Tag Archives: education

Sometimes kids do get good activity and nutrition education in school. Here are two examples.

Posted on August 14, 2015 | Leave a comment

Earlier this week I wrote about the fact that most children will miss any meaningful education about nutrition, activity, and health when they head back to school. But this isn’t always the case. Some schools include health education in the curriculum, but most don’t. But others do promote healthy eating and exercise elsewhere in the curriculum (daily PE, for example), opportunities for activity throughout the day (recess, letting kids move around in the classroom), and providing healthy meals and snacks.

This is critically important, since good nutrition and physical activity are necessary prerequisites for children to learn and grow.

kids playing

Sometimes I hear about schools that have implemented robust health education programs and individual teachers who make an effort to add activity and nutrition to the “testable” subjects they teach. I am also familiar with two educators who have made nutrition and physical activity a priority both inside on outside the classroom.

One is my brother (@mrkevinparr), a fourth grade teacher in Washington state. Several years ago he decided to address the childhood obesity problem he saw among his students by teaching about healthy eating. Since there was no room in the curriculum for this topic, he created a way to do it while teaching math. This inspired the students to think beyond their class and organize a community health fair.

The other is a longtime friend who was a principal of an elementary school (now district superintendent) in Michigan. He made physical activity a priority through several initiatives including implementing a walking school bus, installing a track around the playground, and encouraging teachers and students to exercise before, during, and after school. (Check out this video!)

So…it can be done, even in the context of an environment that doesn’t support teaching healthy habits. This isn’t to say that parents don’t play an important role in teaching their children healthy habits. But many parents don’t (or don’t know how). Considering the importance of healthy eating and activity for achievement in school and in life in general, schools are a natural place to address these topics.

Nutrition, exercise, and health information can be confusing. 
But it doesn't have to be that way.
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 drbrianparr@gmail.com | http://twitter.com/drbrianparr

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Back to school 2015: What kids will STILL be missing!

Posted on August 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

My Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week is about the experience of heading back to school. But it’s really about what most kids won’t experience when they are in school—any meaningful education about nutrition, activity, and health.

walking school bus

It’s back to school time for kids in our area. Students, parents, and teachers are starting another school year filled with opportunities for children to learn and grow through math and science, reading and writing, and art and music. To be sure, this is time well spent since these subjects help kids build a strong foundation that will help them succeed in school and beyond, something that is widely understood and appreciated.

But children should also learn about good nutrition and physical activity, since both good health and good education are essential for lifelong happiness and success. In most schools, though, most kids won’t experience much meaningful education about nutrition, activity, and health. In fact, opportunities for children to be active in school, either through formal physical education or more informal play and recess, has declined over the years. And good nutrition isn’t likely to get much classroom time at any level and the food served in most schools hardly sends a positive message about healthy eating. These are missed opportunities!

The message that children need to eat breakfast before school is well-known and many schools offer breakfast for kids who don’t get it at home. Similarly, lunch is an important part of the school day. In addition to providing energy to support growth and learning, these meals also present an opportunity to teach children about healthy eating since formal nutrition education isn’t part of the curriculum at most schools.

The same is true for physical activity. Research shows that activity can positively affect several factors that are related to academic performance. These include skills (attention, concentration, and memory), behaviors (classroom conduct and homework completion), and academic achievement (test scores and grades).

The effect of physical activity on brain may be due to physiological adaptations that are associated with enhanced attention, better information processing and recall, and improved attitudes. And it doesn’t seem to matter if the activity is delivered through physical education classes, classroom activity, recess (especially outdoors), or extracurricular activity—it’s the movement that matters!

The point is that good nutrition and physical activity support academic success and including them in schools is a natural fit. Research and practical experience shows that nutrition and physical activity have a positive effect on learning. In many ways, health education is just as important as reading and math, topics schools don’t trust parents to teach on their own, to future success.

Some argue that parents, not schools, should be responsible for promoting physical activity and good nutrition. I disagree! Since nutrition and activity improve academic performance, schools are the perfect place to teach about healthy lifestyles. There is also no guarantee that children will have opportunities to eat well or be physically active when they go home, so school may be the best chance for many kids to get these benefits.

Given that most children will get only limited opportunities for physical activity and good nutrition school, these topics necessarily become “homework.” Since most of us could stand to be more active and eat healthier ourselves, we should start by modeling good habits for our children and grandchildren.

