CHOOSE MY PLATE

Audrey Brassell
PPE 310: Health Literacy for Schools
Dr. Gerald Lynn Miller
9/11/2015

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Introduction
This day in age, having healthy food options for students in school is
imperative. Children these days are being encouraged to exercise and eat
healthy, but a lot of their time is spent at schools, so it is only right that we
provide them with the food that we are encouraging them to eat. According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the last three
decades, the prevalence of obesity has tripled among persons aged 6-19
years.

How can we expect our children to excel in school when they

arent fueling their body with the necessary nutrients needed to keep them

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healthy and focused? It is just as important to inform students of how to take

care of their body as it is to inform them of math, science, English, etc. Tools
like Choosemyplate.gov make it easy for students to track what they eat and
provides them with suggestions on how much physical activity is needed to
maintain a healthy weight.
National Standards for School Meals and Local School Wellness
Policy
Liberty High School meets the National Standards for School Meals by
providing all students with a healthy breakfast that includes fruit, milk, and
whole grains. They also provide all students with a lunch that includes
healthy options like salads and grilled chicken sandwiches, fruit, vegetables
and milk or water. According to the National Standards for School Meals, all
schools are required to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole
grains, and fat free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals; reduce the levels
of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals; and meet the nutrition needs
of school children within their calorie requirements. By taking a look at the
food tracker above, you can see that this student has not exceeded the daily
limits of oil, saturated fat, and oils in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Liberty High school is on a free and reduced lunch policy and according to
Peoria Unified School District, Schools will make every effort to eliminate
any social stigma attached to, and prevent the overt identification of,
students who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals. This

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policy allows students who are not financially able, to get breakfast and
lunch for free or at a reduced price.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans
A child consuming this breakfast and lunch at school would be meeting
the Dietary Guidelines for Americans because it reduces calorie intake,
increases the consumption of fruits and vegetables, and decreases the
consumption of fats and sodium. For example, the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans says to control calorie intake to manage body weight. The food
tracker above shows that after this student consumes their breakfast and
lunch, they still have 1262 calories left to consume for the remaining part of
the day. This will give the student the opportunity to eat a snack and dinner
without going over the daily allowance of 2000 calories. The Dietary
Guidelines for Americans also says to choose foods that provide more
potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin D, which are nutrients of
concern in American diets. These foods include vegetables, fruits, whole
grains, and milk and milk products. The food provided at Liberty High School
meets these requirements because every meal they serve comes with fruit,
vegetables, choice of milk or water, and all bread served is whole grain.
Finally, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans also says to reduce daily
sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams and to consume less than 10
percent of calories from saturated fatty acids. These requirements are met
by Liberty High School because according to the food tracker above, the
breakfast and lunch served here successfully reduces the amount of sodium,

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saturated fats, and oils consumed by the students. Overall, Liberty High
School does an outstanding job meeting the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans.
Nutritional Improvements
In order to improve the students nutritional intake at school, I would
make a few changes regarding the choices of fruits and vegetables as well as
conducting a survey to better provide these fruits and vegetables. Most of
the time, the fruit you see in school is either oranges, apples, or bananas
because they are the easiest to serve. They dont require any prep work like
slicing and putting them into containers. Whiles these fruits are easiest to
serve, they are not always what the children want to eat, so they might skip
eating fruit that day. I would put in more options of fruit for the students to
eat like watermelon, pineapple, honeydew, and mangos. These fruits require
more prep work, but more of the students will be inclined to eat fruit with
their breakfast and lunch if they have more options. Regarding vegetables, I
would like to provide more than just salads for the students to eat. The
students are less likely to choose a salad as their meal because they typically
want a protein to eat with it. So instead of just giving the students vegetable
in the form of salads, I would like to put in more options for vegetables like
corn, bell peppers, and beans. That way students can still choose a lunch
that has protein while also choosing sides of other vegetables, instead of
only having carrots and celery as a side option. In order to better provide the
students with nutrition at school I would also like to create a survey where

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the students can choose what types of fruit, vegetable, and food in general
(thats still healthy) that they would like to eat. Giving the students the
power to choose their own health options will encourage them to continue to
live a healthy lifestyle.
Reflection
Using the food tracker not only benefits students, but teachers and
everyone else in general. The students can use the food tracker to help them
make healthier food choices and participate in the recommended amount of
physical activity needed to maintain a healthy weight. Teachers can use the
food tracker to see if their school is meeting the guidelines for a wholesome
diet, and if their school isnt they can take the steps necessary to make sure
it is. Anyone, not just students and teachers, can use this tool to benefit their
eating and exercise habits.
References
Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (2010, January). Retrieved September 12,
2015 from
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuidelines2010.pdf
September 2015 Liberty High School Breakfast and Lunch Menu. (2015,
March). Retrieved

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September 12, 2015, from

https://schools.peoriaud.k12.az.us/sites/LHS/LHS%20Lunch
%20Menu/September%202014%20High%20School%20Menu.pdf
MyPlate. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved September 12, 2015 from
https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/foodtracker.aspx
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "School Health Guidelines to
Promote Healthy
Eating and Physical Activity." (2011, September). Retrieved September
12, 2015 from
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr6005a1.htm
Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast
Programs. (2012).
Federal Registrar, 77(17), 4088-4089. Retrieved September 12, 2015
from
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-01-26/pdf/2012-1010.pdf
Peoria Unified School District's Wellness Policies on Physical Activity and
Nutrition. (September,
2013). Retrieved September 12, 2015 from
https://www.peoriaud.k12.az.us/dept/FN/Documents/Wellness%20Policy
%20on%20Physical%20Activity%20and%20Nutrition%202013-14.pdf

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