knowledge needed to make healthy eating choices. Her motivation for directing the play stemmed from worries about her students’ futures and the prevalence of childhood obesity and chronic disease.

“I just got tired of seeing kids with those hot chips every single day,” she said. “[Nutrition education] is important because a lot of kids don’t understand what is going into their bodies. That’s my biggest concern. They could get heart disease before they get to have a real full life.”

Thomas Hoyne staff such as sixth-grade teacher Tracy Guzman strongly supported the performance and school health and wellness efforts. She has seen the benefits of healthy eating and physical education in her classroom. Guzman shared the vision of efforts connecting health and learning (such as HSC’s Health in Mind) and said “good nutrition primarily translates into the classroom because it helps students focus better. It really helps them have a clear mind.” She also mentioned that she tries to model healthy behavior for her students.  

Congratulations to Thomas Hoyne Elementary School and everyone involved in “The Snack Wizard” for creating an engaging, educational performance and implementing programs to make these choices more widely available students!

Filling the Nutrition Gap with Summer Food Programs

by Alyse Festenstein, HSC's Go for the Gold intern

Summer in Chicago is here, and for 400,000+ CPS students this means not only a two-and-a-half month break from class instruction, but also time away from school breakfast and lunch. Eighty-six percent of CPS students qualify for either free or reduced-price meals based on family income; the meals they eat at school through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs provide the fuel students need to focus and fully participate in school. That need for healthy meals does not end with the last school bell.

Nationally, school food leaders are recognizing the challenge this poses for millions of American families. In a recent USDA blog, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted the importance of addressing children’s nutritional needs throughout the year. “Proper nutrition is critical for a child’s ability to learn, grow, and be ready to achieve their dreams – and hunger is one of the most severe roadblocks to the learning process,” Vilsack wrote. “Lack of nutrition during the summer months may set up a cycle for poor performance once school begins again and can make children more prone to illness and other health issues year-round.”

To address the challenge of ensuring children are well-nourished through the summer months, the USDA implemented the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) in 1975. The program is administered at the state level by state education agencies like the Illinois State Board of Education and sponsored locally by organizations such as schools, summer camps, or community non-profits. These groups can provide free nutritious meals to children 18 and younger in communities where at least half of the resident families earn incomes at or below 185% of the Federal poverty level.

In addition to SFSP, the USDA has rolled out a new program, The Seamless Summer Option, to encourage school food providers to continue service throughout the summer and during school holidays.  The assistance these programs provide is vital for low-income families, especially because research shows greater food insecurity during these summer months. Last year, over 4,700 sponsors participated in the program and served more than 137 million meals to kids in need of a healthy meal through the summer break. Because of efforts to increase sponsoring sites, Secretary Vilsack notes that these numbers are expected to grow this summer.  

While there is undeniable need for SFSP program in the Chicago area and across the nation, both national and state wide data indicate that the program is underutilized and many children are not receiving the services they need. Most recent statistics show that during the summer proceeding the 2009-2010 school year, only 14.3 children in Illinois participated in the program for every 100 children in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which is fairly consistent with the national averages. This participation rate actually represents a 15% increase from the previous year and a 25% increase in the number of sponsoring sites throughout the state. Somehow the overwhelming majority of children in need are not accessing these summer food programs.

The crucial question remains: why are children not receiving these healthy meals in the summer?

It’s a complicated issue, but there seem to be many more variables involved during this time that prevent children from getting their meals. According to a study conducted by National Food Service Management Institute, barriers to program success exist both from the sponsor’s point of view and that of eligible children. Sponsors cited the volume of paperwork and unprepared staff as the main reasons they might not want to continue with the program. Additionally, they reported that many children could not participate because they lacked transportation, or their families did not know about the program or its benefits. The 2010 Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act made slight changes to SFSP that may help address these barriers in the future.  Schools are now required to help with summer food outreach, sponsoring agencies will see a decrease in required paperwork, and there is no longer a cap on the number of sites or children served.

