Healthier lunch choices
Nutrition improves; physical education making comeback
By Kelli Gauthier Staff Writer
EDITOR’S NOTE: For audio with this story and local statistics on student health, go to www.timesfreepress.com. Cafeteria manager Connie Ochsenbein remembers days in the not-so-distant past when two cans of green beans would serve more than 400 students. “The kids just wouldn’t eat them,” she said. Today the cafeteria at Apison Elementary School serves 20 to 30 pounds of corn almost every day, Ms. Ochsenbein said, and eight large cans of fruit. More lettuce and lima beans in the lunch line are just some of the ways in which schools have gotten healthier over the past six years, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study, which examined areas such as cafeteria food and physical education, found that since 2001 the nation’s schools have become a much healthier place for students, though there still is room for improvement. “One of the reasons we’ve made such improvements is that we were in such a poor place to begin with,” said Howell Wechsler, director of the CDC’s division of adolescent and school health. “I think there’s a lot of progress still to be made.” HEALTHIER CHOICES The pizza at Soddy-Daisy High School may still look the same as it did in 2000, but Gail Carr, cafeteria manager, said the nutritional value has increased significantly with the introduction of whole-grain crust and low-fat cheese. Ms. Carr also serves salad every day and has cut down the amount of butter and salt she uses in her cooking, she said. “We’ve actually had higher participation in our lunch program since the menus changed,” she said. “I’m thinking that our children are getting more health conscious.” School meals also have changed in Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia schools. Fried foods largely are out, skim milk is in, salad bars are com-
mon and desserts mostly are items of the past. “We have a meat or protein every day and a milk,” said Bonnie Safley, Catoosa County, Ga., food services supervisor. “We have cut back on bread, and we have four offerings from fruit and vegetables.” When it comes to burning off excess calories, schoolchildren across the nation soon could have more hours of physical education. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., has co-sponsored a bill that would incorporate physical education requirements into the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for reauthorization later this year. “Every young person in America should have a weekly, regimented physical education program,” the congressman said recently to a group of students at Ooltewah High School. Elexis Boydston, a second-grader at Daisy Elementary, said she likes to spend time doing physical activities outside her PE class. “PE’s ability to work out your muscles and to be active — there’s a lot to learn,” the 7-year-old said. Russell Cliche, coordinator of school health for Hamilton County Schools, said Tennessee is the only state that requires all its counties to have a school health coordinator on staff. As he works with the district’s 79 schools, Mr. Cliche said, he will help them fill out required schoolwide health assessments. He also will be able to distribute $500 grants to help schools that may be struggling with physical education or students’ health, he said. ROOM TO IMPROVE Few question that schools have become healthier in the past six years, but they still are far from ideal, Centers for Disease Control officials said. The agency’s report found that just 4 percent of elementary schools, 8 percent of middle schools and 2 percent of high schools provide a physical education class each school day, and one-fifth of schools do not require physical education at all. Diane Stacy, a physical education teacher at Daisy Elementary, said she teaches her students only once or twice a week, depending on their grade level. She said she is encouraged by the possibility of more hours of physical activity for her students. “Whatever it takes to get more PE into a student’s life,” she said. Georgia law requires that schools provide 90 minutes of physical education a week for kindergartners through fifthgraders, and schools may offer 90 minutes a week to students in grades six through 12. Like high schoolers in Tennessee, students in Georgia must take one physical education course to earn a diploma. Kasey Poole, spokeswoman for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, said the county does not have current data on childhood obesity, but it should have the bodymass index data for elementary school students by spring. “We have a huge data deficit for elementary and middle school kids, and the most recent data is from high schoolers from 2002,” she said. FOND OF FATS? Some educators say it is clear students prefer higher-fat foods despite the healthier options available. During the recent National School Lunch Week, students across the county voted on their three favorite cafeteria foods: hamburgers, tacos and chicken nuggets. “It’s difficult to deal with a culture of children who have grown up with fast food,” said Carolyn Childs, school nutrition director for Hamilton County. Mr. Cliche said students simply are not taking advantage of some of the fruits, vegetables and whole grains that school cafeterias have to offer. “(Parents) haven’t instilled the value in eating these foods,” he said. “Schools have dramatically improved, but they’re not supported by behaviors at home.” Nutrition expert Heidi Silver disagrees, and she said schools still have a significant effect on student behavior. “About 28 million children are involved in school lunch programs,” said Dr. Silver, a research assistant professor in the school of medicine at Vanderbilt University. “And a lot of students in the school lunch program come from the lower socio-economic status, and that lunch is the largest portion of their caloric intake of the day.” Connie Millsaps, a freshman at Soddy-Daisy, said she would buy cafeteria food more often if it were healthier. “Even though there are salads, they only have ranch dressing,” she said. “I definitely eat healthier at home.” Ms. Childs said it is a struggle to find food that is budget friendly and healthy that students actually want to eat. Ultimately, she said, just because the school environment is getting healthier doesn’t mean students are following suit. “We can’t mandate what a child selects,” she said. Staff writer Beverly Carroll contributed to this story. E-mail Kelli Gauthier at kgauthier@timesfreepress.com CHILDHOOD OBESITY DEFINED After body-mass index — a number calculated from a person’s weight and height — is calculated for children and teens, the BMI number is plotted on a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention BMI-for-age growth chart to obtain a percentile ranking. The percentile indicates the relative position of the child’s BMI number among children of the same sex and age. Underweight: Less than the 5th percentile Healthy weight: 5th percentile to less than the 85th percentile At risk of overweight: 85th to less than the 95th percentile Overweight: Equal to or greater than the 95th percentile
Nutrition improves; physical education making comeback
Staff Photo by Dan Henry Soddy-Daisy High School sophomore Drew Hale eats his daily apple during lunch. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a study showing that schools are becoming healthier with better food options and physical education programs.
