Your Health

Menu makeover

Studies show that students who eat healthy food regularly come to school prepared to learn, focus and cope with change, says Lori Tighe, Superintendent of the Inner City District with the Winnipeg School Division.

"Adolescent bodies are already out of whack, because of the raging hormones, so what they're eating definitely has an effect on them," says Tighe, who stresses the importance of a healthy breakfast, so children have better memory recall and behaviour.

For the past 30 years, the Winnipeg School Division has operated a breakfast program for children from nursery school through to Grade 12 who are not getting enough to eat at home. The nutrition program exposes kids to foods they may not have eaten before, and ensures they are eating a balanced meal of fruit, vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals and milk.

As for lunch, schools are increasingly changing menus and improving the nutritional value of food offered in their cafeterias and vending machines. The WSD adopted a nutrition policy in 2007 that stopped the selling of pop, chocolate bars and chips in vending machines, and supports education about proper nutrition in physical education and health education classes. WSD cafeterias now sell water, milk and fruit juices, but not pop or junk food. High school cafeterias have guidelines that restrict fast food, such as french fries and hamburgers, so these are served less frequently.

"The food is reasonably priced, and includes items such as soups, salads and sandwiches," says Tighe. She cited Gordon Bell High School as an example of the division's food policy in action, noting the cafeteria offers nutritious, inexpensive meals with a nod to the many ethnicities that make up the student population. "Schools look to their community and the foods that represent the cultures. For example, one school may have bannock and wild rice on the menu, and another may have spicy African or Caribbean foods."

Other school districts throughout the province follow a similar junk food ban, following provincial guidelines to counteract rising rates of obesity and other health problems in children.

Back to "Making the grade"

	About Wave Wave is published six times a year by the Winnipeg Health Region in cooperation with the Winnipeg Free Press. It is available at newsstands, hospitals and clinics throughout Winnipeg, as well as McNally Robinson Books. Read the Fall 2009 issue of Wave