Post by RiahBubbaPooh on Jan 29, 2004 12:55:13 GMT -5
Here's the link to the article...
educationnews.org/reducing-school-junk-food-reaps.htm
Here's the article itsself...
EduHelpNow Supporting parents in the pursuit of effective instruction
Reducing School Junk Food Reaps Unexpected Benefits: Students Behave and Focus Better
The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that doctors work with local schools to reduce soft drink and snack food consumption (Pediatrics, January 2004). The Feingold Association of the United States has launched a new web site (www.school-lunch.org) to educate parents on how they too can work with local school officials to improve the quality of school food.
School boards across the country have already responded to pressure from local parent groups advocating healthier school food for their children. School districts in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Michigan have turned down lucrative deals to sell soft drinks in vending machines, and this month, the Los Angeles school board is banning the sale of soft drinks to its 748,000 students. School boards in Wisconsin, New York and Sacramento have also changed their lunch programs to reduce junk food.
Much of the momentum behind this grassroots movement has stemmed from the public’s awareness that school junk food is contributing greatly to the current epidemic of childhood obesity. However, many teachers and school administrators are discovering that reducing junk food has led not only to fewer student weight problems, but also to better behavior and concentration in the classroom.
“We have found that cutting out unhealthy school foods has the added benefit of helping children focus and behave better,” says Jane Hersey, National Director of the Feingold Association. “This is because junk foods are often loaded with synthetic additives, which can trigger hyperactivity, attention deficits and many other problems.”
Additive-Free School Foods Make a Difference
The Feingold Association’s new school food web site features an article by Mrs. Hersey about a Wisconsin alternative high school, whose students benefited from an additive-free school lunch program. Before starting the program, administrators were having so many problems with discipline and weapons violations that they had to hire a fulltime police officer, but once the program was in place, students’ behavior and academic performance improved dramatically.
This web site also includes information about a Pennsylvania school, which was the lowest-achieving middle school in its county until the staff started offering students healthy snacks. Not only did candy and gum virtually disappear, but test scores rose so high that the school ranked among the top ten percent in the state and the top 200 in the nation and was named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.
School test scores also rose dramatically in New York City between 1979 and 1983, when sodas and foods with artificial colors and flavors were eliminated from schools, as a result of a program initiated by the Department of Food Services and Stephen J. Schoenthaler, Ph.D., of California State University. Test scores of students in 803 public schools rose from the 39th percentile to above the 55th percentile on the California Achievement Test, with the only change being an improvement in diet.
British Schools Follow Suit
This web site also features several British schools that had remarkable success with additive-free school food programs. The staff at the Barnabas school of Worcestershire was surprised to learn of a U.K. government-sponsored study suggesting that some additives cause one out of four children to have tantrums. After they conducted a two-week trial banning 27 additives, the staff noticed a marked improvement in students’ behavior and concentration levels and decided to ban all synthetic additives from school meals.
When children at Dingle School in Cheshire, England were fed additive-free food at school and at home, 57 percent of their parents reported an overall improvement in their children’s behavior and 56 percent reported better sleep patterns and cooperation. This trial was conducted in conjunction with a twin study showing that some food additives can also have an adverse effect on children’s concentration and IQ.
Steps Parents Can Take
In order to show readers how to work with local schools to start a healthy school food program, this web site includes an article by Mrs. Hersey entitled, “How You Can Change the Food in Your Child’s School.” In it, she explains how she and a handful of other women in Virginia persuaded Fairfax County (which has one of the largest school systems in the United States) to remove harmful additives from school food.
These steps included contacting PTA presidents, local politicians, school board members, the county food service director, the school superintendent, and the Board of Education. By circulating petitions in libraries and health food stores across the county, her group gathered approximately 4,000 signatures and generated a good deal of press coverage. They then presented the petitions to the Board of Education, which agreed to a two-week trial.
As a result of their efforts, additive-reduced lunches and breakfasts were served in all schools in Fairfax County during the early 1980s. The food program excluded most of the additives eliminated by the Feingold Program (synthetic food dyes, artificial flavorings and the preservatives BHA, BHT and TBHQ), as well as MSG. Student acceptance was very good and the costs were only slightly higher than the county’s previous school food program.
