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Health Topics
Nutrition
School Health Guidelines
Summary
Establishing healthy eating habits at a young age is critical to proper
growth and development; it also makes it more likely that healthy habits
will continue into adulthood. Schools are in a good position to help
young people improve their eating habits by implementing effective
nutrition education, policies, programs, and support services.
Benefits of Healthy Eating
- Helps young people grow, develop, and do well in school.
- Helps prevent childhood and adolescent health problems such as
overweight, eating disorders, dental caries, and iron deficiency anemia.
- Helps prevent health problems later in life, including heart
disease, cancer, and stroke梩he three leading causes of death.
Consequences of Unhealthy Eating
Unfortunately, many young people in the United States make poor eating
choices that put them at risk for health and social problems.
- Research suggests that not having breakfast can affect children抯
intellectual performance.1,2
- Poor eating habits and inactivity are the root causes of overweight
and obesity. The prevalence of overweight among children ages 6 to 11
has more than doubled in the past 20 years, going from 7% in 1980 to
18.8% in 2004. Overweight among youth ages 12 to 19 has tripled in the
same time period, going from 5% to 17.4%.3
- Overweight children have a higher rate of low self-esteem, type 2
diabetes, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, and gall bladder
disease.4
- It has been estimated that as many as 7 to 8% of females in the United
States suffer from anorexia nervosa and/or bulimia nervosa in their
lifetime.5
Eating Habits of the Nation抯 Youth
- Many children and adolescents have a diet too low in fruit and
vegetables and too high in saturated fat.6
- Eighty-five percent of adolescent females do not consume enough calcium.7
- A large number of high school students use unhealthy methods to lose or
maintain weight. A nationwide survey found that during the 30 days preceding the survey
12.3% of high school students went without eating for 24 hours or more; 4.5% had
vomited or taken laxatives; and 6.3% had taken diet pills, powders, or
liquids without a doctor's advice.8
Percent of Children and Adolescents Who
Meet U.S. Dietary Guidelines, 1994-96, 19986
|
Guideline |
6 to 11 years old |
12 to 19 years old |
|
Boys |
Girls |
Boys |
Girls |
|
Fat |
31% |
34% |
30% |
35% |
|
Saturated Fat |
25% |
25% |
28% |
34% |
|
Vegetables |
18% |
19% |
33% |
26% |
|
Fruit |
23% |
24% |
14% |
18% |
|
The Opportunity
Schools are ideally suited to give children and adolescents the skills
and support they need to adopt healthy eating behaviors for life.
- More than 95% of all children and adolescents ages 5-17 are enrolled in
school.
- Schools can develop and implement comprehensive nutrition policies that
reflect a coordinated approach to school health.
- School-based nutrition education can help students acquire skills,
attitudes, and knowledge supportive of healthy eating.
- Schools can reinforce positive eating habits and offer many opportunities
for young people to practice healthy eating.
What is Healthy Eating?
The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, produced by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
gives the following advice:
- Eat a variety of foods.
- Balance the food you eat with physical activity.
- Eat plenty of grain products, vegetables, and fruits.
- Choose a diet that is low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol and
moderate in sugars, salt, and sodium.
CDC抯 Guidelines for Schools to Promote Lifelong Healthy Eating
In collaboration with experts from universities, state and federal
agencies, voluntary organizations, and professional associations, CDC
has developed guidelines to help schools implement effective nutrition
policies and educational programs. Guidelines for School Health Programs
to Promote Lifelong Healthy Eating is based on an extensive review of
research and practice.
Key Principles
The CDC guidelines state that school-based nutrition education programs
are most likely to be effective when they:
- Help young people learn skills (not just facts).
- Give students repeated chances to practice healthy eating.
- Make nutrition education activities fun and participatory.
- Involve teachers, administrators, families, community leaders, and
students in delivering strong, consistent messages about healthy eating
as part of a coordinated school health program.
- Are part of a coordinated nutrition policy.
Recommendations
The guidelines include seven recommendations for
ensuring a quality school program to promote lifelong healthy eating.
- Policy
Seek input from all members of the school community to develop a coordinated
school nutrition policy that promotes healthy eating through classroom
lessons and a supportive school environment. The policy should commit the
school to:
- Provide adequate time for nutrition education.
- Offer healthy, appealing foods (such as fruits, vegetables, and low-fat
grain products) wherever food is available and discourage the availability
of foods high in fat, sodium, and added sugars (such as soda, candy, and
fried chips) on school grounds and as part of fund-raising activities.
- Discourage teachers from using food to discipline or reward students.
- Provide adequate time and space for students
to eat meals in a pleasant, safe environment.
- Establish links with professionals who can provide counseling for
nutritional problems, refer families to nutrition services, and plan health
promotion activities for staff.
- Curriculum
As part of a sequential, comprehensive health education curriculum that
begins in preschool and continues through secondary school, implement
nutrition education designed to help students adopt healthy eating
behaviors. Such education should:
- Help students learn specific nutrition-related skills, such as how to plan a
healthy meal and compare food labels.
- Ensure that students also learn general health skills, such as
how to assess their health habits, set goals for improvement, and
resist social pressures to make unhealthy eating choices.
- Instruction
Provide nutrition education through activities that
are fun, participatory, developmentally appropriate, and culturally
relevant. These activities should:
- Emphasize the positive, appealing aspects of healthy eating rather than the
harmful effects
of unhealthy eating.
- Present the benefits of healthy eating in the context of what is already
important to students.
- Give students many opportunities to
taste foods that are low in fat, sodium, and added sugars, and high in
vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
- Program Coordination
Coordinate school food service with nutrition education and with other
components of the school health program to reinforce messages about healthy
eating.
- Staff Training
Provide staff who are involved in nutrition education with adequate
pre-service and ongoing in-service training that focuses on teaching
strategies for promoting healthy eating habits.
- Family and Community Involvement
Involve family members and the community in supporting and reinforcing
nutrition education.
- Training
Regularly evaluate the program抯 effectiveness in promoting healthy eating
and make changes as appropriate.
References
- Pollitt E, Matthews, R. Breakfast and cognition: an integrative
summary. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1998;67 (suppl):804S�3S.
-
Kleinman RE, Hall S, Green H, Korzec-Ramirez K, Patton K, Pagano ME,
et al. Diet, breakfast, and academic performance in children. Annals of
Nutrition & Metabolism 2002: 46(suppl):24�.
-
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, McDowell MA, Tabak CJ, Flegal KM.
Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States,1999-2004.
Journal of the American Medical Association 2006;295:1549-1555.
-
U.S. Surgeon General.
Overweight and obesity: health consequences.
-
American Psychiatric Association. Practice guidelines for the treatment
of patients with eating disorders (revision). American Journal of
Psychiatry 2000;157(1 Suppl):1-39.
-
United States Department of Agriculture. Continuing Survey of Food
Intakes by Individuals 1994-1996, 1998.
-
National Institutes of Health.
Preventing osteoporosis厀hy milk matters now for female teens.
News and Features 1997:23.
-
CDC.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance桿nited States, 2005
[pdf 300K]. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 2006;55(SS-5):1�8.
Back to Top
May 2006
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