Healthy School Days
A healthy diet is a crucial component to any child’s education, but maintaining nutritious eating habits throughout the school year can be difficult to achieve, for families at any income level. There’s been a lot of attention paid to childhood obesity and healthy school lunches this year, so with kids back at school, we wanted to compile some of the highlights, as well as give busy parents some actionable ways to help their children eat well.
According to the Food Pyramid, a nutrition guide published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a healthy diet consists of eating a mix of vegetables, fruit and grains while trying to cut down on fat, sugar and salt. For school children, this can help kids stay focused and attentive during the school day. However, for a lot families, particularly those in inner cities, it might prove difficult to track down even a simple carrot. Junk food, on the other hand, is readily available and much cheaper.
Someone who sees this first hand is Dr. Olajide Williams, who was previously featured in our ‘Hip Hop Health’ article. He’s a neurologist, a Columbia University professor and founder of the Hip Hop Public Health Education Center at Harlem Hospital. He’s used to teaching pre-adolescents about nutrition. He told us that buying healthier foods gets a lower priority when competing with costs such as utility bills, transportation and rent. But it’s not just economics – low health literacy, insufficient inspiration and a lack of personal responsibility combine to make nutrition challenging in the neighborhoods that need it most.
Dr. Olajide Williams is the founder and director of the Hip Hop Public Health Education Center Harlem Hospital, which produces a series of health awareness programs that use hip hop music to teach pre-adolescents about health issues.
There are other initiatives out there trying to help inner city families maintain healthy nutrition. First Lady Michelle Obama is spearheading a campaign called Let’s Move. It aims to raise a healthier generation of kids by spending over $400 million on bringing grocery stores to inner city areas and educating people about nutrition.
There’s also the new Farm Share in the South Bronx, that gives people access to more fresh fruit and vegetables by letting them buy shares in an actual working farm. It costs between $3.75 to $20.00 a week, depending on income, subsidies and share size, and in return families get boxes of farm-fresh produce delivered to their door. The bonus is that since they own shares in the farm, they help decide what it should grow.
These initiatives aim to make it easier for families and communities to feed hungry schoolchildren a healthier diet. For the rest of us the question still remains, is there such a thing as affordable nutrition? We asked Dr. Williams for his top five tips for a healthier lifestyle.
Food Camp
The Corporal Cup app from PBS gets kids ready to chop, slice, mix, blend, pour, skewer and prepare mouth-watering healthy recipes.
Download the AppExercise, Exercise and yet more Exercise.
“If someone had to choose between seeing me or buying a pair of sneakers, I would tell them to buy the sneakers.” Sport and physical activities invigorate both body and mind. Although not strictly a nutrition tip, it’s what Dr. Williams deems to be the most important factor in a healthy lifestyle.
Healthy Breakfasts.
”The importance of breakfast cannot be overstated.” A healthy breakfast with fruit, whole grain and low-fat milk has been proven to lead to improved learning and behavior, as well as weight control. Check out Kid’s Health or Family Education for more inspiration.
“Go! Slow! Whoa!”
Dr. Williams recommends his “Go! Slow! Whoa! Strategy” to maintain a balanced diet.
Go! Food: Fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, fat free milk and yogurt. These should be eaten every day as they are high in vitamins and minerals and low in empty calories.
Slow! Food: Should be eaten sometimes. Vegetables with added cheese, butter or sauce, white bread, pasta, rice, fruit juices, canned or dried fruit and meat that isn’t fried. These foods are also high in vitamins and minerals but also high in empty calories.
Whoa! Food: Should only be eaten every once in a while. They are low in vitamins and high in all the stuff that’s bad for you, fat, sugar and salt. These include pizza, fried chicken, cheeseburgers, fries, soda, cookies and chips.
For some healthy recipes that might even get your kids excited, check out Cooking Nook, Kids Health, or the healthy snacking recipes over at Center For Science In The Public Interest.
Pay attention to calories.
“If you must eat out, pay attention to posted calories on the menu boards.” All major restaurant chains are required by law to display caloric information. Use this to your benefit and make smarter choices.
Drink water.
“Swap out sugar sweetened beverages for good old water.” It’s an easy way to cut sugar from your diet. It also flushes toxins from your body and keeps all your internal systems working smoothly.
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Amy
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Tali the Food NE/RD
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Shelton
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rahul
