In May, 2003, the state launched its Healthy Choices, Healthy Kids campaign, a series of initiatives to combat childhood obesity and improve children’s academic performance by promoting better nutrition and physical activity in schools. The Department of Agriculture is spearheading this campaign in cooperation with the Departments of Health and Senior Services and Education.
A year and a half later, the three departments have actively begun efforts to support this initiative. The Department of Education passed their new Core Curriculum Standards in April 2004 which include detailed sections on nutrition education and also maintain the current state mandate requiring schools to offer 150 minutes a week in health and physical education. The Department of Health has completed a study of sixth graders throughout the state, to collect BMI (Body Mass Index) data. Results of that study indicate that New Jersey is not exempt from the national epidemic of Childhood Obesity: 20% of the sixth graders studied were either overweight or obese. In progress is a program by the Department of Health to get kids moving, by supplying pedometers and encouraging 10,000 steps a day for schools participating in the pilot program.
The Department of Agriculture has developed a Model School Nutrition Policy that includes nutritional standards for snacks and beverages sold throughout the schools in a la carte lines, school stores, vending machines and fundraisers. State administrative code has been amended to include this policy, which will require schools to adopt their own nutrition policy by September 2006, and to adopt this model policy by September 2007.
The model policy also calls for each school district’s curriculum to incorporate nutrition education and calls for schools to provide physical activity consistent with the Department of Education Core Curriculum Standards, and recommends that physical education or recess be scheduled before lunch whenever possible. The Model Nutrition Policy can be accessed at http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/modelnutritionpolicy.htm
The Department of Agriculture also offers a nutrition education program known as “NJ Race to Good Nutrition” in pilot schools throughout the state. Developed in conjunction with Rutgers University and NJ Department of Agriculture, the program teaches students about the importance of eating all five components of their school lunch to receive the nutritional benefits of a balanced meal.
By bringing together all these facets in a comprehensive, targeted approach to better nutrition, New Jersey can be a leader in making all foods available to students as healthy as they can be. This is, after all, the Garden State, and there is no shortage of fruits and vegetables all around us that are much better alternatives to non-nutritious foods. In the end, today’s students will benefit from a firm grounding in nutritious eating that will stay with them throughout their lives.
