Nutrition:
Resources for Schools
Healthy School Meals for Minnesota Kids
Schools throughout Minnesota are doing outstanding work to improve nutrition and teach children good habits that last a lifetime. We all know the stakes are high: children need more than a full stomach if they are to learn and achieve.
Information you can use:
- NEW: Great Trays Skills for Excellence (PDF 968 KB/21 pgs) A new tool for school nutrition professionals in Minnesota that helps to inventory workforce skills and identify existing curriculums for continuing staff education.
- Minnesota Student Survey
- Local Wellness Policy Law
- Menu Planning for Health
- Energy Dense Food
- School Stores, Vending and Concessions
- Sugar Sweetened Beverages
- Rewards/Fundraisers
- Keeping Kids from Falling Short: A New Look at Fruits and Vegetables in the School Cafeteria
- Keeping Kids from Falling Short: Introducing Whole Grain Foods in the School Cafeteria
Why better nutrition is important for education
The link between poor nutrition and the ability of children to retain information and perform well on tests is well documented. Without proper nutrition and physical fitness, children do not learn and achieve:
- Iron deficiency anemia leads to shortened attention spans, irritability, fatigue, and difficulty with concentration. Anemic children tend to do poorly on vocabulary, reading comprehension, and math tests. (National Education Association, 1989)
- Breakfast has a beneficial effect on children’s recall in short term memory.(Journal of Adolescence Health, 1991)
- Food-insufficient teenagers are more likely to get suspended from school and more likely to have difficulty interacting with peers. (Pediatrics July 2001)
- Even moderate under-nutrition in the absence of clinical signs can have lasting effects that compromise cognitive development and school achievement. (Tufts University School of Medicine 1995)
- Free school breakfast decreases nutritional risk and improves math grades and behavior. (Annals of Nutrition Metabolism, 2002)
- Six to 11 year olds from food-insufficient families are more likely to have to repeat a grade. (Pediatrics, 2001)
- Skipping breakfast has a negative effect on cognitive performance on healthy well-nourished children. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1991)
- Teachers report higher levels of hyperactivity, absenteeism, and tardiness among children from food-insecure homes than children from well-fed homes. (Journal of American Academic Child Adolescence Psychiatry, 1998)
For more information:
- Minnesota Action for Healthy Kids http://take.actionforhealthykids.org/site
/Clubs?club_id=1151&pg=con
- The Economic Cost of Domestic Hunger
http://www.chn.org/pdf/2007/stophunger.pdf - Kids Count Data Book http://datacenter.kidscount.org/databook/2011/
Results
from the first two years of Great Trays
Annual Report
(PDF 131MB/ 6 pages)
What's New
-
Great Trays Skills for Excellence (PDF 968 KB/21 pgs) A new tool for school nutrition professionals in Minnesota that helps to inventory workforce skills and identify existing curriculums for continuing staff education.
- Health In My Hometown
MDH and thirteen communities gave cameras to youth to document what helps them or holds them back from being healthy.
