Limiting snacks at school: Q-and-A with Principal Deise of Rodgers Forge Elementary

The following is a question-and-answer between the Baltimore County Healthy Kids Coalition and Susan Deise, who has been an educator with BCPS for 36 years and who has served as principal of Rodgers Forge Elementary for 12 years. Principal Deise explains the “one-snack” rule at Rodgers Forge, which went into affect in 2003. The Coalition hopes that Mrs. Deise’s success and advice will be useful to parents and staff who are trying to make similar changes at their schools. 

Q: The policy at Rodgers Forge states that students are limited to buying only one snack at lunch and that snacks/candy may not be served in the classroom -- either as rewards for good work or for birthday celebrations. But food is allowed a few times a year for specific parties. How did this policy come about?

A: BCPS does not have a policy for the number of snacks a child is able to purchase.  However, Rodgers Forge parents were concerned that the new debt card process would encourage the purchasing of more snack foods instead of lunch items. The School Improvement Team, which is comprised of parents and teachers, discussed the concerns and voted to limit the purchase of snacks from the cafeteria to one item and that no soda type beverages are permitted in the school.  

There are two primary reasons for limiting the number of parties in school:  parents do not wish to have their children eating high-caloric foods, especially sugar or allergy-producing ingredients, and lost time to the instructional program because of non-curricular activities. Each school can determine the number of parties and the number of snacks available to children; theirs may be contrary to our decision since communities are different. If students have a late lunchtime, our teachers allow students to snack at a specific time during instruction.  Parents can provide a healthy snack to bring to school but students cannot purchase snacks from the cafeteria during the school day.  

Teachers do not provide food as a reward for a particular behavior or as a means of positive reinforcement of a behavior.  Our staff believes that stickers, ribbons, or pencils are more appropriate rewards and alternatives to food when celebrating a birthday.

Q: Did you encounter much resistance to the policy, and how have parents reacted?

A: Resistance to our decision to limit snacks was negligible.  Most parents agreed that they did not want their children purchasing too many snacks.  Also, a cadre of parent volunteer created the Healthy Kids Club several years ago to educate students about what was contained in snack foods.  The PTA invited guest speakers to parent meetings to demonstrate how to make a healthy lunch for their children.  In addition, they organized several Health Expos for the community.  I am thrilled that the Rodgers Forge parents are supportive of developing healthy eating habits.  

Parents usually get upset if someone in the cafeteria lets their child purchase a snack when they have not authorized any snack purchases.  Parents can contact the cafeteria to set limits on their child’s purchases.  This is a great idea if you child has allergies to any food product.  In addition, we do not limit the number of snacks that parents place in their child’s lunchbox.  We have no authority or right to dictate what parents give their children to eat when the food comes from home.  

At this time, I am delighted with the decisions that we have made at Rodgers Forge.  It is my understanding that with the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, there will be policies, not just recommendations, to BCPS’ position on snacks in a school with some discretion on the part of the principal. Since I have no complaints from parents, the purchasing of snacks appears to be supported. I do believe that it is important to continue to educate our children and parents regarding healthy food choices.  I applaud RF parents for the nutritious lunches that they prepare for their children.  The packed or brown bag lunches reflect the parents’ philosophy about helping their children develop healthy eating patterns.  

Q: What advice would you give parents and principals at other schools who want to implement similar policies?

A: It is important for parents to meet with the administrators to discuss the issues.  Then, I would ask that teachers, parents, and even students join together and discuss what they can do as a school to address snacks and obesity issues.  I would suggest some type of survey to assess how the school community feels about the issue. When our students joined the Healthy Kids Club, they created an exercise video to use on rainy days during recess time.  I believe that it is important not to leave the students out of the equation when solving the problem.  They usually have creative ideas and can motivate other children to embrace healthy decisions about food.  

