School Healthy Eating Toolkit Released
The PEI Healthy Eating Alliance, in conjunction with the Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences at UPEI, have developed a nutrition resource called the School Healthy Eating Toolkit. The toolkit, currently being distributed to all elementary schools across PEI, was designed to help schools as they implement new healthy eating policies. The Eastern School District has recently adopted such a policy to begin Fall 2005, with the Western and French (Commission scolaire de langue franand#231;aise) school boards expected to adopt their own in the near future.
The toolkit, which provides practical advice on such topics as healthy food choices at school, food safety, and healthy fund-raising activities, was developed as part of the "Healthy EATS (Eating at School)" project. Funding has been provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Diabetes Strategy which is aimed at developing effective diabetes prevention strategies. A group of 17 lead schools, representing all three school boards, helped develop this toolkit at local networking meetings held across the province. "Schools have been a major partner in developing nutrition polices over the past two years, and they have helped us put together this practical, accessible information which they told us was needed to implement these policies," said Wendy MacDonald, co-chair of the PEI Healthy Eating Alliance (HEA).
The PEI HEA was established in November, 2001. It consists of a diverse group of over 30 individuals and organizations working to improve children's eating habits and reduce the trend towards being overweight. In addition to the toolkit, the UPEI Foods and Nutrition students also designed a pilot peer education healthy eating module in cooperation with the PEI Department of Education. This unique initiative, overseen by registered dietitian Charmaine Campbell, sees grade 11 students assisting children in grades three and four. The series of lessons includes topics such as nutrition and the media, food labels, serving sizes, and food safety. A pilot of this program was run in a Charlottetown school this spring with great success.
It is estimated that children eat as much as 40 per cent of their daily food at school. Dr. Jennifer Taylor, spokesperson for the HEA and chair of the Family and Nutrition Sciences Department at UPEI, states, "Our research indicates that PEI children have poor eating habits which, combined with low activity levels, increases their risk of being overweight and Type 2 Diabetes. This toolkit will offer a starting point for schools to introduce healthy food choices. If we want our children to be healthy, and grow up to be healthy adults, it is critical that we work with schools and families to improve the school food environment."