Organizations in many U.S. cities are working together to design creative, local programs to ensure children in their community are able to have healthy meals this summer. New Haven Connecticut’s Tim Cipriano, the executive director of school food services, has been featured in the news recently for the city’s new food truck program. By delivering meals to children and harnessing the buzz around food trucks, he is addressing the transportation issue and stigma associated with summer meals at school. His idea has inspired other school districts, and this summer he plans to serve 40,000 bagged lunches. Chicago has also taken steps to improve summer nutrition. Through the effort of The Chicago Summer Food Work Group, participation rates have increased 9% in the last year alone. The group worked to include informational fliers in all backpacks of CPS students and collaborated with the Illinois State Board of Education to develop a mapping tool used to target the neighborhoods in greatest need.

Hundreds of locations across Chicago will sponsor free meals and snacks for children this summer. For information regarding locations and dates of program service, contact the Illinois Hunger Coalition at 1-800-359-2163 or visit the Chicago Housing Authority website for an interactive map of sponsoring sites. Let’s work together to make sure our children have healthy meals this summer and can return to school ready to learn in the fall.

Institute of Medicine Recommends Holistic Approach to Obesity Prevention

By Ashley Hofmann, HSC public policy intern

Last month, the Institute of Medicine released a comprehensive report outlining necessary changes to American culture to combat the rising obesity rates among children and adults. With so much focus on the current obesity epidemic, this report stands out because it offers multiple strategies that, when working together, can speed up prevention efforts and turn around the increase in obesity rates in just a few years.

For an in-depth look at the complete five recommendations and corresponding action steps the The Committee on Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention prescribed, the 462-page document can be found here. For a quick overview, check out the "at a glance" infographic at the end of this post.

The committee used a systems approach to analyze obesity prevention measures that would be most effective when implemented together. They specifically looked at how strategies would reinforce each other to have a greater impact or create unintended side effects. An important factor in these strategies is time: the committee focused on changes that can be implemented now to prevent rising obesity rates over the coming decade. With this whole-system approach, five areas, or environments, were identified as places where it will be most important to make changes in the daily lives of Americans. These areas include:

• Increased opportunities for physical activity
• Wider availability of healthy foods and beverages
• Marketing and education messages to the public emphasizing physical activity and nutrition
• Health care systems and places of work that offer obesity prevention support
• Schools as a national focal point of obesity prevention

For each environment, the report makes suggestions of who should be involved and what steps they can take to assist in obesity prevention. Everyone plays a role in this effort, from local city councils to members of Congress, from foundations to private business leaders, from local education agencies to the USDA.

A significant feature of this report is that schools were identified as one of the most critical places to implement changes.

The committee points out that children spend half of their waking hours at school facilities and consume one third to one half of their calories while at school. As a result, any positive changes made in this environment can have a huge impact on current childhood obesity rates. They can also have a powerful impact on the future rates of adult obesity, because many overweight or obese children grow up to become overweight or obese adults. The committee proposed three strategies to prevent obesity in schools:

• Require 60 minutes of physical activity for students every school day
• Increase the nutritional standards of the foods made available to students
• Teach students the knowledge and skills to make healthy choices for lifelong wellness

The committee takes thoughtful steps in mentioning the important role of leadership and community participation in making the recommended changes for obesity prevention a reality, further acknowledging that low-income families often live in neighborhoods without access to many health resources and lack the organized voice to fully represent their views.  

This recommendation connects closely to work HSC does on the ground, empowering students, parents, teachers and many others in communities most affected by health disparities to create healthy environments where all children can grow and learn.

Students who participate in HSC’s Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest learn to create and cook healthy menus. The team of Parents United for Healthy Schools, an HSC-led coalition, has advocated successfully for recess and stronger nutrition standards in Chicago Public Schools. Teachers who complete the Fit to Learn professional development program are taught practical ways to bring health and wellness into the classroom experience. Through the Go for the Gold campaign, over 75 Chicago schools have made improvements in health and wellness.

HSC continues to work closely with many stakeholders to improve health and wellness opportunities in Chicago and across the nation and applauds the committee’s efforts to shed light on the system-level forces that are shaping the obesity epidemic and the multi-level changes needed to reverse the trend.

Plus: Check out the "report at a glance" graphic from the Institute of Medicine, below, for an overview of the issues and recommendations!

Source: Institute of Medicine

Unusual Suspects: Research Connects Chemical Exposure & Obesity

by Kadesha Thomas, HSC writer and researcher

It looks like basic household items may need to come with a nutrition label. Research is mounting a strong case that eating too many calories and not getting enough exercise aren’t the only reasons why childhood obesity has tripled over the last generation. It could also be your handbag, your carpet, your window blinds, and — get this— your diabetes medication.

