Increased Physical Activity Recommended

In its committee of the whole meeting Oct. 21, the Board of Education heard from Carol Mitchell of the Student Health Advisory Council who made her annual report to the board. Mitchell chairs the 21 member advisory panel that advises the school system on health issues.

Highpoints of the recommendations include:

More physical activity for students - More physical education and more physical activity is recommended. Currently, high school student are required to have one healthful living credit in four years of school. The council asked the board to increase that to four credits in high school.

Mitchell said, "Most every health organization is interested in having all of us, including our youth, increase the amount of physical activity we get each day. Most surveys that we look at, the youth and adolescence are getting less activity than ever before and if a student doesn't get it in school, some students are not able to get it outside of school. So we are interested in helping students form healthy habits through moving their body so when they are adult, they are able to have a more healthy life."

The council is interested in increased physical activity at school for elementary and middle school students, as well.

Avoid using unhealthy foods or beverages as rewards - The Council noted the school system wellness policy asks that unhealthy foods and beverages not be used as rewards at school.

Mitchell said, "We do want to reward our students for good academics and for good behavior. That's not the point. We want to do this in a way that helps them learn healthy habits and have good nutrition. So if we want to have celebrations, let's look at some ways and there are ways listed on the Wake County website where parents can help the teacher or help the school define celebrations in a healthful way. We do not encourage home baked foods brought into the classroom. A couple of issues there are food safety and health issues. Remember, that for a student struggling with weight issues, that becomes a temptation for them if there's a cupcake and other unhealthy items brought into the classroom. So let's find a way that all the students can enjoy and learn healthy habits, even as we celebrating in the school."

Nutrition labeling pilot project in school cafeterias - The council is working with WCPSS Child Nutrition Services to provide simple labels with calorie count and fat content of foods on the cafeteria line. This will begin in January 2009 at several elementary, middle and high schools.

Mitchell said, "We are interested in having point of purchase labeling on the cafeteria line. Our label would indicate to the student in a quick glance, the number of calories and the number of fat grams per serving so that the student would be able to make an informed choice of exactly how many calories they would be in taking if they choose that item."

The Student Health Advisory Council has created a webpage that can be found here.