New program helps parents track school-lunch purchases

The Baltimore County Healthy Kids Coalition is pleased to note that BCPS recently signed up with mylunchmoney.com, a program that will allow parents to view online the lunch purchases of their children. Parents can also add money to their children's accounts via the site, though even if they continue to pay by check or cash they can still view purchase histories.

Parents will be able to see which entrees their child purchases, although a la carte items will, unfortunately, not be specifically identified. Parents can also use the site to opt, as they can now, to only allow kids to purchase full meals and not allow them to purchase a la carte items. If they haven't already, parents should soon be receiving specific account numbers for their children, which they can then use to register on the site.

The Coalition is delighted that BCPS's Office of Food and Nutrition has taken this step, which will empower parents and help foster communication with kids about making good choices. Please let us know what you think of the program!

Free webinar on school health this Monday

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is excited to kick off the school year with an opportunity that will support your school's health and wellness efforts. The American School Health Association (ASHA) is hosting a free webinar that features three national leaders in school health:

Charles Basch, PhD, Richard March Hoe Professor of Health Education at Columbia University Teachers College

Ginny Ehrlich, MPH, Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Howell Wechsler, EdD, MPH, Director of the Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The leaders will discuss "The Future of School Health" and will cover a variety of topics including health disparities and academic performance; positive developments in school health on both a national and state level and lessons learned from the Alliance's implementation of the Healthy Schools Program in more than 12,000 schools around the country. The experts will also participate in a moderated question and answer period online.

The webinar will be held Monday, September 12, 2011 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. EDT. Register here.

Urge your member of Congress to support better lunch standards

From the Healthy Schools Campaign:

Earlier this year, we saw an exciting step forward for school food reform when the USDA released a proposal for updated nutrition standards for school food. These standards would add more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat milk to school meals and would require schools to limit the levels of saturated fat, sodium, calories and trans fats served to students.

Now, the USDA is refining the standards based on the input received during a comment period earlier this year (more than 130,000 comments were submitted!) and planning to release the final standards this winter. These updated standards can make an important contribution to improved dietary intake and the long-term health of millions of children across the country; this is especially key given increasing childhood obesity rates and the substantial role school meals play in children's diets.

However, several members of Congress are attempting to stop the USDA’s efforts to complete this process and improve school meals. While attention has been focused on the debt debate, Congress continues to work on other issues key to children’s health, including this issue of nutrition standards for school meals. Now is an important time to raise your voice to help ensure that we don’t lose important progress for healthy school food.

Please take a moment to let your Senators and Representative know that you support healthier school meals by asking them to sign a letter in support of the USDA’s new standards.

The Baltimore County Healthy Kids Coalition urges parents to contact their member of Congress (find yours here) and encourage him/her to support implementing the healthier standards. Hearing from individual voters, rather than simply adding your name to a petition, is a more effective way of getting lawmakers' attention. Below is a sample letter from the Healthy Schools Campaign; feel free to use its language when contacting your lawmaker.

I write to ask you to sign on to the Dear Colleague letter being circulated by Representatives Miller and Polis in support of the updated school meal standards.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition standards for school meals have not been updated in 15 years.  Current meal requirements are too low in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and allow too much salt and unhealthy fats.
USDA has proposed common-sense nutrition standards for school lunches and breakfast to help ensure that all children receive healthy school meals.  Given the sky-high childhood obesity rates and the important role school meals play in children's diets, once implemented, these updated standards will make an important contribution to improved dietary intake and the long-term health of millions of children across the country.

USDA has been working to develop these science-based school meal standards for over 6 years.  Though some worry about the cost of the new standards, the costs are covered via several provisions included in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was enacted into law in December 2010.  Also, USDA plans to provide extensive technical assistance and training to help schools implement the new standards.


Please show your support for these important updates to the school lunch and breakfast programs by signing on to the Miller/Polis "Dear Colleague" letter to USDA urging timely implementation of the proposed school meal standards.


I look forward to hearing if you will sign the letter.

