When children are little they follow the lead of their parents. Once they enter school, their sphere of influencers expands. Suddenly their teacher is a partner in learning, showing them how to form letters of the alphabet and later to explain how electricity is generated. When it comes to nutrition, teachers, school wellness coordinators, school food service directors and parents can work together to help develop a healthy school environment that includes a unified message. To help meet this end, Dairy Council of California hosted a breakfast meeting at California’s PTA convention last week, about how parents can partner with schools on multiple levels.

To a packed room,  we introduced our new Parent Nutrition Education Toolkit designed to encourage a healthy eating environment at home and at school. The toolkit includes information that PTA and nutrition educators can use when offering education for parents in schools. The aim is to help parents set the stage for a positive attitude towards food at home that is reinforced in the classroom and the school community.

The toolkit is a compilation of resources that focus on two areas parents often have questions about,  beverages and picky eaters. Follow the links below to see the handouts and resources on these important topics. School PTA or PTO groups can organize parent meeting using the narrated PowerPoint presentations or use the scripts to give a talk without the visuals.

•    Rethink Your Drink...Choosing Healthy Beverages for Elementary Students and Families and
•    Positive Parenting Approaches for Picky Eaters

When we shared that the scripts were available in both English and Spanish, the group broke out in applause! During the Q&A a school wellness coordinator shared she will bring the Toolkit to her local schools. One PTA member asked if the Picky Eaters presentation would help her picky husband. While we cannot promise results, we hope you find that when your community shares consistent messages we can raise healthy eaters- young and old(er) alike.

What future topics would you like to see included in the Parent Toolkit?

Trina Robertson, Registered Dietitian

Teacher Debbie Oliva's daily environment may have seemed a lot like the average workplace: unhealthy foods appearing for meetings, events and on other weekdays; no one talking about health and wellbeing; and conversations about excuses and reasons they can't do it. Debbie would describe the biggest barrier to getting healthier was lack of time.

In September 2011, my colleagues and I had the privilege of attending the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics annual Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE) in San Diego, California. When you attend one of these professional meetings there are usually one or two stand-out sessions that stick with you and cause you to reflect on the topic even when you return. For me and my colleagues, one of these sessions was titled: The Way We Eat: Weaving Cultural Anthropology and Consumer Science Into Healthful Food.

First, presenter Polly Adema, Ph.D., a cultural anthropologist, reviewed the history of food and how societal attitudes influence food choices. I learned that food and religion often go hand-in-hand; graham crackers were developed by a pastor as a health food and Welch’s grape juice was developed by a priest as alternative to wine. Her presentation left me wondering if general, broad-based dietary guidelines leave room for such individual, and often culturally driven, eating patterns. 

Next, Mary Young, M.S., R.D., a Senior Food and Nutrition Strategist for Edelman Public Relations shared information from a study conducted on Millennials and their attitudes about food. She reported the nine factors that influence food choices: fuel; health; culture/heritage; memories/celebrations; human connections; love; emotions; creative outlet; and personal struggles. My colleagues and I left the session asking ourselves how we as health professionals might tap into our clients' personal connections to food to improve counseling. We realized that nutrients in food are likely a low driver for food consumption and we would be more successful if we package our messages with emotional connections to food, and then add in the nutrition message.

As the "experts" in the science of food and nutrients, this FNCE session helped us to realize that helping people connect to some or all of these nine factors in order to improve eating habits is a unique skill that should be developed. To do so, we've decided to host a webinar on this topic and expand it to the application level. Join us on May 14 at 11 a.m. PST for The Way We Eat: Looking Beyond Nutrients to Help Clients Build Better Diets. Mary Young and Polly Adema are back to share more about their research and Laura Thomas, M.Ed., R.D., L.D. will describe how nutrition educators can use this information and increase their effectiveness.

The webinar is co-sponsored by the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. The first 200 registrants receive FREE registration courtesy of Dairy Council of California; remaining spaces are $25. Registrations are filling up fast, sign up today!

Maureen Bligh, M.A., R.D.

Last month, Carolyn A. Clark Elementary School in San Jose, CA held the second annual “Breakfast of Champions” event in celebration of National Nutrition Month. Just like last years event, students were invited to participate in a school-wide contest.  The contest challenged students to creatively use their technology and nutrition knowledge to create a poster, brochure, comic, podcast or iMovie of how you “Get Your Plate In Shape”.

Over 210 students in kindergarten through sixth grade submitted a project and were given a ticket to enter the “Breakfast for Champions” event before school on March 30th. Students were welcomed and treated to a balanced breakfast of yogurt parfaits. All of the breakfast ingredients were donated by school and corporate partners including Carolyn A. Clark’s Parent-Teacher Association, General Mills, Evergreen Child Nutrition Services and Dairy Council of California.

