Saturday, August 19, 2006

Bye-bye, cupcakes! It's healthy foods for Los Lunas Schools

Jane Moorman News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jmoorman@news-bulletin.com

Julie's party at school to celebrate her 9th birthday is going to be a little different this year. Instead of the traditional cupcakes with icing, her mother will have to bring something like a fruit tray with animal crackers.

The Los Lunas Schools is joining districts across the state and nation in adopting a federal- and state-mandated wellness policy this summer. The policy is a national effort to promote good health for all students.

Mary Swift, director of the state nutrition program for the school district, told the Los Lunas School Board as it reviewed the new policy that the prevalence of children ages 6 to 11 being overweight has more than doubled in the past 20 years.

"Overweight children and adolescents are more likely to remain overweight or become obese adults and develop chronic disease," Swift said. "Also, statistics show that one in three American children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime."

She added that research has shown that overweight children are less likely to achieve academic success in school.

To help educate children about healthy lifestyles, the federal government has mandated that any program authorized by the nutritional school lunch act or child nutrition act must have a local school wellness policy by the 2006 school year.

Also Gov. Bill Richardson signed into law HB 61 in 2005 that a rule will be adopted governing foods and beverages sold in all public schools to students outside of the federal Department of Agriculture school meal program.

With these two mandates, the school board approved the wellness policy on July 18.

"The goal of the policy is to create a total school environment that is conducive to student health and academic achievement," the policy says.

To accomplish this, the district has hired a wellness coordinator, Kerby Tillotson, and will establish a health advisory council consisting of parents, school food authority personnel, school board members, school administrators, school staff, students and community members.

The policy also establishes the goal of having a comprehensive health education curriculum within a coordinated school health approach to acquire life skills in order to attain personal, family, community, consumer and environment health.

It also establishes the goal of having physical activity within the coordinated school health approach that provides students with increased opportunities to engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity before, during and after school.

Such activities include a minimum of 45 minutes of physical activity each week for children in kindergarten through sixth grade, in addition to scheduled recesses.

It also encourages the establishment of walking clubs and participation in such activities as Walk to School Day, Jump Rope for Heart, St. Jude's Bike-a-thon and Zoo Runs.

The biggest change will be in the nutrition component of the policy. While school lunch programs have been serving nutritional meals, classroom snacks and vending machines have not necessarily offered healthy choices.

"The guidelines are divided into the three age groups — elementary, middle and high school," Swift said. "The nutrition guidelines are stricter for the younger children. These guidelines do not apply to foods that a student brings from home for his or her own consumption."

The nutritional guidelines are:

Elementary schools

Beverages for students will be sold only after the last lunch period is completed and shall only include soy milk, milk with 2 percent fat or less and water. Milk and 100 percent fruit juice will be available during breakfast, and milk is sold during lunch for purchase by students who bring their own lunches or would like an extra beverage.

No other foods will be sold to students during the school day outside the school breakfast and lunch program.

Middle school

Beverages sold to students shall only include milk with no more than 2 percent fat, soy milk, water and 100 percent fruit juice with no added sweeteners, no more than 125 calories per container and a serving size not to exceed 20 ounces. Carbonated beverages are not to be sold or served to middle school students.

Foods may be sold to students after the last lunch period is over and must meet the guidelines of no more than 200 calories or less per package or amount served with no more than 8 grams of fat per serving or 2 grams from saturated or trans fats and no more than 15 grams of sugar per package. Exceptions are nuts, seeds, cheese, yogurt products and fruit.

High school

Beverages that may be sold or served throughout the day include water, milk with 2 percent fat or less, soy milk, 50 percent to 100 percent fruit juice with no added sweeteners. Allowed to be sold after the last lunch period are sugar-free and caffeine-free soft drinks, non-carbonated flavored water with no added sweetener and sports drinks.

Food products sold to students any time during the day must meet the guidelines of no more than 200 calories or less per package or amount served and no more than 8 grams of fat per serving and 2 grams of saturated or trans fat and no more than 15 grams of sugar per package. Exceptions are nuts, seeds, cheese, yogurt products and fruit.

Foods sold in schools to students during lunch period — not part of the USDA school meal program — must have no more than 400 calories, no more than 16 grams of fat and no more than 30 grams of total sugar. Exceptions are nuts, seeds, cheese, yogurt products and fruit.

Classroom snacks and parties for all grade levels.

Have all students who are celebrating birthdays in the month celebrate together. Limit parties with cake and other sugary or high-fat foods to less than once per month. Foods that are encouraged for snacks or parties are: