H
ealthier party treats
Vegetable, fresh fruit trays
Graham, animal crackers
Pizza with low-fat toppings
Instant pudding made with milk
Quesadillas with salsa
Trail/cereal mixes
100% fruit snacks
String cheese/cheese cubes
Low-fat popcorn
Vanilla wafers
Angel food cake
Apples with fat-free caramel dip
Yogurt smoothies
Yogurt parfaits (yogurt, berries, granola, layered)
Healthy treat recipes
Easy Low-Fat Fruit Dip
½ cup vanilla low fat yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Directions: Mix together until blended. Serve with your favorite fruits.
Homemade Trail Mix
2 cups Cheerios cereal
1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup peanuts
1 cup Rice Chex
1 ½ cup raisins
½ cup shredded coconut
2 cups Puffed Wheat
Directions: Mix all ingredients together. Serve with an ice-cold glass of milk.
Source: Middletown City Schools
MIDDLETOWN — This school year, Middletown City Schools students will celebrate birthdays and holidays with mixed fruit instead of confetti cupcakes, and pretzels instead of potato chips.
The district is preparing to launch an initiative aimed at convincing parents to send in only healthy treats for class parties.
The recommendation comes from the wellness committee and is the first goal of a three-year plan to improve the health of students.
Last year, 42 percent of Middletown’s elementary school students were at risk or overweight, according to body mass index calculations done annually by the district. In total, 781 elementary school students were overweight and 529 were at risk.
The initiative will present an unusual challenge as the district relies on parents to make the change.
Unlike the control Middletown has over what’s offered in school lunches or vending machines, the district will need to educate parents with letters and healthy recipes to make the change possible.
“We are trying to highly recommend healthy snacks for classroom parties,” said Director of Student Service Susan Combs, who serves on the wellness committee.
“We’re really going to make an effort,” Combs said.
“We’re talking about major choices in life. You don’t make those moves quickly. It takes a lot of education,” she said.
Combs said parents who send in sweets for parties likely will get a call from the school principal asking them to consider healthy options in the future.
“It’s vital that we start making these changes,” said Jackie Phillips, nursing director for the Middletown Health Department, who also serves on the committee.
“With the schools, it’s one component that really has the ability to make some changes in children’s lives. That’s why it’s important to do healthy snacks.”
Changes planned for recess, snacks
Middletown City Schools’ wellness committee is recommending changes to recess that include scheduling it before lunch and no longer allowing it to be used as a reward or punishment.
Moving recess to before lunch would ensure students don’t gobble down their food to rush to recess, said Susan Combs, director of student service.
The goal is to make the change for 2010, giving enough time for principals to figure out schedule changes that will be necessary.
But the more controversial change will come in 2011, when the committee recommends recess no longer be used as a reward or punishment.
That change is not be fully supported by the Middletown Board of Education, which could formally discuss the goal at its Aug. 3 meeting.
Board President Greg Tyus said there has been discussion among board members about allowing teachers to take away the free recess time of students with behavioral issues in favor of sending those students to some structured physical exercise.
Board members agree that withholding recess can be an important tool for teachers. But they do want children to have that daily physical activity at recess, since elementary school students have gym class just once a week.
Combs, a member of the wellness committee, said no longer keeping students from recess will ensure they get as much exercise as possible to expend extra energy that could be causing behavior problems.
“It’s not going to take people by surprise, but for some it will be a transition and it will be tough to lose that option,” she said.
Parties about fun, not sweets
Parents and principals are optimistic about the wellness committee’s recommendation to encourage only healthy party treats.
The committee, which includes representatives from the city health department, school nurses and other school officials, will work to educate the community on the change for the upcoming school year.
Middletown parent Rob Stamper said his children won’t miss sugary snacks at class parties.
“With kids, I think it’s more of a time to have fun with their other friends and goof around. I don’t think it’s all about the food. I think it’s just about having fun,” said Stamper, whose first-grade son and fifth-grade daughter attend Central Academy.
“The good thing is they both like fruits and vegetables, so I don’t think they’ll have a problem with it,” he said.
Wildwood Elementary School Principal Jim Thomas said he’s confident the Wildwood parents and students will respond to the initiative.
“We can do this,” he said. “If they see the whole class chowing down, I think they’ll get on board.”
The change also will mean no more ice cream or high-fat pizza parties with the principal, which have been used in the past as a reward for good behavior, attendance and grades.
Principals will now offer low-fat pizza on a wheat crust — made by the school’s food service program, Combs said.
District hopes parents learn from body mass index
Every Middletown elementary school student receives a body mass index reading each year with results sent to parents.
“We feel like if we can give parents annual updates in elementary that maybe we can effect some change,” Combs said.
Third grade is the biggest concern, Combs said, signaling the start of more students being overweight.
There is a steady increase in the percent of students who are at risk or overweight starting with about 32 percent in kindergarten and climbing to 50 percent in fifth grade — the last grade that body mass index is measured for every student.
A sampling of students in grades six through nine are measured by the district.
In the elementaries, 781 of the 3,132 students were overweight last year. Another 529 of those were at risk, according to the district. Forty-six students were underweight that year.
Middletown is the only district in the area to send body mass index calculations home to parents of all elementary students. Combs said school nurses also receive the information.
Other efforts
Changing party snacks won’t be the first effort Middletown has made to improve students’ diets.
In 2006, the state began requiring schools to look at student wellness, and Middletown in response formed a committee to do just that.
Since then, the district has been working on activities and programs in the school buildings and “trying to in small ways make a difference,” Combs said.
Those are in addition to the physical education class — which elementary students take once a week, middle school students take, depending on their schedule, weekly or daily, and high schoolers must complete two semesters.
Other changes in the district have included offering breakfast for free to every student.
And along with other schools in the state, the district got vending machines with low fat snacks and sugar-free drinks.
They also started a colored dot system at lunch to signal to students what they should eat regularly and what they should enjoy only once in a while.
C
ontact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or mengle@coxohio.com.
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