In this weeks blog we would like to quote some great references from: Better Health Channel about Healthy School Lunches; https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/healthy-eating-school-lunches
“School is a time when children start to make independent choices about their lifestyles. School aged children learn quickly and are influenced by friends and popular trends. This is an important time to talk about and encourage healthy food habits.
Involving children in planning and preparing their own lunchboxes gives them the opportunity to learn about healthy eating, and also gives them a chance to make autonomous decisions about what they will be eating during the day.
Involve your Children in Healthy Choices
Tips to help get your kids involved include:
Talk to your children about what they would like to have in their lunchbox. Discuss healthier food and drink choices and decide what will be in the lunchbox together.
Write a shopping list together. Take your children shopping with you and let them choose foods and drinks from the shopping list.
Encourage your children help prepare their lunchboxes. Older children may be able to prepare most of their lunch themselves, and younger children can help with making sandwiches or cutting up soft fruit. It is a good idea to prepare lunchboxes the evening before to allow children to participate.
What to Put in Healthier School Lunches
The six key parts to a healthy lunchbox include:
Fruit – best choices include fresh or tinned fruit. Dried fruit is sticky and high in sugar, so have it occasionally.
Vegetables – try fresh crunchy vegetable sticks with dip or a small container with mixed vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, and cucumber.
Milk, yogurt or cheese – you can use reduced-fat options for children over the age of 2 years. For children who cannot tolerate milk products, offer appropriate daily alternatives like calcium fortified soy or rice drink or soy yogurt.
Meat or meat alternative foods – try lean meat (like chicken strips), a hard-boiled egg or peanut butter. If your school has a nut-free policy, peanut butter and other nuts should not be included in your child’s lunchbox.
Grain or cereal foods – like a bread roll, flat bread, fruit bread or some crackers (wholegrain or whole meal options).
Drinks – tap water is best
Tips for Healthy Lunchboxes
Cut up large pieces of fruit and put them in a container – this makes it easier to eat, especially if your child has wobbly teeth or if they have less time to eat than they are used to. Send a damp face washer to help with extra juicy fruit.
Consider giving half a sandwich or roll for morning recess, as this is an easy way to get a healthy fill.
In the hot weather, send frozen milk, yogurt or water, or even frozen orange segments. This makes a great refreshing snack and helps to keep the lunch box cool.
Go for color and crunch in the lunch box by offering a variety of colorful vegetables and fruit.”
In conclusion, the choices we make for our children’s lunchboxes can have a significant impact on their overall health and well-being. By prioritizing fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains, we set them up for success both in and out of the classroom. Remember to involve your children in the decision-making process, as this not only educates them about healthy eating but also empowers them to make smart food choices on their own.
As parents, guardians, or caregivers, our role in shaping their dietary habits is instrumental.. So, as you pack those lunchboxes, think about the nutritious and delicious options that can fuel your child’s day and set them on a path to a lifetime of healthy eating.
Here’s to happy and healthy lunchtimes for our little ones!
Resources:
Better Health Channel. (n.d.). Healthy Eating – School Lunches. Retrieved from https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/healthy-eating-school-lunches
National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Dietary Guidelines, Australian Government.
Looking for a kid-friendly, nutritious snack that’s perfect for when you’re on the move? Give these Peanut Butter Cereal Bars a try! Whole grain oats, peanut butter, and dried fruit make a crispy, chewy treat.
Ingredients
½ cup honey (see Notes)
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups rice cereal
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup raisins or other dried fruit
Directions
Wash hands with soap and water.
In a saucepan, bring honey to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and stir in peanut butter.
Add cereal, oats and raisins; mix well. Remove from heat.
Lightly grease an 8×8-inch baking pan. Press mixture into pan. When cool, cut into 16 bars.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
Try this recipe with 4 cups of unsweetened cereal flakes instead of the rice cereal and oats.
Honey is not recommended for children under 1 year old.
To avoid peanuts or peanut butter, try sunflower seeds or sunflower seed butter.
Photo and recipe credit: https://foodhero.org/recipes/peanut-butter-cereal-bars
Parents and teachers prepare for children born during the COVID-19 pandemic head to preschool this fall.
In early spring 2020, when the COVID pandemic began to take hold, everyone’s daily routines changed. For many new parents, this meant an unexpected and sudden loss of much-needed support systems. Holly Rondeau is the mom of a toddler born in early February 2020, making her son a pandemic baby. “We had maybe a week or two, and then boom! (The) world closed down, my mom had to leave early because the airports were closing, and then we couldn’t see anybody for like a year.” Children born in 2020 experienced isolation during an essential phase of early childhood development. This fall, these pandemic babies head to preschool.
