Results of a three-year study at Michigan middle schools indicate that the USDA’s new Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools will improve students’ diets.
Results of a three-year study at Michigan colleges indicate that the new USDA program Smart snacks at school Nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools will improve student diets. These new standards, required of all schools participating in federal school lunch programs, will take effect July 1, 2014 and will replace snacks like donuts, chocolate bars and regular cola with light popcorn, fruit, granola bars and flavored water without calories. in vending machines and other places where students purchase food at school.
Led by Dr. Katherine Alaimo, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, the School Nutrition Advances Kids (SNAK) project involved 65 low-income Michigan colleges, more than 2,000 students, teachers and members of the staff from these schools and a team of scientists from MSUOakland University and a number of Michigan State departments and organizations.
The 65 schools served as “nutrition labs” to help answer important questions about nutrition education, policies and practices in colleges and their impact on student health. The scientists also hoped to discover whether the process of assessing, action planning, and implementing the Healthy Schools Action Tools (HSAT) improved nutrition education, policies, and practices in Michigan schools .
The schools were randomly divided into four different groups:
- Healthy Schools Action Tools (HSAT) only: 18 schools were asked to form a coordinated school health team, completing the healthy eating and nutrition theme areas of the HSAT to assess the nutrition environment, education, policies and practices from school. They were then asked to create an action plan to improve the school’s nutrition education, policies, and environment, and to make at least one improvement to the school’s nutrition education.
- “SNAK” student teams: Five schools completed the HSAT, then formed teams of seventh graders who worked to assess their school’s environment, then used a small stipend provided to them to implement improvements of their choosing .
- Michigan State Board of Education (MSBE) Policy for Healthier A la Carte Dishes: 22 schools completed the HSAT and implemented a 2003 Michigan State Board of Education policy, which recommended that schools offer primarily healthy foods and beverages in locations outside of the school lunch program, such as a la carte .
- Controls: 20 schools were selected to collect data only.
The main findings of the study were:
- When schools added healthy meals to the menu or from vending machines, students’ diets improved. Six schools upgraded their a la carte offerings to meet MSBE policy (which required that at least 51 percent of foods offered be healthy), two schools eliminated a la carte options altogether, and six others launched new vending machines automatic or a la carte menus with entirely or almost entirely healthy options. The greatest improvement in student health occurred in schools that created entirely new options, mostly consisting of healthy foods – students in these schools increased their consumption of fruits, vegetables, grains whole foods, fiber, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C.
- When schools implemented at least three new nutrition practices and policies, students’ diets improved. Students in schools that made three or more improvements to nutrition policies had significantly higher intakes of fiber and fruit than schools that made fewer changes.
- Several school climate characteristics supported improvements in school nutrition. Schools that had administrator support for nutrition goals, as well as a coordinated school health team, a school health champion, staff teamwork, and propensity to take taking into account student preferences, have made the most improvements in school nutrition overall.
The Michigan study made several recommendations for what schools can do to improve student nutrition. Along with the implementation of the new USDA program Smart snacks at school nutrition standards and improving the safety of foods allowed a la carte or in vending machines, the study suggests that the HSAT process used in these Michigan schools is an interesting endeavor to help schools improve their education, policies and their nutritional practices and, in return, the health of students today and tomorrow
This work was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Eating Research Program, the USDA SNAP-Ed program through the Michigan Nutrition Network/MSU Extension, and the Michigan Department of Community Health. Michigan.
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