DASH diet helps children reduce high blood pressure

Today more than 15 percent of school-aged children diagnosed as overweight or obese have an increased risk of developing high blood pressure.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan aims to help these children and their families prevent and control high blood pressure.

According to recent studies, DASH eating plans that are rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy have been proven to lower children’s blood pressure levels over time.

There are many free resources available to help students Get the Facts about DASH.

For more information on how to educate students about hypertension, visit www.dashdietoregon.org.

School bids offer expanded dairy food options

With school bid season just around the corner, now is the time to review your menus and find new ways to introduce nutrient-rich foods to your students.

With an array of menu options, it can be difficult to determine what nutritious foods your students will love. This serves as a great opportunity to get students involved in your school's 2010-2011 menu planning.

There are several fun taste testing activities you can implement to find out what foods students like, while teaching them about the importance of nutrition.

Taste testing activities include:

Taste Test Days: Organize a series of "taste test" days to have students try different healthy food options.  Have students try new and current menu items.

Salad Bar Tryouts: Work with students and the school nutrition manager to design and create a salad bar in your cafeteria. Use students' input to ensure you include choices they will eat. Hold "salad bar tryouts" to help select the right foods.

Build your Own Shake-Up: Add a "Build-Your-Own Shake Up Bar" in your school cafeteria, encouraging students to try new smoothie combinations. Encourage students to drink nutrient-rich low-fat or fat-free yogurt and fruit smoothies. 

Recipe Contest: Hold monthly recipe contests for new breakfast or lunch items and build students’ interest in making healthy eating choices. To help students get the calcium they need, encourage them to include low-fat dairy foods in their recipes.

Don't forget to consider the many different ways you can include low-fat or fat-free dairy into your breakfast and lunch menus.  

Milk: Your students will enjoy fueling up with flavored milk served in 8-ounce plastic or paper containers. Add plastic recyclable bottles to your bid. For more information regarding New Look of School Milk assessments, click here or contact your SUDIA representative.  

• If your milk coolers need to be replaced, don't forget to check with your State Department of Education about the new cafeteria grant program.

Yogurt: Increase the healthy options on your à la carte yogurt line by including smoothies, drinkable yogurts, yogurt parfaits and 4- to 8-ounce yogurt cartons. Consider using new yogurt dispensers to set up a yogurt bar at breakfast and lunch. Contact your local processor for more details.

Cheese: Snack size square cheese or string cheese make quick, easy-to-eat dairy options. Choose from popular flavors including cheddar, mozzarella, pepper jack and many more.  These cheese snacks supply essential nutrients and have fewer calories than other empty calorie foods.

Recycling: Work with district facilities managers to identify recycling opportunities in your schools. If your waste management contract is up for renewal, investigate which companies are willing to collect materials. Send out a bid to ensure best services and price. For more information on recycling plastic milk bottles in your district, go to our schools page at www.southeastdairy.org.

Are you ready for National School Breakfast Week?

National School Breakfast Week, March 8-12, is just a few weeks away and now is the time to get "Ready, Set, Go!" with your school breakfast plans.

The 2010 National School Breakfast Week campaign, "School Breakfast – Ready, Set, Go!" introduces students to the importance of eating a well-balanced breakfast each day.

How can you get involved?

1) Get ready to make breakfast more accessible and attractive to students. Breakfast programs you can implement include:

• Grab-N-Go Breakfast: Organize a "grab-n-go" breakfast station at a high-traffic area where students can grab breakfast before school.
• Breakfast in the Classroom: Organize a "breakfast in the classroom" program that provides students with nutritious, easy-to-eat breakfast foods during class.

2) Set your sights on strategies that will encourage students to eat breakfast at school.

• A Hero's Breakfast: Promote healthy breakfast choices by hosting a monthly "hero’s breakfast" for invited community heroes or celebrities, such as firefighters, policemen, sports figures or other personalities.

3) Contact your SUDIA program account manager for more information about breakfast programs you can implement in your school.

USDA joins Fuel-Up to Play 60 campaign, FREE program kits available

Today, one-third of American children are overweight or obese.

To help in the fight against childhood obesity, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has joined the Fuel Up To Play 60 (FUTP60) campaign in cooperation with the National Football League (NFL), National Dairy Council (NDC), multiple health organizations and several major corporations.

FUTP60, aimed to diminish childhood obesity in the United States, encourages students to play for 60 minutes each day and to eat healthy foods such as low-fat milk, cheese and yogurt.

With the addition of the USDA, the FUTP60 program is gaining credibility as an effective health and fitness program for students across the nation.

To join the program and take a stand against childhood obesity, order your FREE Fuel-Up to Play 60 Wellness Activation Kit today.  

Each kit includes:

• Activity ideas to support healthy eating and physical activity.
• Colorful display materials customized with NFL Team insignia for hallways, classrooms and your cafeteria.
• Ideas and tips for expanding wellness activities to include your community.
• E-newsletters and access to online materials for all school personnel who enroll.

In partnership with the NFL, NDC and USDA, SUDIA is providing free Fuel Up to Play 60 Wellness Activation Kits to all Southeast schools. Only one kit is allotted per school; however, there is no limit to the number of wellness champions that can receive the e-newsletters. 

For more information about the Fuel Up to Play 60 program or to order your free kit, visit www.fueluptoplay60.com.

Add a little pizzazz to your cafeteria this Pizza Pie Day

It's no secret that most kids' favorite school food is pizza. This Pizza Pie Day, February 9, pay tribute to this popular menu item by teaching students about the nutritional value and history of pizza.

• Start by posting photos and images of varying styles of pizza from different cultures around the cafeteria. Include some fun pizza facts in your signage and displays. For example, most students don’t know that the word "pizza" is a derivative of the Latin word "picea," used to describe the blackening of bread in an oven. For image ideas, click here.
• Set up a station or create posters to show students the nutritional value of pizza. Include facts about the nutrients found in low-fat cheese, whole grain crust and other healthy pizza toppings.

This Pizza Pie Day, also consider offering students fresh pizza. Domino’s recently launched a new line of fresh pizza, Smart Slice, specially designed for schools. To learn how schools across the country are successfully incorporating this fresh pizza into their lunch menus, click here.

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In this issue:

DASH diet helps children reduce high blood pressure

School bids offer expanded dairy food options

Are you ready for National School Breakfast Week?

USDA joins Fuel-Up to Play 60 campaign, FREE program kits available

Add a little pizzazz to your cafeteria this Pizza Pie Day