| Childhood obesity is at alarming levels in | | | | needs to be made aware of how nutrition |
| this county. Children in the San Francisco | | | | choices will affect their health. But it's a |
| Schools are no exception. Too much television | | | | pretty safe bet that the San Francisco |
| and video games, and too little time spent | | | | Schools don't have much extra time to teach |
| playing outside has led to an epidemic of | | | | daily health classes. That's OK, what they're |
| juvenile health issues. It sure doesn't help | | | | doing now might be even better. Schools need |
| that the San Francisco Schools have had to | | | | to lead by example. Just think of the message |
| cut funding for physical education over the | | | | that it sent to children to have soda in |
| years. But the 2007-2008 school year does | | | | vending machines and options like chips, ice |
| have something positive going for it. Several | | | | cream and fatty meals for lunch fare. The San |
| San Francisco Schools will provide fresh | | | | Francisco Schools are setting an example that |
| salad bars, whole grain options, and whole | | | | the rest of the nation needs to emulate. It's |
| fruits and vegetable in their cafeterias. | | | | high time that schools look at the messages |
| Twenty six San Francisco Schools from | | | | they are sending to our children. What Else |
| elementary to high school will benefit from a | | | | Can the San Francisco Schools Do? While |
| half a million dollar grant from the mayor's | | | | healthier school lunches are a huge |
| office and the Department of Children, Youth, | | | | improvement to the San Francisco Schools, the |
| and their families. This is a big deal. The | | | | reality is that every public school district |
| fact that a school district has actually | | | | in the country is struggling to succeed. The |
| recognized the importance of nutrition in | | | | San Francisco Schools experimented with the |
| education is enormous. For the past few | | | | salad bars with pilot programs in a few of |
| decades public education has acted as if the | | | | the schools last year. Hopefully more San |
| only aspect of learning we should worry about | | | | Francisco Schools will follow this example |
| are test scores. The San Francisco Unified | | | | next year. It is more costly for the San |
| School District has been forced to slash the | | | | Francisco Schools to provide this fresher |
| arts, physical education, and anything not | | | | fare than canned vegetables and mystery meat? |
| seen to directly affect standardized tests. | | | | I'm sure it is. But the San Francisco Schools |
| How Does Nutrition Affect San Francisco | | | | will recoup the cost in children who are more |
| Schools Students? Teachers in the San | | | | likely to pay attention (maybe less ADD |
| Francisco Schools know that a child's | | | | diagnoses), higher test scores, children who |
| academic success lies in several factors: | | | | are less fussy, and who appreciate the taste |
| home environment, proper nutrition, and a | | | | of fresh foods. |
| good night sleep greatly impact a student's | | | | |
| ability to pay attention and retain | | | | Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools |
| information. The fast food generation | | | | K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all |
| currently attending the San Francisco Schools | | | | U.S. public and private K-12 schools. |