A study published this month in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives nicknames the culprits “obesogens.” These are dietary, pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals that have been linked to changing our body’s process of converting food to energy and then burning that energy through activity. 

Most of these chemical obesogens may also work as endocrine disruptors. As the study authors explain: “The main role of fat cells is to store energy and release it when needed. Scientists also now know that fat tissue acts as an endocrine organ, releasing hormones related to appetite and metabolism. . . Different obesogenic compounds may have different mechanisms of action, some affecting the number of fat cells, others the size of fat cells, and still others the hormones that affect appetite, satiety, food preferences, and energy metabolism.” When pregnant women are exposed, the effects can then be passed on to children, making them more prone to weight gain and obesity as they develop.

So far, 15 to 20 chemicals have been linked to weight gain in human and animal studies. Here are a few of them:

• Chemical pesticides in food and water
• Certain drugs, like the diabetes drug Avandia
• MSG or monosodium glutamate
• Phytoestrogens found in soy products
• Organotins found in handbags, wallpaper, vinyl blinds and vacuum cleaner dust
• Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in medical devices, some canned foods, plastic water and baby bottles
• Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a surface protectant found in nonstick cookware, scotchgard carpeting, mattresses and some furniture surfaces
• Pthalates, used to make everyday soft plastics and solvents, like shower curtains, carpeting, toys, food packaging, raincoats, vinyl flooring, detergents, nail polish, hair spray and shampoo

Researchers are trying to determine how much these obesogens have contributed to the rapid increase in obesity. They are also examining how much these chemicals could undermine efforts to address obesity through diet and exercise, particularly in children. Several federal agencies have even warmed up to the idea that chemicals can cause weight gain, including the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.

If it’s true that these obesity-causing chemicals are so pervasive in our everyday environment, we have a couple of options:

1. We can relocate to a secluded jungle and hope there are no obesogens in campfires and latrines. 
2. We can throw up our hands on this whole obesity thing — cancel our work-out plans and head to the nearest drive-thru for an extra large whatever.
3. Or we can accept what we can and cannot control, making healthy lifestyle choices whenever possible and advocating for policies that support our — and our kids’— wellness with regard to eating, physical activity and environmental exposures such as these.

There are environmental factors that influence our health. This budding research about obesogens should inspire us to continue advocating for healthy lifestyles and healthy school environments within our circle of influence. That means making healthy choices in our homes, speaking up for healthy environments in school, and raising our voices for policies that support health at a national level. 

This research underscores the importance of supporting efforts for policy changes that can have a broader impact -– on the food we eat, the opportunities we have to be active and the chemicals we’re exposed to every day. 

Plus: Check out this post from 2009 discussing HSC's perspective on the emerging research connecting chemical exposures and obesity.

Dear First Lady Michelle Obama . . .

Last week, we shared students' perspectives on school food and fitness. The value that health and wellness add to student success and education is tangible: health and wellness programs better prepare students to learn, fueling their potential. And as we continue to see, children are excited to be a part of a national movement.

Chicago supports First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to reverse childhood obesity through the Go for the Gold initiative and the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award challenge.

Students whose schools were recognized for achieving the HealthierUS School Challenge this year wanted to share a message with the First Lady and the rest of country! Check out their ideas in this video:

 

 What message regarding health and wellness would you like to send to our nation?

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If you would like to join in the PALA Challenge with Chicago schools, you can sign up with 1WORLD Sports. Not in Chicago? You can sign up through the national registration site.

To learn more about Go for the Gold, visit the Go for the Gold site or check out blog updates.

Plus! If you're in the Chicago area, you can support Go for the Gold when you shop at Dominick's this month -- or can volunteer to help out! Learn how you can make a difference.

