Get inspired by American's healthiest schools
With a kindergartner in the family, we officially entered the realm of elementary school this fall. Though I couldn't be happier with the school we chose for our daughter, I couldn't help be feel disappointed when the first school lunch menu came home. It read like the school lunch menus I used to bring home, all those years ago: hot dog, pizza, meat gravy, chicken nuggets, repeat. I was really hoping for something more nutritious.My kids will carry their lunches, so problem solved for us. But for far too many school children who depend on free and reduced lunch, these kinds of meals are their only option. My daughter's school is currently running a survey to improve their school lunch menu, and I'm hoping for a positive change. Maybe we can look to some of America's healthiest schools for inspiration.
Take the winner, West Babylon Senior High in New York. They've completely revamped their cafeteria to include a lighter lunch menu, lost their fryers and replaced them with high-tech ovens, and open their cafeteria back up after school for kids who are participating in extra-curricular activities. There's a school-wide commitment to fitness, and P.E. classes focus on making exercise fun and accessible. Even school fundraisers include healthy foods ... no candy! There are several other schools highlighted by CNN, so if you're looking for ways to make your own child's school healthier, look no farther than these inspiring schools.

Boys need gym class. But girls need it more, according to the
Researchers have found a
Nearly all public elementary schools schedule physical education for their students, says the newsletter sent home from school with my first-grader the other day. Yet only 17 to 22 percent -- depending on grade level -- provide physical education on a daily basis. That's how it works at my kid's school. Every Thursday, Joey reports for PE class. It lasts for 40 minutes, I think. Forty minutes for the whole week. He spends 29 hours per week at school.
Christina Cherif of
School cafeterias are getting healthier and healthier. They may not be perfect just yet, but progress is certainly apparent.
It's not so hard to talk to kids about nutrition, fitness, and overall health. But when it comes to informing them about sexual health, not-so-hard can become oh-so-scary.
A group of Canadian audiologists and speech pathologists are concerned that noisy classrooms are making it tougher for kids to properly hear lessons and therefore learn material. A study comissioned by the Canadian Language and Literacy Reseach Network showed that first grade students tend to miss at least 1 of every 6 words spoken by their teachers because of the amount of ambient noise, including other classes and audio equipment, in classrooms.
School-age children tend to row like weeds, but in Taiwan, they're generally getting shorter. Why, you ask? Well,
A recent study found something which I would consider to be obvious -- the more a person is educated, the less chance he or she has of dying from cancer. In the study, co-author Elizabeth Ward stated "Cancer mortality varies a great deal for all cancers by individual level of education."
I never get much out of my first-grade kid when he gets home from school. "What did you do today?" I inquire. "I don't know," is his usual reply. "Who did you sit with at lunch?" I ask. "The same boy I sat with yesterday," Joey tells me. "What's his name?" I probe. "I don't know," Joey declares. The same pattern happens when I ask about math, spelling, art, recess. Prying information out of Joey is like pulling teeth.
Get a good and healthy breakfast or your learning may suffer! Those words, or some like them, may come out of the mouths of many concerned parents in the morning, and there is quite a bit of truth to them. If you don't give a growing mind the right type of energy, how can it perform at its best?
They need to stop doing studies on college and higher-education, because every time they do I just get more confused. 








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