While enjoying a healthy breakfast, students  also had the opportunity to take their very own “Got Milk” photos, spin the Dairy Council of California breakfast trivia wheel and learn how to hula-hoop! Contest winners, one per grade level, were announced at the event and received a Dairy Council of California lunch tote, Carolyn A. Clark school spirit gear and a ticket to the upcoming Carolyn A. Clark Father’s Day event in June. The grand prize winner was a sixth grade student who created a Dora the Explorer nutrition comic, won a San Francisco 49er helmet signed by Frank Gore!

Students and their families had a fun time at the “Breakfast of Champions” event, it’s a great opportunity to learn about nutrition, health and encourage school wellness. Tell us about the health and wellness events happening at your school!

Leslie Fondacabe

Territory Manager

People with overweight or obesity are rarely depicted exercising, eating healthful food or even looking happy. Instead, images of overweight and obese torsos are used to illustrate news stories about the obesity crisis. The heads of these people are out of the frame, and their hands are often holding an over-sized soda or some other unhealthy food.

Have you ever thought about what kind of impact these images have on an overweight or obese child? Does shaming people about their size motivate them to lose weight or make things even worse?

In March, the Orange County Health Care Agency hosted an event exploring Healthy at Every Size (HAES), a movement that encourages teachers, coaches, parents and healthcare providers to focus on health, not weight, when talking about nutrition and physical activity to children. The event was attended by county health care employees, teachers and health care partners from the area.

HAES emphasizes that being overweight isn't always a risk factor for disease, as is commonly believed. A survey by the National Institute of Health found that more than half of overweight adults who are told to lose weight are metabolically healthy (normal blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides) while one out of four healthy weight individuals are metabolically unhealthy, and are often overlooked by physicians who use weight as the only indicator of health.

The HAES approach can be useful for teachers who want to encourage healthy behavior in all of their students. Here are some tips from HAES:

• Every body is a good body: Teaching children to value their body no matter what encourages nutritious eating and exercise because they're healthy activities, not because the child is told he or she must lose weight.
• Singling out those who are overweight or obese for special nutrition or exercise intervention programs can increase anxiety and have the opposite effect from what was intended. It can also make kids targets for teasing and bullying by their peers.
• Putting kids on a diet can also be detrimental, starting a cycle of loss and gain that can carry into adulthood and rarely leads to permanent weight loss, according to studies.
• Instead of focusing only on a few children who may be overweight, teach all students the benefits of healthy eating, and make exercise accessible and fun for everyone on the playground. After all, people of all sizes can benefit from a healthy lifestyle!
• Encourage a healthy school environment and encourage families to do the same. Including nutrition education in the classroom is a great way to start this new approach. Our nutrition lessons encourage students to eat from all five food groups and many of our programs have a strong family component.

Claire St. John, Loma Linda University
Graduate student in Public Health Nutrition

The Healthy Schools, Healthy Budgets conference, sponsored recently by Dairy Council of California, featured speakers and panels presenting low- and or no-cost ways to build a healthier school environment. 

Speakers addressed the following five components of effective school wellness policies and how to incorporate them across campus, from the cafeteria to the classroom and beyond to help other schools achieve success. 

1. Nutrition Education in the classroom. California Department of Education offers a free resource guide outlining supplemental materials and nutrition education programs like Exercise Your Options from Dairy Council of California. Visit the California Department of Education’s website to access the guide.
2. Employee Wellness Programs can help promote a healthy sense of community among staff members and foster healthy role modeling for students. Free resources are available from the Network for a Healthy California and Dairy Council of California. 
3. Grants and Community support can help schools get wellness programs off the ground. The Healthier US School Challenge offers financial support to implement School Foodservice improvements from salad bars to breakfast in the classroom. Visit their website for more information.
4. Research has shown a direct link between Physical Activity and academic success. Planning a 5-minute physical activity break or leading a lap around the track can easily be worked into the school day. Read more on the connection between activity and achievement.
5. Social Media is an emerging way schools can connect with staff members, students and parents to promote school wellness. For example, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) recently became one of the first districts to hire a director of social media. Students are especially receptive to accessing and sharing information via mobile devices and computers, so consider exploring ways to move your wellness message from textbooks to tweets. 

Check out the latest blog from a Meals Matter Mom, It's Tax Time, Are You Getting Enough Bang For Your Food Buck? Registered dietitian Maureen Bligh discusses realistic strategies for managing food budgets and eating healthfully. The blog includes tips that she employs including cooking at home, minimizing waste and avoiding overeating.