According to the Oregon Health Authority, there were 39,820 births in 2020. This fall, an estimated 10,000 of those children will enter preschool. This number of children is an increase of about 2,000 children from the prior year due to the inception of the state-funded Preschool Promise program which provides free or low-cost preschool for eligible 3- and 4-year-olds. Studies show early childhood education programs, like preschool, are critical for children in many areas, including academic achievement and future health.
With preschools preparing to take in these pandemic babies for the first time, there is some apprehension for the parents. Children, especially young children, learn through play, activities, and interacting with other children their own age. The forced isolation brought on by the pandemic led to many children spending their formative years without some of these vital interactions. The isolation children and families experienced during the pandemic varied based on factors like family size and location. How this isolation affected young children’s social skills is likely just as varied. Add in the dynamic of masking for a year or more, and small children were challenged even further by not getting social cues learned from reading facial expressions.
Research studies on how infants and young children fared during the pandemic are assessing for changes in early development. Unfortunately, they are finding them. A study published in Japan this month looked at the effects of screen time on infants and young children. The impact of screen time is significant because many parents turned to increased screen use during the pandemic. The Japanese study found the more screen time an infant had at age 1, the greater the risk of delays in communication and problem-solving of toddlers at ages 2 and 4. A second study looked at changes in early childhood development that pandemic babies experienced. The study found a decline in these children’s communication and personal- social skills. Parents like Rondeau hope preschool will help provide some of these lost abilities.
Keri Archer is a kindergarten teacher at Nehalem Elementary. She taught before, during, and after the pandemic, giving her an excellent perspective on how little ones do when attending school for the first time. From her perspective, Archer says the children starting school at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year were the most impacted by the pandemic. She notes kindergarteners that year had not attended preschool because of the pandemic closures and the first graders spent most of their kindergarten year attempting virtual learning. Archer found a lot of gaps in the children’s education, and the children lacked an understanding of how to behave or act in a school setting. “Preschool and kindergarten are the years we are as human beings learning how to relate to each other,” says Archer. “Typically, that’s the first group settings that a lot of kids are in…they have to learn how to get along with each other, and take turns, and play.” But there is hope, as Archer saw last year as a more typical school year, and she expects the same this year. Rondeau is ready for this with her son. “I’m excited for him to start preschool and kind of, like, see this next phase of his development.”
Studies of the effects of isolation on babies who grew into toddlers during the pandemic will likely be under scrutiny for years. Because of the isolation, many young children have not had the traditional opportunities to socialize with other children their age. Archer wants to reassure parents with young children attending school for the first time. “The encouragement of a parent goes a long way to help them be successful in school. Because it is always going to be scary.” The advice Archer would give parents going into the new school year is the same as she would have given to parents before the pandemic. “I think the more confident that parents can be about how fun it’s going to be, and how great it’s going to be, and that encouragement, and just feeling confident that educators are well versed in what they do and are going to handle it well so they can feel that confidence too.”
AUTHOR: Leanna Coy, FNP-C, Family Nurse Practitioner and Health Content Writer
Resources: Takahashi I, Obara T, Ishikuro M, et al. Screen Time at Age 1 Year and Communication and Problem-Solving Developmental Delay at 2 and 4 Years. JAMA Pediatr. Published online August 21, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.3057
Almeida, L., Rego, J. F., Girardi Teixeira, A. C., & Moreira, M. R. (2022). Social isolation and its impact on child and adolescent development: A systematic review. Revista Paulista de Pediatria, 40. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-0462/2022/40/2020385
Area schools are integrating health and wellness in innovative ways. Nestucca School District is doing this through a science-based, school nutrition curriculum and on-site garden.They also recently received a grant for a school-based health clinic and are expanding outdoor play areas with bike paths and a bike skills park that will also be open to the public.
Tillamook County Wellness interviewed Nestucca School District Superintendent, Misty Wharton and K-8, CTE and Community Resource Specialist, Rachel Pettit, to learn more about their unique approach to whole-student learning.
