This page includes a list of recent news and research on school nutrition. See below for two major projects on school nutrition that summarize the research and experience as well as list resources in school nutrition.

Recent News and Resources

Recent Research

News Story (Feb 19-10) Stress fun side of fitness for teens: UK Study http://is.gd/91XhP News Story (Feb 10-10) Candy, fried foods to slide off Ontario school menus http://is.gd/8gl7w News Story (Feb 22-10) Coordinated School Health Puts A Dent In Tennessee's Childhood Obesity Rate http://is.gd/91Zjc News Story (Feb 4-10) Tennessee to Drop School Health Program in Two Years http://is.gd/8gtLB Web Site School Nutrition (USDA) http://is.gd/91WR9 News Story (Feb 17-10) Nearly 4.6M Canadians have hypertension: Study http://is.gd/8AAHZ News Story (Feb 11-10) Childhood obesity linked to early death: US study http://is.gd/8AzP2 News Story (Feb 10-10) Arizona REVISES HEALTH EDUCATION AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION STANDARDS http://is.gd/8gnJX Connecticut USA State gets high marks for school lunches http://is.gd/8glhi Policy Doc Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition Initiative. Global Framework for Action (UNICEF and WFP, 2006) http://is.gd/82P9D News Story (Feb 1-10) US First Lady Hosts High Level Meeting on Childhood obesity http://is.gd/7Azz9 News release (Jan 29-10) US School Garden Challenge Issued http://is.gd/7iC1R News Story (Jan 27-10) Moderate salt cuts could save billions in healthcare costs http://is.gd/7iBal News Story (Jan 15-19) Ontario Releases New Health & PE Curriculum http://is.gd/6xDI1 Editorial (Jan 15-10) Globe & Mail. Canada's alleged obesity epidemic http://is.gd/6kgpl News Story (Jan 13-09) Fat Nation: Canadians are heavier, wider, weaker http://is.gd/6jQcN Canadian Qualitative Study on Student Health Literacy Begoray et al (2009) present a paper reporting findings from focus groups with older students in BC high schools. Students reported mostly negative experiences citing repetitive course content, routinely delivered by teachers and passively received by students. As well, students described their experiences of using health information sources beyond the classroom, such as the media. The findings suggest that the curriculum, and particularly its implementation, have had limited effect on health literacy: students’ abilities to access, understand, communicate and evaluate health information. The paper concludes with recommendations for improving health education. Canadian Health Measures Survey Between1981and2009, fitness levels of Canadian children and youth, as well as those of adults, declined significantly, according to the first findings from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS). This is the most comprehensive national survey ever conducted in Canada to determine fitness levels. Ontario Consults on SH Guidelines The School Health Guidance Document and others (Child Health; Comprehensive Tobacco Control; Healthy Eating/Physical Activity/ Healthy Weights; Prevention of Injury; Prevention of Substance Misuse; Reproductive Health) are now available for review and feedback by Jan 31st. A web-based consultation process has been set up with each health unit having access to a password-protected restricted site. However, all staff can view the documents at http://www.mhp.gov.on.ca/PHU-GuidanceDocuments/index.asp and provide input to their health unit’s designated point persons. Two Canadian researchers highlight the social influence of the PE teacher and coach on lifetime physical activity in the December 2009 issue of the Qualitative Research on Sport and Exercise. Strean from the University of Alberta discusses how teachers and coaches can turn off their students/players from physical activity. Camire et al discuss how parent attitudes and support is affected by school programs. News Release (January 15-10) Ontario Adopts Law on School Food Sales http://is.gd/6wwxn