Going for a walk in the neighborhood, going to the playground, or doing yard work along with preparing healthy meals and snacks is a good start. Parents and community members should also express their concerns to lawmakers and administrators in an effort to get more health education included in the school day. We should treat nutrition and activity like we treat other subjects. How would you feel if your child’s school wasn’t teaching math?

This isn’t new, of course. I have written about the both the importance of physical activity for growth and learning for children (and adults, too) and the impact of these missed opportunities before. And I’m certainly not the only one to take notice. Probably the most widely known advocate in this area is Jamie Oliver, and his efforts made nutrition and health in schools topics for discussion among parents, teachers, administrators, and politicians alike.

Nutrition, exercise, and health information can be confusing. 
But it doesn't have to be that way.
What can I help you with?
 drbrianparr@gmail.com | http://twitter.com/drbrianparr

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That’s NOT fruit!

Posted on March 17, 2014 | Leave a comment

Making healthy food choices is never easy. It is made more challenging by the fact that some foods that appear to be a smart choice may be less healthy than you think.

This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week. It is a topic I have addressed in the past that is still relevant today. Specifically, regarding what my kids picked for breakfast this morning! This shouldn’t be a surprise, since many foods that look healthy, but aren’t are breakfast foods marketed to children.

Often, prepackaged fruits and vegetables contain added sugar, fat, or salt, making them less healthy than eating them fresh. Consumption these foods can also make it less likely that people—especially children—will eat fresh fruits and vegetables when they are available.

The problem is that these foods may look like fruit. They may even contain real fruit juice. But many drinks and snacks–especially for kids– that look like fruit are really candy in disguise.

Here are a couple of examples of foods that may appear to be healthy but, upon closer examination, turn out to be less nutritious than we might think.

Fruit snacks: These gummy fruit treats are a favorite among kids. If you check the package you will probably see that they contain real fruit or fruit juice, so they must be healthy, right? While there is variation among different brands, in most cases these snacks contain little, if any, actual fruit. If you read the ingredients you will see that they do contain lots of added sugar, meaning that many of these snacks are essentially candy. In fact, if you compare some brands of fruit snacks with something that is easily recognized as candy, such as gummy bears, you will see that they have a similar sugar content.

Fruit drinks: Not everything that looks like fruit juice is actually juice. Take Sunny D for example. This popular orange drink contains mostly sugar and water—and only 5% juice. By contrast, real orange juice contains fewer calories and more vitamins per serving. In fact, if you compare the ingredients and nutrition information, Sunny D is essentially orange soda without the bubbles!

There are two problems with this. First, some foods that appear to be healthy because they either claim to or actually do contain fruit are actually less healthy than we might believe. Considering that fruit snacks and fruit drinks are likely to be consumed as alternatives to real fruit juice or a piece of fruit as a snack, these foods could lead to poor nutrition. This is especially true in children.

Second, sweetness is one of the most important tastes we respond to. Consuming food and beverages that are flavored like fruit but are actually much sweeter may make real fruit less palatable. Again, this is especially true for children who may develop an expectation that strawberries should taste like strawberry-flavored fruit snacks or that orange juice should taste as sweet as Sunny D. These kids are likely to prefer the sugar-sweetened version over the real fruit. Since these sugar-sweetened “fruits” tend to be higher in calories, consumption of these foods is one contributor to childhood obesity.

This isn’t just the case with fruit. Adding salt and sauces to vegetables makes them more flavorful, to the point that many of us don’t eat plain vegetables very often. The majority of potatoes are consumed in the form of French fries, loaded with both fat and salt. This has changed how we expect potatoes to taste so that now we typically eat baked potatoes “loaded” with butter, sour cream, cheese or bacon. When was the last time you ate a plain baked potato?

But there are some simple steps you can take to get back to eating real fruit and vegetables. Look for 100% fruit juice or, better yet, a piece of fruit instead of fruit-flavored drinks. Instead of sugar-sweetened fruit snacks, try dehydrated fruit. Cut back on the salt, butter, and other toppings you add to vegetables or purchase frozen vegetables without added sauces.

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Physical activity at school in two infographics

Posted on March 7, 2014 | Leave a comment

This week I came across two infographics explaining the benefits of including physical activity in the school day and ways kids can be active at school.