Science & Nutrition Curriculum
With a full-time garden coordinator and K-5 science teacher, students experience hands-on education every day with a focus on agriculture, not only learning where their food comes from but also growing that food themselves. According to program coordinator Rachel Pettit, “Kids love the school garden and anything that takes them outdoors to learn.” Using art, journaling and scientific inquiry, students are developing critical thinking skills and enjoying the process of learning and discovery. Rachel notes that, during the year and over summer school, students were able to dig deep and build their observation and communication skills. “Now some of those students are asking incredible questions,” she stated.
In addition to the school garden, the science curriculum includes an outdoor classroom and wellness trail with native plants. Misty Wharton explains that the curriculum design means students are always learning, “Every environment is a learning environment, not just the classroom.” Wharton emphasizes the importance of students getting a well-rounded perception of their world. Through this approach, they become more aware of larger ecosystems and how to be good stewards within them. She goes on to say, “I always hope it ignites their curiosity about the world, maybe gives insight into career paths they hadn’t thought of before,” noting that students often aren’t aware of careers beyond becoming a teacher, police officer or firefighter.
Since September 1st, they have harvested 357 pounds of school garden produce that has gone to the cafeteria, including 80 pounds of potatoes harvested by classroom students and later enjoyed in breakfast burritos. Both Pettit and Wharton agree that students are having fun. They also note that, by growing the food themselves, students are willing to try foods they otherwise would not be willing to try. The school garden was relocated during recent renovations and with the garden gate now next to the school playground, students regularly visit and check on their garden.
Raising a garden takes a lot of time and attention. Rachel manages the garden, working year-round except for a break in January. This spring, she worked with a middle school class (Intro to Agriculture elective course) where the students came in one day a week, helped grow all of the transplants in the garden, and got to take extras home at the end of the school year. Rachel maintains the garden in the summer and works with kids to plant and harvest during the 4-week summer school program. “What I think is really exciting,” says Rachel, “is when kids are asking me what is growing in the garden and then help me harvest some cucumbers, and then I see the same kids in the cafeteria later that day and they’ve got a cup of cucumber slices off the salad bar, crunching away, talking about how beautiful the garden is.”
It was also noted that, even though we live in such an agricultural and naturally beautiful place, a lot of local students are not getting out and exploring the natural world. Many students don’t have easy access to these experiences and so having that on the school grounds and part of daily teaching reduces barriers and introduces students to new activities, skills and interests.
Outdoor Play & Physical Activity
In addition to the outdoor classroom environments, Nestucca School District has made significant investments in outdoor play areas. In the same way that nutrition is built into the science curricula, physical fitness is incorporated through activities kids can enjoy in and out of school. When asked why such a focus has been placed on creating outdoor movement opportunities, Misty says, “I grew up in this community, and there’s not a lot of structured environments for kids to play in a safe, healthy way. There was no existing playground that served the entire community before this one.” The new playground is open to the public, where kids can come after school, on the weekends, and in the summertime with their families. Going beyond the traditional school playground, they have had a bike skills park engineered and are fundraising to expand that project. According to Misty, “There’s no safe place for kids to ride their bike in this community, I was always shocked by how many kids didn’t have a bicycle.”
To change that, Nestucca is launching a fully-funded “All Kids Bike” project, part of a national PE curriculum where schools are awarded a fleet of bicycles for Pre-K and Kindergartener students. In addition to learning basic skills and safety precautions, the curriculum supports learning readiness in that bike riding strengthens the systems of the brain used in reading and writing. “So, we’re constructing a skills park, called a bicycle playground, and then on top of that, also using a large chunk of the acreage to develop mountain biking trails,” says Misty. “There’s a lot of excitement around it because it’s something people can do their entire lives.” The project has a lot of community support, including from the Tillamook Off-Road Trail Alliance (TORTA) which raised $11,000 for the project at a recent fundraiser. “As an adult, I’m excited for the skills park and mountain bike trails,” said Rachel, who went on to say, “I was an avid bicyclist before I moved to Tillamook and I don’t think I’ve ridden my bike in the almost 6 years I’ve lived here because the roads and highways aren’t safe. And I’m excited to learn how to mountain bike which I’ve never done before.”
The bicycle playground and trail system is a phased project. They will be seeking grants and people can also donate funds at the Nestucca k8 building (36925 hwy 101 s Cloverdale) or by calling 503 392 3194 ext 401.
Student Health & Well-Being
Increasing access to healthy habits at school is wonderful; however, according to local data, many students still struggle with getting enough sleep, managing screen time and overall mental health. The district was recently awarded a grant for a school-based health clinic, which helps to reduce transportation and other barriers to receiving timely care.