In this article, Mrs. Hersey suggests menu guidelines, such as ensuring that hamburgers are 100% beef with no extenders and that burritos, tacos and spaghetti are MSG-free, as well as using canned fruits packed in their own juice, and substituting pure fruit juices for soft drinks. As for breakfast, she explains that a variety of dry cereals without undesirable additives are available, as are frozen waffles.
“If you’re nervous about making changes, rest assured that most of the foods that are now being served in schools could still be offered, but in a form that is free of harmful additives,” says Mrs. Hersey.
About the Feingold Association
The Riverhead, New York-based Feingold Association of the United States (www.feingold.org) was founded in 1976 by parent volunteers to help families that have children with learning and behavioral problems, as well as chemically sensitive adults. Dr. Benjamin Feingold, Chief of Allergy at the San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, developed the dietary program, which eliminates synthetic food additives that have been shown to trigger hyperactivity, attention deficits, and other problems. The association’s advisory board includes doctors and nurses from a variety of institutions, including Johns Hopkins University, the University of Rochester and Stony Brook University.
The Feingold Association researches brand name foods and provides members with information about which foods are free of harmful additives. Its Foodlists contain thousands of acceptable brand name products and its newsletter, Pure Facts, provides monthly updates. Members in the association also receive a book on the Feingold Program (which includes recipes and a menu plan), a Fast Food Guide, Mail Order Guide, e-newsletter and product alerts, as well as access to telephone and email help-lines. An online message board, recipe board and chat room are also available.
About Jane Hersey
A former teacher, Mrs. Hersey has been National Director of the Feingold Association since 1985. She is the editor of the Association’s newsletter, Pure Facts, and author of Why Can’t My Child Behave? and Healthier Food for Busy People, both of which have been recommended by The Washington Post. In the early 1980s, she helped persuade Fairfax County, Virginia school officials to remove harmful additives from school food in a program that lasted for several years. During the past 26 years, she has lectured at educational associations, universities, hospitals, medical groups, and other organizations and has testified before the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has been a guest on many radio and television programs, including ABC’s Nightline, and her articles have appeared in publications such as Mothering Magazine and Welcome Home.
educationnews.org/reducing-school-junk-food-reaps.htm
Here's the article itsself...
EduHelpNow Supporting parents in the pursuit of effective instruction
Reducing School Junk Food Reaps Unexpected Benefits: Students Behave and Focus Better
The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that doctors work with local schools to reduce soft drink and snack food consumption (Pediatrics, January 2004). The Feingold Association of the United States has launched a new web site (www.school-lunch.org) to educate parents on how they too can work with local school officials to improve the quality of school food.
School boards across the country have already responded to pressure from local parent groups advocating healthier school food for their children. School districts in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Michigan have turned down lucrative deals to sell soft drinks in vending machines, and this month, the Los Angeles school board is banning the sale of soft drinks to its 748,000 students. School boards in Wisconsin, New York and Sacramento have also changed their lunch programs to reduce junk food.
Much of the momentum behind this grassroots movement has stemmed from the public’s awareness that school junk food is contributing greatly to the current epidemic of childhood obesity. However, many teachers and school administrators are discovering that reducing junk food has led not only to fewer student weight problems, but also to better behavior and concentration in the classroom.
“We have found that cutting out unhealthy school foods has the added benefit of helping children focus and behave better,” says Jane Hersey, National Director of the Feingold Association. “This is because junk foods are often loaded with synthetic additives, which can trigger hyperactivity, attention deficits and many other problems.”
Additive-Free School Foods Make a Difference
The Feingold Association’s new school food web site features an article by Mrs. Hersey about a Wisconsin alternative high school, whose students benefited from an additive-free school lunch program. Before starting the program, administrators were having so many problems with discipline and weapons violations that they had to hire a fulltime police officer, but once the program was in place, students’ behavior and academic performance improved dramatically.
This web site also includes information about a Pennsylvania school, which was the lowest-achieving middle school in its county until the staff started offering students healthy snacks. Not only did candy and gum virtually disappear, but test scores rose so high that the school ranked among the top ten percent in the state and the top 200 in the nation and was named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.