Having opportunities to be active throughout the day benefits children in many ways, from improving their health, helping them maintain a healthy weight, and promoting learning. In fact, physical activity through recess, structured PE class, and other unstructured activities is absent at many schools. This represents a missed opportunity to teach children about the importance of being active.

According to these infographics, though, engineering activity into the school doesn’t have to be difficult. And including physical activity in the school day makes children believe it is important (which it is) and helps develop habits that will last into adulthood.

alr_schools

The Role of Schools in Promoting Physical Activity | via Active Living Research

 

Screen Shot 2014-03-06 at 8.14.35 PM

Get 60 Minutes | via Institute of Medicine

 

Now if we could just do something about the quality of school lunches!

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From awareness to action: Steps to prevent breast cancer.

Posted on October 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

This is the last week of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Through national and local education efforts we should be aware of the impact that breast cancer has on women and their families as well as steps to diagnose and treat this serious condition. We may also have contributed to events from bake sales to road races to support programs that aim to enhance research and treatment for women (and a few men, too) who are dealing with breast cancer.

Now that the pink ribbons are coming down and the NFL players are taking off their pink socks, it is time to focus on something that didn’t get as much attention over the past month: the prevention of breast cancer. This  is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week.

It turns out that there is a lot that women, especially young women, can do to prevent breast cancer. The good news is that these steps, including not smoking, eating a healthy diet, and getting regular exercise, can also reduce the risk of many other types of cancer as well as other serious health problems such as diabetes and heart disease.

The even better news is that these health behaviors can reduce the risk of breast cancer even in women who have a strong family history or other genetic predictors. Furthermore, these lifestyle factors, especially regular exercise, can help women better tolerate treatment and reduce the chance for cancer recurrence.

Unfortunately, breast cancer prevention doesn’t seem to get the same attention as diagnosis and treatment. In fact, a listing of topics on the National Breast Cancer Foundation Breast Cancer Awareness Month web page includes Early Detection, Diagnosis, Stages, Types, Treatment, but not prevention! This isn’t to say that detection and treatment aren’t important, but preventing breast cancer—something that would benefit ALL women—should be part of the conversation.

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What kids will be missing when they go back to school.

Posted on August 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

My Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week is about the experience of heading back to school. But it’s really about what most kids won’t experience when they are in school—any meaningful education about nutrition, activity, and health.

To be sure, the time that students spend learning the math and science, reading and writing, and art and music is time well spent. Unfortunately, though, in most schools, this comes at the expense of health education. In fact, opportunities for children to be active in school, either through formal physical education or more informal play and recess, has declined over the years. Good nutrition isn’t likely to get much classroom time at any level and the food served in most school hardly sends a positive message about healthy eating. These are missed opportunities!

This isn’t new, of course. I have written about the both the importance of physical activity for growth and learning for children (and adults, too) and the impact of these missed opportunities before. And I’m certainly not the only one to take notice. Probably the most widely known advocate in this area is Jamie Oliver, and his efforts made nutrition and health in schools topics for discussion among parents, teachers, administrators, and politicians alike.

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Missed opportunities to promote physical activity for kids.

Posted on May 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

Most kids don’t get enough physical activity. No surprise that inactivity is associated with health conditions like obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. But a lack of activity in children can lead to poor academic performance, too.

But we are missing good opportunities to provide kids with chances to be physically active at home and in school. This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard today.

Schools are a perfect place to include opportunities to be active. Unfortunately, opportunities for activity, from PE to recess, are among the first cuts to be made when budgets are tight. Why isn’t promoting an active, healthy lifestyle  just as important as promoting math or reading or science?

A common argument is that parents should teach their children about a healthy lifestyle, not schools. I disagree. At some point, we (society) decided that parents shouldn’t have to teach their kids math or reading or science. I don’t know the exact rationale, but it likely had something to do with the fact that most parents don’t have the knowledge or skills to teach these essential subjects. Why should activity and, while we are at it, nutrition, be any different?

In fact, we have been experimenting with removing  physical activity and nutrition education from schools and leaving it to parents for some time now. Given the childhood (and adult) obesity epidemic, it hasn’t gone well. Maybe it is time to revisit providing quality health, activity, and nutrition education in schools.

If you want to learn more about benefits of and ways to promote physical activity for kids the Physical Guidelines for Americans is a good place to start. In particular, the Midcourse Report offers recommendations and solutions regarding physical activity in children.

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