They conducted listening sessions last year and are incorporating that feedback into new programs. Misty goes on to say that they want to increase access to drama, theatre and dance, noting it is an area of opportunity to meet student interests.
Misty notes, “Coming out of covid, it’s been super important to get students involved outside of the school day. So, right now for our elementary aged kids, we’re offering two nights of soccer & two nights of flag football. We’re seeing vast increase in participation in the middle and high schools in activities and sports and part of that is we’ve done such an upgrade to our facilities. We have really nice places for the kids to play, they’re proud of it, they’re glad that they’re participating.”
AUTHOR: Michelle Jenck, Adventist Health Tillamook Director of Community Well-Being
Let’s be real, when we hear the term school meals, our thoughts might unintentionally drift to the Styrofoam trays with square cut-out pizza slices, piles of corn, and cold heaps of canned fruit cocktail from our youth. The truth however, is that school meals have come a long way in quality over the years, and are meticulously planned to make sure every plate is packed with nutrition and deliciousness. Speaking of which – did you know that recent research found that lunches brought from home have more calories, fat, saturated fat, desserts, and sugar sweetened beverages than school lunches? School meals not only meet the specific nutrition requirements highlighted by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, but also give your child everything needed to do their best in class!
Let’s start with the most important meal of the day – breakfast! Improved academic performance, improved attendance, and improved focus are all linked to eating breakfast. Feeling as if there’s never enough time in a busy day? School breakfast programs not only take meal planning off your plate, they also provide a well-balanced powerhouse of nutrition to help your child fuel their day of learning. But, don’t take our word for it – Check out the science supporting why School Breakfast Matters.
School meals are carefully developed to demonstrate what portion sizes of each food group should look like, and ensure kids get the most bang for their bite in terms of nutritious, energizing, and well-balanced meals. In fact, most school food items are lower in sodium and sugar, and higher in whole grains and vegetables than those you find in stores! Schools work hard to serve a variety of foods, including those that are locally produced, such as dairy, fruits, vegetables, and grains. In fact, school meals actually help students build healthy habits for life through their Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores, which have slowly been improving over the years. You can read more in the following article: School Meals are Healthy Meals. Lastly, The MyPlate guide to School Lunch gives a great example of what to expect on your child’s lunch tray, and the overall benefit that school meals provide to students and families.
What’s new for Tillamook County
Tillamook County is seeing some big changes in school meal programs this year, after several years of flexible meal service programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following video does a great job highlighting the changes. We also encourage you to check with your local school district for more details on your child’s school breakfast and lunch programs:
Tillamook School District Food Services: All enrolled students of Liberty Elementary, South Prairie Elementary, East Elementary and Wilson River School are eligible to receive a healthy breakfast and lunch at school at no charge to your household each day. Your children will be able to participate in these meal programs without having to pay for meals or submit a free/reduced meal application. More information can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15ECwO0zaKp54bTEiafUnDw2nxJ4tNMQM/view
As pointed out by the TSD Food Service Director, Richard Reidt, “We have been working really hard in all our schools, to bring the students as much variety and choice as possible. Providing options at meal times gets the students excited about making healthy choices for themselves, and is a great way to create good eating habits.”
Neah-Kah-Nie School District: “After a long interruption due to COVID-19, the Neah-Kah-Nie School District is so happy to bring back the “Offer vs. Serve” Program to Neah-Kah-Nie school cafeterias. “Offer vs. Serve” is the concept of giving students several choices in what they eat for lunch (fruits, vegetables, main dish) so that they are more likely to try new foods, more likely to get full, and shows to produce less food waste for school cafeterias. This is a win-win situation for students and school food programs alike.
We’re also starting a “Harvest of the Month” Program where we will focus on introducing a particular fruit or vegetable that is in season. We will serve that food in various ways for students to learn its full potential. For example, this month is apples. We are planning a tasting of two very different apple varieties for students to taste such as Granny Smith and Honeycrisp. It is fun for students to experience food in new ways which also makes them more likely to try a new-to-them food.
More importantly, the Neah-Kah-Nie School District is steering away from pre-packaged, processed food and cooking from scratch as much as possible. As Neah-Kah-Nie Food Service Director, I will continue to advocate for students and their need for healthy, filling meals prepared deliciously!” – Kris Troutman, Food Service Director
AUTHOR: Crista Hawkins, Senior Director of Youth Wellness at Oregon Dairy & Nutrition Council