Measurement of food intake is the focus of several articles in the February Issue of Public Health Nutrition Assessing beverage consumption – enough to make you drink? Are snacking patterns associated with risk of overweight among Kahnawake schoolchildren? Relative validity of a self-completion 24 h recall questionnaire to assess beverage consumption among schoolchildren aged 7 to 9 years Factors associated with overweight in children in Rasht, Iran: gender, maternal education, skipping breakfast and parental obesity An ecological analysis of factors associated with food insecurity in South Australia Dietary patterns and home food availability during emerging adulthood: do they differ by living situation? Serving of free school lunch to secondary-school pupils – a pilot study with health implications Evaluation of a kindergarten-based nutrition education intervention for pre-school children in China Validity of the Bouchard activity diary in Spanish adolescents Mass media nutrition information sources and associations with fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents Weight retention within the puerperium in adolescents: a risk factor for obesity? Predictors and consequences of anaemia among antiretroviral-naïve HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected children in Tanzania New Reviews and Protocols from Cochrane Collaboration Issue 2, 2010 (As of Feb 23, 2010) Community wide interventions for increasing physical activity(protocol stage) An in-depth look at television use and obesity reports that it is the type of advertising, not the watching, that is correlated with obesity. Other articles in the February Issue of American Journal of Public Health The Ubiquity of Energy-Dense Snack Foods: A National Multicity Study Associations of Television Content Type and Obesity in Children The school, institutional or neighbourhood context is considered in several articles in the February Issue of Journal of School Health Childhood Obesity and Schools: Evidence From the National Survey of Children's Health Articles in the February Issue of Pediatrics Nutrition Menu Labeling May Lead to Lower-Calorie Restaurant Meal Choices for Children Adoption of Body Mass Index Guidelines for Screening and Counseling In Pediatric Practice Behaviour theories and social determinants of behaviour are highlighted in several articles in February Issue of Health Education Research Correlates of availability and accessibility of fruits and vegetables in homes of low-income Hispanic families Does socio-economic status moderate the associations between psychosocial predictors and fruit intake in schoolchildren? The Pro Children study List of recent Canadian Research Studies Funded by Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council The following studies are just being completed are or recently completed in Canada. This has been taken from an inventory of such studies kept at the University of Laval. The effectiveness of physical activity teaching and learning conditions http://is.gd/5aeMo A justification for the inclusion of physical education in the curriculum http://is.gd/5aeDZ Food and nutrition education: representational systems related to school, family practices http://is.gd/5aemx Expectations and perceptions; physical and health education assessment in grade schoolhttp://is.gd/5ae5n An expectancy-value approach to the study of recess choices http://is.gd/5adYO Examining the impact of health education on adolescent health literacy http://is.gd/5adJa Health education practices and representations of physical and health education teachers http://is.gd/5acZp Teaching practices in physical and health education (PHE) and the high school reform in Quebec http://is.gd/5acUD

Nutrition Friendly Schools(Funded in part by the Public HealthAgency of Canada, Best Practices Portal)
Welcome to this on-line workspace supporting an international discussion of school-based and school-linked promotion of healthy eating, diet and nutrition. The purpose of this section of our web site is to draft and publish a series of collaboratively prepared summaries of the evidence, experience and examples of better programs in school nutrition. Three of the following list of topics have been addressed through the development of draft summaries that have been written jointly by experts and practitioners.

Topics Related to Nutrition Friendly Schools

• Understanding problem, updated prevalence data on all aspects on nutrition
• Factors, aspects and determinants of nutrition, diet and eating habits of children and youth, related behavior theories
• The influence of the school's physical and social environment, realistic role, models/frameworks on eating and nutrition
• Frameworks: Comprehensive approaches, coordinated school-agency programs and whole school strategies
• Addressing specific problems
  - sales of sugared beverages
  - fruits and vegetables consumption
  - reduced salt consumption
  - food safety
  - food allergies
  - modified foods
  - school meals in disadvantaged communities
  - school feeding programs in low income countries
• Multi-intervention programs (First draft Sep-09)
  - Community-School Programs
  - Whole School Programs
  
• School Nutrition Policies (First draft Sep-09)
  - school board/school

- health authority
- municipal
- food sales to minors outside of schools (policy and legisl

• Nutrition Education
  - curriculum
  - instructional methods
  - parent/home-based learning activities
  - use of the Internet

• Nutrition and Food Services
  - BMI/weight screening
  - cafeterias
  - nutritionist services
  - food inspections

• Physical and practical factors and programs in school nutrition- eating facilities in schools
  - timetabling of recess and lunch hours

• Social support programs
  - school nutrition activities (incl. co-curricular and after school activities, awareness activities) (First draft Sep-09)
  - parent involvement
  - student engagement (incl. peer program and student leadership programs)
  - working with community campaigns
  - staff wellness and awareness

• Addressing specific needs and situations
  - Obese and overweight children
  - Children with eating disorders/disordered eating
  - Vegetarian students
  - Children with food allergies

• Implementation and sustainability issues
  - Capacity-building and continuous improvement
  - Evidence-based implementation plans
  - Local mechanisms and drivers of change

• Integration within educational mandate and constraints of schools
  - linkages with educational effectiveness and achievement
  - integration with school improvement programs and processes