National Report Highlights Role of Schools in Addressing Childhood Obesity

By Sarah Rosenberg, HSC intern

After reading the recent report on obesity in the United States from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America's Health, I’m optimistic about the potential for schools to be positive vehicles for change. The updated statistics on obesity did show that it is increasing pretty much across the board; but at the same time, policymakers, individuals, and communities seem to have realized over the past few years that it’s time for action. People all across America, including many we have a chance to work with here at HSC, are working hard to provide children with healthier school environments that offer healthier school food and increased physical activity. Some of the big changes include:

• Improved nutritional standards. 20 states now have nutritional requirements for school food that exceed the USDA’s standards, compared to four states seven years ago. The USDA itself is in the process of overhauling nutritional standards for school food to bring them into line with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines released by the Institute of Medicine. (You can take action to support improved national standards here.)

• Wellness policies. 99 percent of schools now have a wellness policy, up from 81 percent five years ago.

• Physical education and activity. Though all states have PE requirements, 11 states have also added physical activity requirements for children mandating a certain number of minutes of physical activity, daily or over the course of the week.

• School-based body mass index (BMI) reporting. Up from four states seven years ago, 21 states now monitor student BMI, in an effort to prevent and reverse childhood obesity.

• Local, fresh produce. As of this summer, 26 states have established Farm-to-School programs, encouraging schools to buy more fresh fruits and vegetables.

• Competitive foods. 35 states have standards for competitive foods, up from six as of 2004.

While large scale legislative change is important, it’s also important to start improving school wellness from the ground up –- and many schools and communities are coming together to do so. 

In San Diego, schools hold regular in-class taste tests to encourage students to eat more produce from the local farm-to-school program. Schools in Miami Dade County have created “Read and Ride,” where middle school students can do their silent reading on donated exercise bikes. And here in Chicago, 19 schools have overhauled policies for food, physical activity, and health education to meet the high standards of the HealthierUS Schools Challenge, with dozens more on the way.

What one YMCA director quoted in the report said of his community could apply to the country as a whole: “We know we have a lot more work to do.” This report makes it clear that schools have a key role in the long-term solution and are already taking steps to make a difference. 

You can access the full report here.

FTC Releases Guidelines for Food Marketing to Children: Show Your Support by July 14

by Sarah Rosenberg, HSC intern

Marketing food to children is big business: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimated that corporations spend some $1.6 billion annually on it. Print, TV and other electronic media comprise a big part of that, but less obviously, advertisers are reaching kids during the school day with nearly $200 million of the total sum going to in-school marketing. These things are still fresh in my memory from high school: the brightly labeled vending machines, colorful posters in the cafeteria with cereal mascots grinning about balanced breakfasts, and brand foods for snacks and fundraisers. I also remember that I never thought much of it.

With childhood obesity continuing its upward trend [pdf, see p. 7] through much of the country, many people, including myself, are coming to realize that it is essential to address marketing. Adults may be able to tune it out, but children can be strongly influenced by advertising. Until now, there has been no regulation of marketing food to children, whether inside or outside of schools. However, the FTC, in partnership with several other agencies, recently released new voluntary guidelines for such marketing, to be implemented later this year.

The guidelines provide a framework for corporations to bring their marketing in line with the most recent dietary guidelines for children and are “designed to encourage children, through advertising and marketing, to choose foods that make a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet.” Thus, much of the recommendations focus on what constitutes allowable ingredients and proportions for foods targeted to kids.

Significantly, the recommendations also cover in-school marketing, which includes “advertising or promotional activities in or around” schools; “payments to schools or school systems pursuant to food and beverage contracts;” and philanthropic donations.

We at HSC welcome these new guidelines and hope that food marketers will take them to heart in developing their marketing policies. HSC is signing on to a letter of support for the new guidelines, written by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. As they have written:

[M]arketing to children influences their food preferences, purchases, and ultimately what they eat. Right now, their environment is filled with marketing for unhealthy foods. We hope our nation’s food marketers will make children’s health a priority and adopt these voluntary principles.

We encourage you to show your support for the new FTC guidelines by submitting comments here. The FTC is accepting comments until July 14, 2011. You can check out suggested langauge to adapt and use for your comments here [.doc].

Spotlight on Food for Life Partnership: Promoting Healthy Eating in England's Schools

by Austin Sears, HSC intern

Here at Healthy Schools Campaign, we love reading about the things that people are doing to create healthy school environments for children. It is always interesting to see how other places address student health and wellness. BBC recently published an article about an England-based organization, Food for Life Partnership (FFLP), that is currently making a difference in the way that people think about and interact with food.

