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Educate your patients on the importance of 3-A-Day of Dairy: Here's
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every day for stronger bones.
Developed in conjunction with The American Academy of Family
Physicians, The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Dietetic
Association, and The National Medical Association.
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Dairy Council Digest Archives
Taking Action to Improve Children's Nutrition & Fitness: The Role of Schools
Summary
The health of our nation's children is in jeopardy. The prevalence of overweight among young people has doubled in recent decades. Many children are physically inactive. Also, a large proportion of children's energy intake comes from the tip of the Food Guide Pyramid (i.e., fats, oils, and sweets). This reflects a poor dietary pattern resulting in nutrient deficiencies. Declining consumption of milk among children has adverse nutritional and health consequences. Milk is a nutrient dense food rich in calcium and an important source of other essential nutrients. Low intake of milk is associated with poor bone health and increased risk of osteoporosis and other chronic conditions in later years.
Schools are an ideal setting to help children gain the knowledge, skills, and motivation to establish a healthy dietary pattern and to be physically active. Recognition of the health crisis facing the nation's children led to the Healthy Schools Summit , an outcome of a groundbreaking collaboration of more than 35 national education, physical activity, health, and nutrition organizations.
The Summit , with help from partner organizations, launched Action for Healthy Kids State Teams. Each of the state teams has assessed their state's needs and developed their State Action Plan, selecting two to three actions from the "Commitment to Change." This guidance document, adapted by the Summit collaborators from the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Overweight and Obesity , outlines specific actions needed to create health-promoting schools that support sound nutrition and physical activity.
First Lady Laura Bush served as honorary chair and the former Surgeon General, David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. chaired the Summit . The more than 500 individuals from 50 states and the District of Columbia attending the Summit learned about solutions to some of the challenges facing schools in helping to meet children's nutritional and physical activity needs. Successful programs and initiatives already in practice that support children's nutrition and physical activity were highlighted. State team members were informed of critical resources and planning tools, and attended sessions on creating effective partnerships and coalitions. More information about the Summit can be found on the website, www.actionforhealthykids.org .
In an effort to improve children's nutrition in schools, National Dairy Council and the American School Food Service Association sponsored a School Milk Pilot Test to determine the effects of offering students school milk with better packaging, more flavor variety, better merchandising, additional sales venues, and more effective refrigeration. This test was conducted in 146 schools and included more than 100,000 elementary and secondary school students. The findings demonstrated that enhancements to milk available in schools increased students' selection and consumption of milk and their participation in the school lunch program. These results are noteworthy considering that other studies have shown that participation in school meal programs, as well as increased milk intake, improves the overall nutritional quality of children's diets.
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