CUSD Wellness Policy on Physical Activity and Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is there a new nutrition policy?
What is the new CUSD Wellness policy?
What are the specifics of the nutrition policy?
What can parents and teachers do to help?
What foods are served for lunch?
What other programs can we expect from the district to keep our children eating healthy?
Board Policy as pdf
POLÍTICA DE BIENESTAR pdf
| Why is there a new nutrition policy? |
The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 mandates that all local agencies participating in a federal meal reimbursement program establish a Local School Wellness Policy by the beginning of the 2006-07 school year.
- In June 2006, the Board of Education voted to create a healthy-food policy in response to soaring childhood obesity and related deadly disorders.
- Childhood obesity has tripled since 1970.
- Rates of asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and other disorders in children have skyrocketed correspondingly.
- Some researchers say that the current generation of children may be the first in human history to live shorter life spans than their parents' generation.
- Obesity and related health crises are far more severe among African-American, Latino and economically disadvantaged children. The Center for Disease Control states “In the Caucasian population one in every three children will be diagnosed with diabetes or heart disease in their lifetime. One in every two Hispanic or African American children will develop these life threatening conditions.” Public Health officials are concluding that something in our way of life is causing this epidemic of diabetes.
The new district policy prohibits the schools from selling foods with limited nutritional value in their cafeterias or vending machines, as one way of addressing the rising obesity/Type 2 diabetes crisis. Others ways of addressing this problem will include more nutrition education and required daily participation in physical education in grades K – 12. |
| What is the new CUSD Wellness policy? |
| The new district policy prohibits schools from selling unhealthy food in cafeterias or vending machines. It recommends that Fund-raisers and Cultural events adhere to the nutrition and health standards of the board policy. The CUSD policy seeks to ensure all food sold or served is of a higher nutritional quality with an emphasis on providing more fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The CUSD standard requires that each food, snack, or side dish served by itself must not exceed the 35% fat /10% saturated fat and 35% sugar standards mandated in the State Senate Bill 12 that was passed in the spring of 2006. |
| What are the specifics of the nutrition policy? |
| All individual foods and beverages sold on campus outside of reimbursable school meals during the school day, or through programs for students after the school day, will meet the following nutritional standards: |
| Beverages allowed: fruit juices and fruit based drinks that contain at least 50% fruit juice and that do not contain additional caloric sweeteners: water or seltzer water without added caloric sweeteners; unflavored or flavored low-fat or fat-free milk and nutritionally-equivalent nondairy beverages , an example would be soymilk (to be defined by the USDA). |
| Beverages not allowed: soda pop, sports drinks, and iced teas; fruit-based drinks that contain less than 50% real fruit juice and that contain additional caloric sweeteners; drinks containing caffeine, excluding low-fat or fat-free chocolate milk ( which contains trivial amounts of caffeine). |
| Food standards: No food item will exceed 35% of calories from fat (excluding nuts, seeds, and peanut butter and other nut butters) and 10% of calories from saturated and Trans fat combined. No food item will exceed 35% of calories from added sugars – excluding fruits and fruit juices. |
| What can parents and teachers do to help? |
| Because children learn from adults around them, parents, teachers, and staff are encouraged to model good eating habits for students, including providing nutritious food for lunches, school parties, and events, and refraining from using candy or high calorie foods as rewards. Parties during the school day should be limited to no more than one per class per month. Each party should include no more than one food or beverage that does not meet the nutritional standards of the district. The district is working on putting together a list of foods that meet the district’s nutritional standards; this list will be distributed to parents so that they are well-equipped to partner with the schools in promoting child wellness. Parents can volunteer to help in the lunchroom to help offset increased costs of providing healthier options such as a freshly prepared salad bar. Parents can also model and encourage fitness in their daily schedules for themselves as well as their children. Thirty minutes of exercise each day is recommended. |
| What foods are served for lunch? |
| At the elementary level research is being conducted
to find alternate food service providers that will feature fresher, healthier
and more appealing foods. By November salad bars will be incorporated
into the menus at each school. At the intermediate school and the high school
local businesses have joined the effort to provide healthier lunch options:
Moonside Bakery and Straw Hat Pizza have developed and tested recipes
to provide great tasting low fat pizza to the schools. The San Benito
House and Cunha’s Market will be providing healthy sandwiches and
the Half Moon Bay Coffee Company will provide healthy wraps. The
program is called “Main Street to Go” which features one local
restaurant each day. Other restaurants joining the program are: La di
Da, Shiki Japanese Restaurant, Tres Amigos and It’s Italia. |
| What other programs can we expect from the district to keep our children eating healthy? |
| The “Breakfast Club” currently available at the Cuhna, Hatch and Farallone View sites was founded by a group of dedicated parents a few years ago, who recognized the important relationship between eating breakfast and academic performance in class. It is a free breakfast program run entirely by parent volunteers. In November a combined Grab-n-Go breakfast program, coordinated between parent volunteers and the food service department, will be made available at all school sites. This program will allow more students the ability to grab a quick breakfast a half hour before school starts from the cafeteria, and go right off to class with energy to fuel the day. The food service department is also partnering with local farmers to help incorporate more local fresh produce into the student’s meals at school. This is part of a nationwide pilot program called “The Farm to School Initiative”. The garden at Hatch Elementary school which was founded a few years ago by Julie Hosfelt and a group of creative and progressive parents, is part of this initiative.This led to a grant awarded to Maureen Perron, Director of the Community Health Committee to create the "HEAL Project". The "Healthy Eating, Active Living " project integrates hands on gardening/nutrition lessons and increases physical fitness through activities during recess. The garden teacher provides nutrition education lessons in the second and third grades. With the HEAL Project, the food service dept may soon be able to incorporate the produce grown in the garden into the salad bar served in the lunchroom. The students at Hatch are involved from “Farm to Table”, which provides the students positive experiences in growing, learning about and eating nutritious foods. These early learning experiences will help shape their food choices and future health as adults. This is the long-term goal of the Wellness Policy initiatives at CUSD. |
