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Schools Get Food Rules, Create Wellness Plans

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Sep. 19--As elementary schools adopt pilot exercise programs, school councils are developing plans to help students eat and play in good health.

"You have to be specific enough to provide guidelines, but not so specific that you paint yourself into a corner," Lone Oak Elementary School principal Randy Ryan said in reference to wellness plans mandated by Kentucky House Bill 172. The law is an attempt to fight child obesity by requiring daily physical activity, limited fast-food offerings in the cafeteria and regular nutritional reports on food served in school.

Ryan said the school council is developing a policy similar to those at other schools -- eliminating sugary drinks and foods from cafeteria selections and offering pencils and stickers as rewards instead of pizza parties or candy.

"If it's offered by the school, during the school day, it has to be healthy," he said. Not affected are fundraiser bake sales, carnivals held on school grounds or parents who want to bring in a cake for their children's birthdays.

"Parties are such a big deal for kids at this age, I haven't attempted to say no to them," Ryan said. "As kids get older, they lose interest in the class parties, and they tend to move their celebrations outside of school."

The Kentucky Board of Education last month approved minimum nutritional standards for food and drinks available during the school day, specifically the period just after lunch to the closing bell. The standards require:

Only low-fat milk, water and 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice be available for sale. Any beverage exceeding 10 grams of sugar per serving is not allowed.

Snacks contain less than 10 percent saturated fat.

Snacks derive less than 32 percent of their calories from sugar.

Portions for chips, crackers, popcorn, trail mix, granola bars, and pastries do not exceed two ounces. Cookie servings should not exceed one ounce. Portions for frozen desserts, such as frozen fruit juice bars or low-fat ice cream, should not exceed four ounces.

Mary Sanderson, McCracken County director of food services, said most schools had food policies before House Bill 172. The requirements, proposed in response to House Bill 172, do not affect items served at school-sponsored events or those brought from home by students or parents.

Ryan said the staff tries to emphasize being active.

"When they go home, we tell them, 'Don't just sit on the couch, get up and do something,' " he said. "It's not necessary to play sports to be healthy, just going outside to play, to run around, can help them stay fit."

Cooper-Whiteside Elementary School students walk 30 minutes every morning, Principal Bill Cartwright said. The school council is still writing its wellness plan. Parents can bring snacks in for parties, Cartwright said, but that rarely happens.

"It's not even a weekly thing here," he said.

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Source: The Paducah Sun

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