Massachusetts takes huge step in improving school foods

"... The rules, approved unanimously by the state Public Health Council, ban foods with artificial sweeteners, trans fats, and caffeine from schools' a la carte lines, vending machines, stores, events and fundraisers. They also ban fried foods and limit the amount of fat, sodium, and sugar that can be in school foods.

In addition, the regulations require schools to offer unsweetened fruits and vegetables wherever food is sold besides in vending machines, and provide water for free at all times. Breads must be made with whole grain, juices must be 100 percent fruit juice, and flavored milk cannot have more sugar than plain low-fat milk."

Read the full story here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/07/13/health_officials_to_consider_school_snack_rules/

Healthy Kids Coalition featured in Patch.com

Patch.com just posted a story about the Coalition's publication of school-lunch ingredients. Read the story here: http://arbutus.patch.com/articles/parent-coalition-targets-school-lunches

A note of thanks

The Baltimore County Healthy Kids Coalition would like to thank the BCPS Office of Food & Nutrition Services for sharing the lists of ingredients that go into making school lunches. We hope this information will help parents make informed choices, and we hope other school districts will take note and also publicize their ingredients.

This is another step in our work together to make Baltimore County school lunches as healthy as they can be.

Healthy Kids Coalition posts list of school lunch ingredients

The Baltimore County Healthy Kids Coalition filed a formal request for lists of ingredients contained in the entrees that are being served in BCPS elementary schools for the months of May and June 2011. This is information that is not posted on the BCPS website, nor is it readily available to parents.

We then asked a registered dietitian to peruse the ingredients and share her thoughts. Her comments are available alongside the ingredient lists.

The Coalition hopes that seeing a detailed account of what is in the meals being served to our children will help parents make informed decisions about what to serve their kids, and will help jumpstart changes toward healthier school meals. BCPS’ Office of Food and Nutrition has already taken some steps to improve meals, and we look forward to working with them to make further improvements.

To read the ingredient lists, click here.

We hope you find the lists helpful, and we look forward to publishing more in the 2011-12 school year.

And as always, let us know what you think! You can reach us at info@baltimorecountyhealthykids.org.

"Cafeteria Man" showing at Maryland Film Festival on Sunday

Cafeteria Man is a story of positive movement. It’s about the aspiration of social activists and citizens coming together to change the way kids eat at school. It’s about overhauling a dysfunctional nutritional system. And, it’s the story of what it takes, and who it takes, to make solutions happen.

The feature documentary film chronicles an ambitious effort to ‘green’ the public school diet serving 83,000 students in Baltimore. Read more here.

Showing Sunday, May 8 at 5 pm -- details here.

Lunch Line showing in Baltimore on April 13

"An excellent primer on how our school lunch came to be what it is - and thus should be required viewing for anyone seeking to change it. One of the most engaging on-screen history lessons I've ever seen. And, luckily, the lesson is a substantive one." - The Atlantic

Read more about the film here.

Showing at 7:00 pm on April 13 at The Charles. Click here for details.

FDA to look at limiting artificial dyes in food

This is not specifically about lunch menus, but it's an important related topic. From the producers of the film Fresh: "Coloring in our food is linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. These artificial colorants are changing the neurochemistry of our brains. It’s been proven by three decades of studies and Europe has already acted. So why is the FDA still sitting on its hands?

Food safety officials in Europe have moved much more quickly to protect children from artificial dyes. As a consequence, Kellogg, Kraft, McDonald's, and other American companies that do business in Europe use safe, natural colorings there-but harmful, synthetic petrochemicals here.

After years of pressure by activists, the FDA is finally holding a meeting to review this issue on March 30. We'll deliver your comments by the deadline on March 23."

Click here to add your comments that will be sent to the FDA.

NYC cafeterias are ahead of the curve

Some phrases we found interesting in this piece: "all the food looks like food ... food-based menu instead of a nutrient-based menu ... this approach (is) shaping their tastes and ideas about what healthy food is ... less artificial gunk in it."