Saving School Lunch: Utilizing Healthier Options to Combat Obesity
•Download as PPT, PDF•
0 likes•121 views
Luther College Students prepared the following community assessments as part of their Psychology of Health and Illness class in the Fall Semester 2008. Starmont School
![Saving School Lunch Utilizing Healthier Options to Combat Obesity Brandon Rickertsen, Andrea Johnson, Derrik Hartman and Paige Gapinski Luther College Psychology of Health and Illness Purpose The rising trend of obesity in children has prompted many organizations to analyze the nutritional choices children are making at a young age, and the impacts this has on their health. To further understand the choices children are making about what they eat, we teamed up with the Starmont Community School District which has recently made changes to its lunch program. In order to find out how children think about their nutritional choices, and to assist the school in continuing to improve their lunch program we agreed to survey the seventh through twelfth grade students about their eating habits and school lunch experience. We were able to gather information, report back results, and offer suggestions on how to help Starmont Community School District encourage its students to make healthier choices. Methods On November 20th, 2008 our group traveled to Starmont Community School district to evaluate the lunch program. We toured the high school, middle school, and elementary school lunchrooms while discussing recent changes in Starmont’s lunch program such as soda machine hours, a la carte selection, and decreased dessert options. Special attention was paid to what the students chose to consume as well as dispose of during their lunch period. Surveys were designed evaluate students dietary decisions and lunchroom experience. The surveys were distributed to the middle school and high school students then they were collected and data was tabulated. ,[object Object],Discussion Figure 1: The pie chart shows the response in percentages to the question: I think about whether foods are good for me when I get to choose what I eat. N= 298 7-12 graders at Starmont Schools. Table 1: Percentage of those surveyed that ate breakfast almost always (5-7 days per week), sometimes (2-4 days per week), and hardly ever (0-1 days per week). Two-hundred and sixty-nine students were surveyed from 7-12 grades at Starmont Schools. Table 2: Percentage of those surveyed that almost always, sometimes, and hardly ever drink soda and the percentage of those who use the soda machines at school. Two-hundred and seventy-one students were surveyed, in grades 7-12 at Starmont Schools. ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Figure 3: The graph depicts the percentage of those surveyed for how often they eat vegetables, fruits, and choose to eat fruits or vegetables at school. Two-hundred and seventy students were surveyed in grades 7-12 at Starmont Schools. ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Hardly Ever Sometimes Almost Always I Eat Breakfast 16% 30% 53% Hardly Ever Sometimes Almost Always I Drink A Bottle Of Soda A Day 52% 35% 13% I Use The Soda Machines 80% 10% 10%](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/starmontposter-1231862778441350-3/85/saving-school-lunch-utilizing-healthier-options-to-combat-obesity-1-320.jpg)
