| Just as you can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink, you can teach
children the principles of good nutrition, but you can't force them to eat healthy food. “Most nutrition education resources focus primarily on
knowledge rather than helping youth develop behavioral skills,” said Lynda Johnson, a
nutrition specialist who helped to teach a workshop called: “Nutrition: Teach Them
Why, Show Them How, So They Can Do.” That session was one of five coordinated and
taught by the University Outreach and Extension (UOE) nutrition specialists in the west
central region during a seven-month period.
The workshop, part of the UOE's Comprehensive School
Health Nutrition and Food Safety Education program, was developed by the UOE Nutrition and
Health Base Program Team, co-directed by Central region nutrition specialist Lynda
Zimmerman and Dale Brigham, state nutrition specialist at the University of
Missouri-Columbia.
Associate state nutrition specialist Ann Cohen
directs the education program. The goal, she said, is to teach teachers how to help
children make healthy food choices. The task involves more than simply countering the
onslaught of commercial messages that encourage kids to consume junk food and sweets, she
said.
A crucial component is to teach the children how to communicate with
their parents about food, she said. “They have to ask their parents to keep healthy
food around, because if it's not there they can't eat it. But they can't just bring up the
subject at crisis time - in the grocery store.” To encourage “asking
skills,” teachers have their students take part in role-playing exercises in which
one student plays the child and another the reluctant parent.
Getting students interested in a healthy diet
involves a number of such teaching tools. Taste testing, for example, allows the children
a role in dietary decisions. In one school district, children were served different kinds
of milk, including “skim milk - really cold,” Cohen said. “Every time it's
been done, skim milk consumption goes up in the cafeteria.”
Teaching the children to prepare simple dishes can
be even more effective. By “linking the classroom with the cafeteria as a learning
lab,” Johnson said, students can discover what they like and how to make it.
“The cafeteria is what we call the learning
lab,” Cohen said. “There are all kinds of demonstrations that can be done in
conjunction with the cafeteria.”
Dixie Brown, food service director for the North
Kansas City School District, said school lunch programs “have followed a lot of
fast-food trends” by including items such as tacos and chicken nuggets on the menu. Along with district teachers, she participated in a nutrition workshop last
March, where she sampled some applesauce and a peanut butter dip. “I was surprised
how good it tasted.”
“Teachers and food service staff were
encouraged to work together with parents to provide a comprehensive approach,” said
Glenda Kinder, another regional nutrition specialist who helped teach the workshops.
Ultimately, the most important participants are the
children themselves, Cohen said. One thing they value is the respect of their peers. Once,
she recalled, a group of students was munching on carrot sticks and a tasty dip, “but
one kid wouldn't try it. Everyone else was crunching the carrot sticks really loudly and
raving about them, and finally he said, `OK, I'll try 'em.”'
Students also react well to nontraditional
approaches to nutrition education, Cohen said. “It doesn't do much good just teaching
them what has vitamin A in it and what has vitamin C. And it
doesn't motivate them to be told they could die of heart disease when they're 60 or 70.
“They want to be stronger; they want to be
smarter,” she said. “They want their skin to have a healthy glow. One really
effective message is that good nutrition gives you more energy. Everybody wants more
energy.”
UOE and the Missouri Department of Health's
Nutrition Education Training program collaborate to provide additional incentives to
teachers. Teachers who participate in their program receive free curriculum material and
$100 to purchase additional material for their classroom.
To serve as another resource, a website is available
to give educators easy access to information that will help them teach nutrition. The
site,
Nutriteach, is located at
outreach.missouri.edu/nutriteach.
“Healthy eating habits learned in childhood
translate into healthy lifestyles in adult life,” said Kinder. “The relationship
between healthy eating and the prevention of chronic diseases is becoming increasingly
apparent -- not to mention the immediate health benefits.”
“We all know how difficult it is to change
eating or exercise habits later in life,” Johnson said. “To ensure a healthy
future for our children, school-based nutrition education programs must become a priority
here in Missouri and nationally.” |
