They Are What They Eat and Drink by Launa Ellison

Obesity in the news... adult and children. Overweight kids become overweight adults. Eat more fruits and vegetables, exercise 60 minutes a day. Schools cutting recess for more study time. What can I do?? My day is too full already!

Last March, a 4 th /5 th classroom in Rochester, MN connected with Mayo Clinic's James Levine and changed their classroom significantly to get more movement! They removed all desks. Students wrote standing by high tables and read while bouncing on exercise balls. Students were more focused and enjoyed school. They learned well. Our bodies are made to move; sitting is unnatural.   (This "school of the future" was featured on both CBS Early and NBC Today shows. I got a copy through the Rochester AV department.)

As you remember from the S.M.A.R.T. training, healthy bodies promote learning. Exercise is an important factor, food and drink are the others. Water is essential to brain function. Inadequate water negatively affects the chemical-electrical synapse process of neurons. If students are drinking soft drinks they are taking in significant calories and the caffeine robs the body of water ( and research now shows that soft drinks actually leach the bones of calcium!). Elementary teachers have found it easiest to have water bottles at students' desks and we strongly encourage you to do that!

Food issues also make an enormous difference in students' learning.
Malnourished children have difficulty paying attention and following directions. These children are often overweight because they are eating junk food and spending more time in front of the television and computer screen than being engaged in physical activity.
To and plant seeds for life long habits and assure your students are involved in making healthy choices:
Make sure they are involved in S.M.A.R.T. activities each and every day of school!
Ask parents to help collect processed food packages and a variety of soup cans to aid in discussion of the benefits of fresh foods.
Invite parents in to observe their child involved in the S.M.A.R.T. program and encourage those activities at home.
Ask students to write down what they know about healthy food. You can use this pretest later to compare diets.
Ask your students to keep a log of what they eat and drink for a week.
Collect news articles about food and have students use the web to understand the new food pyramid.
Bring in a Macdonald's cheeseburger and fries, have students predict when they will mold. Compare it with regular cheese, hamburger and bread. I know someone who has had MacDonald's on a shelf for 2 years.
Make it the policy of your classroom (and schoolwide?) that food brought into your classroom is limited to fruits and vegetables.
Use class transition time....to lunch, the library and playground....for S.M.A.R.T. activities such as cross-pattern walking so that kids are reminded of how important it is and how good it feels to move throughout the day!
There are numerous websites for teaching nutrition to provide you with other age-appropriate ideas.   A couple of suggested books are Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and The ADD Answer by Frank Lawis.  
The bottom line is healthy bodies learn more with greater ease! Enjoy the process of helping students learn and establishing healthy choices. Good teaching!