She has an interesting theory that it is better to fill up on healthy food so you are less tempted to go overboard on high calorie/low nutrient foods. Overeating is not good for your health or pocketbook. She doesn't buy diet food; it can be more expensive and of course less satisfying. Due to the health halo associated with low fat foods, people tend to overeat them. 

Spirits were soaring this week at Marylin Avenue Elementary in Livermore, California.  Principal Jeff Keller and Barbara Lee, Director of Campus Catering proudly accepted the Healthier US School Challenge Silver Award presented by Allen Ng, Regional Administrator for USDA, Food and Nutrition Service. 

The Superintendent commended faculty, staff, students and parents for working hard to make Marylin Avenue a healthier community for students to grow and thrive.  She then introduced State Superintendent, Tom Torlakson, who shared some key inspirational words about the importance of healthy eating and physical activity.

Dairy Council of California’s, Val Fung-A-Ling was honored to be invited to the celebration.  Teachers at Marylin Avenue Elementary use Dairy Council’s free nutrition education curriculum in their classrooms and the use of these programs contributed toward meeting the Healthier US Challenge criteria. 

Congratulations to Marylin Avenue Elementary community!

There were 3 big ideas that emerged from our recent Nutrition Trends meeting about milk, cheese and yogurt. Part of our Trends monitoring process includes reviewing the scientific literature on milk products and discussing the findings at our meetings. Lately in the media it seems like people question the health benefits of milk, which is a real disconnect from the consensus of scientific evidence. So here is a look some new research on milk's health benefits that's gaining some serious momentum:

What's new about milk, cheese and yogurt: 

1. Consumers can meet their intake for calcium via nondairy sources, however beyond calcium, these sources are not nutritionally equivalent. They do not have same amount of important nutrients found in milk like protein, vitamins A, B12, D, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and riboflavin. Nutrition Research, October 2011
2. Milk products contribute only 10-13% of the calories in the average U.S. diet, yet contribute significant amounts of key nutrients important for health. For a minimal caloric cost, milk products provide 47% of the calcium, 42% of vitamin A, 65% of vitamin D and were also top sources of riboflavin, phosphorus and vitamin B12. J Am Coll Nutr October 2011
3. Calcium and phosphorus supplements, when ingested separately and not in the appropriate ratio as found in milk, can have adverse effects on bone health. Plus, research shows milk products are the most economic way to obtain adequate calcium from food. J Am Coll Nutr December 2011

The "School Wellness" movement got a kick start a few years ago when the Child Nutrition & WIC Reauthorization Act required schools to have a School Wellness Policy. We now see a blossoming of school wellness programs across California and the rest of the nation.

School Wellness Paths = Same End Goal

Policies and programs all have the same end goals: to improve the health and well-being of students and create a healthy school environment where individuals reach their potential. At our recent Trends meeting, we identified examples of wellness that run the gamut of possibilities. Here are some notable strategies:

• Provide Opportunities to Self-Motivate

A recent study suggests kids need strong internal motivation in order to get fit, not micro-management. Successful strategies encourage kids to get healthy on their own. For example, training kids to prepare simple meals so they can improve their health habits by themselves and not have to rely so much on others.

Students also need to know which choices are healthy choices. Imagine if students received nutrition education each year while in elementary school--that would mean at least 7 years of education preparing them to be self-sufficient and successful in their food and activity choices as adults.

•  Make the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice

When choices are taken away, most people tend to rebel, which results in unintended consequences. Best models encourage conscious choice which will lead to a better chance of a continued behavior.  

When schools make subtle environmental changes, more students freely make the healthier choice--a theory expressed by Brian Wansink and David R. Just from Cornell University. Their article on Behavioral Economics makes a fascinating case that simple changes to the cafeteria, i.e. a Smarter Lunchroom lead to healthier choices.

• Blur the Line Between Learning and Playing

Gaming technology may be an economical way to engage more people in wellness programs.  Psychologists found  that the most successful programs incorporated web or mobile device-based games that helped people change behaviors through a series of achievable goals.

• Remember Schools are Workplaces Too

Its often overlooked that schools are also workplaces for many thousands of people. We recently shared some invigorating ways to link wellness to teachers (and administrator and staff). 

The big picture is important in school wellness. The goal is to create an environment for success: one that encourages adults and children to make healthier choices both inside and outside of the school gates.

We will be providing hands-on, practical and no cost strategies at our Healthy Schools, Healthy Budgets conference and workshop next week. If you can make it to Los Angeles, hurry and reserve your seats today!

Tracy Witmer, RD