FFLP puts emphasis on consuming seasonal, local and organic food and provides resources on ways to cook and grow fresh food. The organization encourages student, parent and community organizations to get involved in growing food locally and finding healthy ways to prepare it. FFLP awards school achievement at three different levels, encouraging those involved to continue working to reach the highest possible distinction.

The University of West England (UWE) analyzed 48 elementary schools out of the 3,600 participating elementary and middle schools involved with FFLP. Their findings showed that more than one third of the schools that were analyzed were given an outstanding review by Olfsted (an organization that inspects and regulates school services to document positive changes), compared to the 17.3 percent that received an outstanding review prior to joining the FFLP. The study also found that the percentage of children eating five servings of vegetables a day increased from 16 to 21 percent after their schools joined FFLP. Of the parents surveyed by UWE, 45 percent told researchers that their families were consuming more vegetables.

Here is a particularly striking excerpt of the article from FFLP director Libby Grundy:

“The UK has the highest rate of childhood obesity in Europe, with almost a quarter of adults and about one in ten children classed as obese, and a further 20-25 percent of children overweight.

The UWE evidence shows that our programme has made a positive difference to improving diet and this in turn is having a knock-on effect on behaviour and attainment."

Organizations like FFLP make it possible for families to work with schools to encourage health and wellness in the everyday lives of children, while also working to improve academic performance and behavior. What better way to engage students in healthy eating than to include them in the growing and cooking process? 

One important part of the FELP approach is something that we've seen work here in our own efforts: bringing together stakeholders from throughout the school community to make a difference for kids' health. Mat Jones, senior lecturer in health and social policy at UWE, said:

"It brings together students, teachers, cooks and parents in a shared mission. This holistic approach appears to make a lot of sense for children who are encouraged to take their learning from classroom to dining hall and into their homes.

"Evidence of positive outcomes - for health, environmental awareness, wider learning and parental involvement - highlights the potential of joined-up action in schools."

Kudos to FFLP for their successful efforts to promote healthy eating in schools and beyond!

New Poll Shows Parents Want More Activity During School Day

A new survey conducted by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health shows that "almost all parents of young children believe it's important for elementary school kids to get exercise during each school day" and want more physical activity for their children.

The poll, which found that one-third of participants feel their children are not getting enough physical activity, included a few interesting specifics: 26 percent of participants think that playground equipment is lacking at their kids' schools and 22 percent of parents surveyed feel that recess is too short.

The study also found that parents with weight issues of their own were more likely to think schools need to do more to increase activity.

Our school systems face tremendous pressure to boost test scores and make ends meet on very tight budgets. With these pressures, we often see physical activity take a back seat despite its importance to health and wellness. Now, parents are starting to take notice. Sarah Clark, Associate Director of the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan Medical School, said:

School officials should note the strong support from parents for the importance of physical activity during the school day for children in the elementary grades. Parents see many reasons why physical activity is valuable for their children -- not just in preventing obesity but also in promoting healthy physical development.

The survey asked parents of children aged 6 to 11 for their opinions on physical activity.

Here at HSC, we work with parents through the Parents United for Healthy Schools/Padres Unidos para Escuelas Saludables coalition to advocate for recess at a local level and support schools in finding practical ways to make recess a reality. (For example, more than 50 parents recently completed training to serve as volunteer recess monitors.) Through our Fit to Learn professional development program, teachers learn strategies to incorporate physical activity into classroom activities as a way to boost learning as well as health.

Check out the exercise & school recess section of HSC's blog for more stories on the benefits of physical activity at school -- and ideas for making sure all children have a chance to be active.

Spotlight on Charles E. Basch: Healthier Students Are Better Learners

by Joanna Blonska, a writer for the Office of Minority Health Resource Center.

For the past 30 years, Charles E. Basch has studied health disparities across a wide range of urban minority populations.   As the Richard March Hoe Professor of Health Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, his attempt to translate what is already known into practice to help groups with the greatest need has been the running thread of his work. 

If his years of research have made anything clear it is this:  there is a strong link between health and learning and if we are to begin to eradicate disparities in health and education, we should start by creating healthier schools.

 “While we spend a tremendous amount of money on chronic disease, it’s always been clear to me from the outset, the single most effective approach that we have…is primary and secondary prevention from school-based programs,” Basch says.  “It’s when children are young that we can prevent many of these problems and their adverse effects rather than waiting until they are adolescents or adults and the problems have already developed.”

