OLH/SL School Nurse - 🍽️ March-National Nutrition Month

National Nutrition Month

National Nutrition Month® is an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. During the month of March, everyone is invited to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits.

Per KidsHealth, Nutrition is the study of food and how it works in your body. Nutrition includes all the stuff that's in your food, such as vitamins, protein, fat, and more. It's important to eat a variety of foods, including fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and grains, so you have what you need to grow and be healthy. Check out the nutrition facts label of some of your favorite packaged foods to learn more about nutrition.

Teaching Kids to Eat Healthy

Written by Stephanie Booth

Teaching kids to eat well can be tricky. You don’t want to give them more facts than they can grasp or turn every meal into a lecture. But wait too long and they could pick up unhealthy habits in the meantime.

“Kids need to know that every food they put into their bodies affects them,” says Danelle Fisher, MD, chair of pediatrics at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.

Parents can get that message across by talking with kids about the food they put in their bodies, why it matters, and how they can learn to make the healthiest choices.

Not just a rule, but a routine. Make sure healthy foods are the default setting for your family’s meals, and get everyone involved in choosing some nutritious, tasty options. Take kids with you to the grocery store or farmers market. Younger kids can pick out fresh fruits and veggies. Older kids can take on larger roles like choosing recipes and making a shopping list.

Show kids what “eating right” looks like. Explain that they should fill half their plate with fruits and veggies that have nutrients that will help their bodies grow. The other half should be whole grains and lean protein that gives them energy to run, dance, and play. When you’re cooking or grocery shopping, show them different examples of these key food groups.

Avoid calling foods “good” or “bad.” Kids should learn that all foods have a place in their diet. Label foods as “go,” “slow,” or “whoa.” Kids can “green light” foods like whole grains and skim milk they should have every day and “slow down” with less healthy foods like waffles. Foods with the least nutrition, such as french fries, don’t need to be off limits, but kids should stop and think twice before they eat them often.

Talk about portion size. It’s not just what kids eat that matters, but how much. Even very young kids can learn that the amount of rice or pasta they eat should match the size of their fist. Protein should be palm-sized, and fats like butter or mayonnaise about the tip of their thumb. When you buy packaged foods, have kids help you find the serving size. Then talk about why sticking to it is a good idea.

Limit sweets. Explain to older kids that while candy and cookies taste good, sugar can do their body more harm than good. (You can tell younger kids that too many sweets will make them feel “yucky.”) Then, offer fresh fruit for desserts and limit treats to two or three times a week to keep cravings for sweets in check.

Help kids stay in touch with their “hunger cues.” We’re born knowing to eat when we’re hungry and stop when we’re full. But that’s easy to ignore when you’re surrounded by snacks and giant portions. To help kids listen to their bodies, don’t push them to have “one more bite” or clean their plate. Turn off screens during meals, too. They distract kids from paying attention to how much they’re eating and when they’ve had enough.

Model good eating habits. If you push your kids to eat broccoli but never touch it yourself, you might need to take a closer look at your diet. Every bite you take matters. “Role modeling is one of the best ways to get your children onboard with healthier eating,” says Stephanie Middleberg, a registered dietitian in New York City.

Eat dinner as a family. Kids who eat meals with their family are more likely to eat healthy fruits, veggies, and whole grains. (They’re also less apt to snack on junk food.) You don’t need to lecture about nutrition while you eat. Make meals together fun. Turn on some music, choose silly games to play, or let kids invite a friend.

Check in with your family doctor. If you think your child needs to lose or gain weight, don’t put them on a diet. Instead, speak to their doctor. “Your pediatrician can help you discuss basic food groups, meal time behaviors, food portions, and weight,” Fisher says.

Help Kids Cook!

Kids are more likely to be interested in healthy foods if you make nutrition fun. Many kids love helping their parent's shop at the grocery store — turn it into a teachable moment and help them understand how to choose different types of food. Meal prep is also an easy way to engage kids of any age. Ask your little one to stir a bowl of pancake batter or to tear lettuce leaves for salad. Older kids can take on more complicated tasks like peeling and dicing veggies and measuring ingredients.

Involving kids in food shopping and preparation not only teaches them valuable life skills, it also helps them learn about what goes into their favorite foods!

Eating the MyPlate Way

Foods that have the same key nutrients in common make up a food group. For example, fruits are sources of nutrients like potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and folate (a B vitamin). Our bodies need key nutrients from all of the food groups in order to function well. This is why it is important to eat nutritious foods from the five food groups: Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein Foods, and Dairy. Most kids are not eating enough vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods. Not consuming enough calcium and vitamin D is associated with having brittle bones (a disease called osteoporosis). Not eating enough fruits, vegetables, and whole grains could mean that you are not getting enough vitamins, minerals, and fiber for good health. By choosing to eat more nutritious foods — with lots of nutrients (like vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber) and less sodium, saturated fats, refined grains, and added sugars — people can help keep their bodies healthy. A visual tool called MyPlate illustrates the five food groups using a familiar image — a place setting for a meal. MyPlate reminds you to make nutritious choices from each food group for good health.

Breakfast!

Benefits of Eating Breakfast for Students

You’ve probably heard the adage “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” a million times before; but it turns out that it may be true, especially when it comes to students. Eating a healthy breakfast before starting the school day is linked to improved concentration, better test scores, increased energy, a higher intake of vitamins and minerals, and even a healthier body weight. Breakfast is especially important for young students whose brains use up about half of the body’s energy.

Improved Concentration

Students who eat a healthy breakfast tend to have better concentration than students who skip breakfast altogether. When the day starts with breakfast, students can focus on the task at hand better and become less distracted by outside influences and other students. They’re also able to understand what’s being taught more easily and retain that new information better than students who are hungry because they’ve skipped breakfast.

Better Test Scores

Students who eat breakfast before starting their school day don’t just concentrate better, they tend to score better on academic tests in math, reading, and science. According to a study published in the Journal of Economics, students in schools that offered free breakfasts before class scored about 25 percent higher on math, reading and science tests. Researchers believe that this is because the breakfast provides the energy necessary to increase cognitive, or thinking, speed and problem-solving skills.

Increased Energy

When you sleep, you’re technically fasting, since you’re going without food. Because of this, your blood sugar starts to drop overnight. When you wake up and eat breakfast, it provides the glucose your body needs for energy to get through the day. When students wake up after an overnight fast and go to school without eating breakfast, they start the day with low blood sugar that just keeps getting lower. This can leave them feeling slow and sluggish and make it more difficult to get through the day, or at least their morning classes. On the other hand, eating a healthy breakfast before school raises blood sugar to a healthy level and provides the necessary energy that students need to perform well in class until lunchtime.

Beyond Academics

It’s not just about test scores and concentration, though. Eating breakfast can help students meet their daily nutrient needs more easily. According to a report published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, children who regularly eat breakfast take in approximately 20 to 60 percent more iron, B vitamins and vitamin D than children who skip breakfast. Breakfast eaters also tend to take in more daily fiber and lower total fat and dietary cholesterol.

Regularly eating breakfast is also associated with a healthier body mass index, or BMI, and a decreased likelihood of obesity. Research shows that students who regularly eat breakfast have an easier time maintaining a healthy body weight than students who are regular breakfast skippers.

See below for breakfast options with the MyPlate guidelines!

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