North Wales Elementary Students Take Steps to Eat Healthier
A first graders get pizza made with whole-grain crust, one the items served for lunch at North Wales Elementary School. Friday, December 9, 2011. Photo by Geoff Patton, The Reporter.
By LINDA STEIN
Is pizza with whole grain crust still as delicious? Students at North Wales Elementary School think so.
The whole-grain pizza is just one change on the school cafeteria menu that the school made this fall to meet the criteria to apply for the HealthierUS School Challenge.
North Wales is piloting the program that may be extended into other North Penn Schools, said Pamela Gallagher, coordinator of school nutrition services.
“We’re really excited about this,” said Gallagher.
For the challenge the school must give students foods with whole grains three times a week, supply different vegetables and fruits daily and offer beans or legumes.
Beans are a low-fat, high-protein food and the students like the three-bean salad and corn with black bean salad offered, she said. But they weren’t something that had been on a typical school lunch menu. Also, some a la carte foods have changed to items lower in fat and sugar, she said.
If the U.S. Department of Agriculture recognizes North Wales as a HealthierUS School, it will receive a certificate and $500, she said.
“This was our pilot program and the reason we picked it is our very supportive health council at the school and parents and school community that are supportive of change,” said Gallagher.
Principal Joseph Covone agreed that the school’s health council, a parent-led group that started about five years ago, is very active. The group sponsors a Walk to School Day and the Go for the Greens in March. The students also have Jump Rope Jams and a Whale Walk after students take the PSSAs. The council is part of Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity.
“The idea is to get the children physically active and create good choices,” said Covone.
There’s also an annual lunch with first-graders and their parents, he said, that helps first-graders get comfortable with the cafeteria setting.
The HealthierUS Schools program is part of an initiative by first Lady Michelle Obama to combat childhood obesity called Let’s Move.
The school’s application had to be approved by state officials before it could be sent off to the Department of Agriculture, he said.
“We thought it was the next logical step,” he said.
WISE SNAC, part of the Health Promotion Council, also weighed in on the application, according to program manager Courtney Grove.
Some third-graders, who had favorite food choices on the school lunch menu, seemed happy with their school’s offerings.
“”My favorite food would be the pasta,” said Owen McKee, 8, of North Wales. “I always liked noodles.”
Julia Hauser, 9, also of North Wales, likes the cheese and bread “matchsticks” the cafeteria serves.
Amber Cavallaro, 9, of North Wales enjoys the hoagies.
“You can pick your toppings,” she said. “They have tomatoes and stuff.”
Codi Parkinson, 8, a Montgomeryville resident, said he likes the pizza best.
“I don’t like mine with pepperoni,” said Parkinson. “I like it plain.”
Stein, Linda. (2011, Dec. 12). North Wales Elementary students take steps to eat healthier. The Reporter. Retrieved from http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2011/12/12/news/doc4ee5743652ebb142177473.txt?viewmode=fullstory