The lunchroom can be viewed as the ‘learning laboratory’ for nutrition and health lessons. For this reason, it is important to know what is going on in the lunchroom to ensure that it does everything it can to support healthy …
Involving Middle School Students in Smarter Lunchroom Design
Natalie Tauzin RD, MPH and Kai Swan discuss how student and staff input and engagement activities were used to promote fruits and vegetables in the school cafeteria though implementation of a Smarter Lunchrooms Makeover. They also share struggles, successes and …
Resources for Promoting Healthy Holiday Fun in School
“If all the year were playing holidays; To sport would be as tedious as to work.”– William Shakespeare
Food is often a key ingredient of holiday parties and celebrations; unfortunately, traditional celebratory foods are often loaded with sugar and calories. …
The Size and Shape of Calorie Intake: Using Smart Dishware to Encourage Healthy Portions at Home
Consuming too many calories is actually a greater contributor to obesity than not getting enough exercise. Numerous studies have suggested that individuals are often unaware of how environmental cues, such as plate size, influence eating behavior and perceptions. To better …
How to Encourage Your Children to Eat More Vegetables
Every parent knows the key to keeping children healthy is to get them to put down the junk food and eat more vegetables, but this is often more easily said than done. So how can you promote vegetables in your …
Guiding Healthier Choices in Schools: The Case of Choice Architecture vs. Choice Restrictions
Recall your childhood, or even think back to recent interactions with your child or children. When they need to go to bed, how do you phrase it? Do you say, “Johnny, it’s 7:30 so you need to stop what you …
Slice It Up: Serving Pre-Cut Fruit can Increase Fruit Consumption
MyPlate and USDA’s new nutrition standards for school meals have placed greater emphasis on getting students to eat more fruit. Yet, very few students select fruit as they are going through the lunch line, and if a fruit is picked …
Prompts, Pushes, and Pulls: Using the Power of Persuasion to Influence Student Food Choices
Individuals make thousands of decisions each day and are faced with hundreds of food choices. If we had to stop and analyze every decision completely we would never get anything done. That is why we often look for shortcuts or …
Teachers to Students: Do As I Do When Making Healthy Food Choices
Nutrition education in school classrooms as part of local school wellness policies goes beyond informing and influencing students’ food choices. Teachers, also, change behaviors and role model healthy behaviors. Robin, a teacher at David Barton Elementary School, has invited University …
How to Talk to Your Kids about a Balanced Diet
Convincing your family of the importance of eating a healthy balanced diet can be difficult at times. Telling your child that he or she should eat a balanced and healthy diet because “I say so,” is unlikely to have much …