School test scores also rose dramatically in New York City between 1979 and 1983, when sodas and foods with artificial colors and flavors were eliminated from schools, as a result of a program initiated by the Department of Food Services and Stephen J. Schoenthaler, Ph.D., of California State University. Test scores of students in 803 public schools rose from the 39th percentile to above the 55th percentile on the California Achievement Test, with the only change being an improvement in diet.
British Schools Follow Suit
This web site also features several British schools that had remarkable success with additive-free school food programs. The staff at the Barnabas school of Worcestershire was surprised to learn of a U.K. government-sponsored study suggesting that some additives cause one out of four children to have tantrums. After they conducted a two-week trial banning 27 additives, the staff noticed a marked improvement in students’ behavior and concentration levels and decided to ban all synthetic additives from school meals.
When children at Dingle School in Cheshire, England were fed additive-free food at school and at home, 57 percent of their parents reported an overall improvement in their children’s behavior and 56 percent reported better sleep patterns and cooperation. This trial was conducted in conjunction with a twin study showing that some food additives can also have an adverse effect on children’s concentration and IQ.
Steps Parents Can Take
In order to show readers how to work with local schools to start a healthy school food program, this web site includes an article by Mrs. Hersey entitled, “How You Can Change the Food in Your Child’s School.” In it, she explains how she and a handful of other women in Virginia persuaded Fairfax County (which has one of the largest school systems in the United States) to remove harmful additives from school food.
These steps included contacting PTA presidents, local politicians, school board members, the county food service director, the school superintendent, and the Board of Education. By circulating petitions in libraries and health food stores across the county, her group gathered approximately 4,000 signatures and generated a good deal of press coverage. They then presented the petitions to the Board of Education, which agreed to a two-week trial.
As a result of their efforts, additive-reduced lunches and breakfasts were served in all schools in Fairfax County during the early 1980s. The food program excluded most of the additives eliminated by the Feingold Program (synthetic food dyes, artificial flavorings and the preservatives BHA, BHT and TBHQ), as well as MSG. Student acceptance was very good and the costs were only slightly higher than the county’s previous school food program.
In this article, Mrs. Hersey suggests menu guidelines, such as ensuring that hamburgers are 100% beef with no extenders and that burritos, tacos and spaghetti are MSG-free, as well as using canned fruits packed in their own juice, and substituting pure fruit juices for soft drinks. As for breakfast, she explains that a variety of dry cereals without undesirable additives are available, as are frozen waffles.
“If you’re nervous about making changes, rest assured that most of the foods that are now being served in schools could still be offered, but in a form that is free of harmful additives,” says Mrs. Hersey.
About the Feingold Association
The Riverhead, New York-based Feingold Association of the United States (www.feingold.org) was founded in 1976 by parent volunteers to help families that have children with learning and behavioral problems, as well as chemically sensitive adults. Dr. Benjamin Feingold, Chief of Allergy at the San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, developed the dietary program, which eliminates synthetic food additives that have been shown to trigger hyperactivity, attention deficits, and other problems. The association’s advisory board includes doctors and nurses from a variety of institutions, including Johns Hopkins University, the University of Rochester and Stony Brook University.
The Feingold Association researches brand name foods and provides members with information about which foods are free of harmful additives. Its Foodlists contain thousands of acceptable brand name products and its newsletter, Pure Facts, provides monthly updates. Members in the association also receive a book on the Feingold Program (which includes recipes and a menu plan), a Fast Food Guide, Mail Order Guide, e-newsletter and product alerts, as well as access to telephone and email help-lines. An online message board, recipe board and chat room are also available.
About Jane Hersey
A former teacher, Mrs. Hersey has been National Director of the Feingold Association since 1985. She is the editor of the Association’s newsletter, Pure Facts, and author of Why Can’t My Child Behave? and Healthier Food for Busy People, both of which have been recommended by The Washington Post. In the early 1980s, she helped persuade Fairfax County, Virginia school officials to remove harmful additives from school food in a program that lasted for several years. During the past 26 years, she has lectured at educational associations, universities, hospitals, medical groups, and other organizations and has testified before the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has been a guest on many radio and television programs, including ABC’s Nightline, and her articles have appeared in publications such as Mothering Magazine and Welcome Home.
