Healthy Education Kelli Pierce November 11, 2015 Arkansas State University

Nutrition, Physical Activity and Education Education involves so much more than the content being taught. A child’s education can be affected by a lack of nutrition or physical activity. How do we as educators prevent this?

Breakfast Boost test scores by changing breakfast habits. ◦According to the Food and Nutrition Service, students who eat breakfast perform better in school and do better on tests. How can educators partake in making sure students eat breakfast?

Current Breakfast Issues Currently breakfast time for students is 7:30 a.m. until class begins at 8 a.m. Some students may not be provided breakfast at home. They may also not be able to get to school in time to eat breakfast in the cafeteria. Buses arrive at school at 7:45 a.m.

Changing Breakfast Times Changing breakfast times to 8 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. will provide more students with breakfast. Will this interrupt or decrease class time? ◦Have a breakfast cart travel to classrooms and provide students with cereal, milk, fruit, etc. ◦Begin the day with the usual lessons while students are eating breakfast.

Providing food for Students of Low-Income Families Some students have their last meal of the week Friday afternoon during school lunch. Some students don’t get enough to eat. ◦Being hungry makes everything harder – including learning. How can we provide food for these students while they are not in school?

Weekend Backpack Program According to the Feed More website, the Weekend Backpack Program provides additional nutritional support to students by supplying a weekend’s worth of food each Friday. ◦Each child will receive one bag consisting of six balanced meals. ◦Each Backpack is designed to provide the breakfasts and lunches that a child who relies on free or reduced-price meals through the school lunch program is missing on the weekends.

About the Weekend Backpack Program

Physical Activity Benefits Students Physical activity builds students’ strength, coordination, confidence and helps prepare them for a healthy lifestyle. Students should be participating in 1 hour or more of physical activity on most or all days AND participating in several bouts of physical activity of 15 minutes or more each day.

Physical Activity in the Classroom The Take10 program integrates curriculum based content with physical activity in 10 minute activities. ◦These activities last 10 minutes and can be used for short breaks during class, to transition to different subjects, etc. Students who are sitting for long periods of time are less likely to be focused than students who are learning by doing with physical activity.

Ways to Incorporate Physical Activity in the Classroom

References start/nutrition-activities/elementary-school/breakfast start/nutrition-activities/elementary-school/breakfast students-7697.html students-7697.html programs/childrens-program/weekend-backpack-programs programs/childrens-program/weekend-backpack-programs ness_6_12.html ness_6_12.html