Basch presents the evidence for this argument in his latest report, “Healthier Students Are Better Learners: A Missing Link in School Reforms to Close the Achievement Gap” [pdf] published in March 2010 which brings together findings from fields ranging from neurosciences and child development to epidemiology and public health to illustrate how health-related problems play a major role in limiting academic performance of minority children.

Basch specifically identifies seven factors--poor vision, asthma, teen pregnancy, aggression and violence, physical inactivity, ADHD, and insufficient breakfast--that can and do lead to health disparities. 

While it is not new that these problems disproportionately affect urban minority youth, what Basch emphasizes is that the disparities “have direct causal links to motivation and ability to learn through affecting [children’] sensory perceptions, cognition, connectedness and engagement in school.”  Simply put, healthier students are better students.

Basch argues that there needs to be a reassessment in the approach by educators and public health officials in addressing these problems in order to make any serious inroads into improving the lives of millions of minority children who are affected by these disparities. 

He acknowledges that educators have attempted for years to close the achievement gap by focusing on improving school curriculums and teacher qualifications and introducing better leadership and accountability measures.   There has also been much rhetoric around incorporating health programs in schools.

But for the most part, he says, “the way in which these programs have been done, has not been in a strategic, high-quality and coordinated way.” 

Part of the problem, Basch argues, is that the emphasis has tended to be too categorical.  There may be a violence program or an obesity prevention program, but these, he notes, do not adequately address the overall development of the child or take into consideration the many factors affecting the child, which may overlap and be interrelated.

“We have to realize that [a child’s] development is affected by a multitude of factors and when we focus on some and not others, the benefits are going to be compromised,” Basch says.  “The big picture message I’m trying to get across is the interactive and synergistic effects of these different health problems and the need to address them collectively if we are to have a meaningful effect.”

While school nutrition and fitness initiatives supported by efforts such as Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign or the USDA’s Healthier US School Challenge are both “an important piece” and “a step in the right direction,” on a national level, he argues, there needs to a “bigger picture” approach—targeting the seven prevalent health factors he studied-- and more involvement from the Department of Education.   

He also advocates for political will on a school district level among school leaders “to recognize that these are important issues and they have to be addressed, not in a haphazard way” but “as part of the vision and mission of the school.”

Focusing programs in the places where there is the greatest risk, particularly among low-income urban populations, is critical to closing the achievement gap for urban minority children, Basch says.

In populations with higher socioeconomic status, there tends to be much greater financial and familial support, but in urban minority populations, those resources are not necessarily present to address problems.  There is also often more stress on the families with respect to poverty, working many jobs, or raising multiple children. 

Schools can play a central role in ending both health disparities and the achievement gap and Basch is hopeful that success is achievable with comprehensive school-based health programs.

“The school is really a social institution that’s ideally situated to address the needs of kids in this situation,” he says.  “I think there is lots of evidence of programs that have shown that they can be effective.”

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Healthy Schools Campaign is pleased to announce Heroes for Healthy Schools: Coming together for
student wellness and achievement, a weeklong series of events to celebrate Minority Health Month and
focus attention on programs and policies in Chicago that support student wellness and achievement.
This exciting series is presented as a partnership of Healthy Schools Campaign, Chicago Public
Schools Nutrition Support Services and the Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.

We are thrilled to take this opportunity to spotlight a few of the many individuals who are making a difference for kids' health at school and in our community. Today's "hero for healthy schools," Professor Charles E. Basch, has dedicated his work to the research of effective strategies for addressing health and education disparities.

Basch will speak at the Citywide Forum on Health Disparities and Education, a cornerstone event recognizing Minority Health Month, to discuss his latest research on health disparities and student achievement. We invite you to join us at this forum on April 6 in Chicago. For details and to register, click here.

Chicago Implements Breakfast in the Classroom Program

With recent controversy around Chicago's new Breakfast in the Classroom policy, HSC's President and CEO, Rochelle Davis was invited to be part of a Chicago Tonight panel discussing the new program. 

What are your thoughts?

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Plus! Check out our recent post on school breakfast programs: Today’s Lesson: Addition, Subtraction, and… Cereal?

Update: Read today's editorials from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times about the program.