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How Mealtimes Can Set the Stage for Better Learning, Behavior and
Health in ChildrenInstructor’s Name
ProgramDate
Purpose• Raise awareness of the important role school
cafeterias play in helping children create positive relationships with food.
• Share tips to make mealtime pleasant for students.
• Review the link between nutrition and learning. – School meals programs are an essential (but, often
overlooked) element in successful learning and education.
Who should be concerned about mealtime at school?
• School Food Service Staff• School Administrators• Teachers• Aides• Students• Parents• Coaches• Communities
Schools have the opportunity to create and support a
Pleasant and Positive Mealtime Environment.
(So, what is that?!)
Welcome to Comfortable Cafeterias
Pleasant & Positive Mealtime Environment:
• A time for students to relax, socialize and nourish their bodies and minds.
• Students eat better, behave better and score higher when the mealtime environment is positive.
• Kids are overfed, but undernourished. School meals provide key nutrients and may be the only reliable meal of the day.
• A learning laboratory for developing healthy eating habits and acceptable mealtime behaviors.
Pleasant & Positive Mealtime Environment:
• School meals could be the best part of the school day. (Good food in a safe, welcoming place. Shows that schools value the importance of mealtime.)
• Do adults prefer to eat in a pleasant environment? Do students deserve the same courtesy?
• What are we teaching children when we rush them through meals?
Sometimes cafeterias are not so inviting…..
• Students are pressured to eat.• Supervising adults are not trained to be
supportive at mealtime.• Students are not allowed to talk during meals. • Meals are consumed in a hurry to get outside
or due to not enough time to eat. • Other situations…….
A Positive Mealtime Approach
• This training addresses a variety of issues and how to turn these issues into positive mealtime practices.
• A Positive Mealtime Approach requires effective teamwork and communication amongst administrators, teachers, aides, food service, students and parents.
Why is this important?• The experiences which kids have NOW with
food/meals will shape their FUTURE and LIFE-LONG relationships with food. The goal is to develop capable, competent (and healthy) eaters.
• Meals consumed at school are essential to the growth of healthy students- bodies, minds, and behaviors.
• It’s good for the bottom line. Paying customers. Higher participation= more $.
Based on the Ellyn Satter Approach to Feeding and the Division of
Responsibility in Feeding
www.ellynsatter.com
Ellyn Satter Approach
• Kids eat better if they are not pressured.
• Kids eat unpredictably, waste food, and are leery of trying new foods.
• Kids stop eating and drinking when they are full.
Division of Responsibility in Feeding
• Adults decide the what, when and where of feeding at school.
• Children decide the whether they will choose to eat the foods offered and how much to eat.
How do kids eat?
• Very differently than adults do• Cautious about new food and about new
people cooking it (Esp. ages 2-6 yrs)• Learn by repeated experience. (6-8 weeks,
over 20 times)• Like to be in control of their eating, with
supportive adults present, in a pleasant setting, with enough time to eat. (20-30 minutes after they sit down with their tray)
How do kids eat?
• They like choices• They want to feel safe with food on their tray
(not scared that they will be forced to eat it, pressured to try a bite, etc.)
• They listen and respond to their own hunger and satiety cues.
• They know how much they need to eat and drink at mealtime.
How do kids eat?
• They waste food. • They won’t eat food that is unappealing to
them.• They need limits and guidance on how to
respectfully decline food.• They like to eat and socialize with friends.
Remember the Division of Responsibility?
• Adults decide the what, when and where of feeding at school.
• Children decide the whether they will choose to eat the foods offered and how much to eat.
What is the role of the School Food Service Staff?
• A very important one!• Provide eye-appealing, tasty, colorful, fresh
meals in a pleasant environment• Decide the what (what foods served on the
menu.) Introduction to new foods.• Decide the when (timing of meals)• Decide the where (location of meals)• Make customers feel safe, welcomed and
valued! Help with respectful manners.
What is the role of School Staff (any adult) in the Lunchroom?
• A very important one!• Make customers feel safe, welcomed and
valued! Help with respectful manners.• Allow children to try new food at their own
pace and let them decide how much to eat.• Teach social skills- inside voices, eating
etiquette, use of utensils, gauging time to eat before dismissal- eating vs. talking
• Teach children to make choices in a respectful manner.
These things are NOT the responsibility of School Staff
• Getting children to eat a minimum amount of food or milk.
• Forcing, bribing, pressuring to try a new food item. (Please don’t use a one bite rule)
• Taking it personally if students decline or dislike what was prepared.
• Over-riding their bodies’ hunger/fullness cues. (“Finish your milk.”)
What happens when the lines of responsibility are crossed?
• Children are conditioned to “over-ride/ignore their hunger/satiety cues.
• Emotional eating. (Good foods/bad foods)• Fearful of school meals and of new foods.• Kids who are pressured to eat, eat less.• Kids who don’t get enough to eat, tend to overeat at
the next opportunity.• The start of an unbalanced relationship.• Bribing, rewarding, etc. backfire in the end.
What about these situations?
• The Clean Plate Club.• The One Bite Rule.• The No Dessert Until You’ve Eaten Your
Vegetables Rule.
Should schools use these rules? NO!
The Meal Patternfor a Reimbursable School Meal
– How to serve it in a pleasant manner– Offer vs. Serve– Be encouraging, respectful, receptive
Consider a Mealtime Philosophy
• Basis for training all staff who are in the cafeteria.
• Supports a pleasant eating environment.• Helps children learn life-long skills in
developing a healthy relationship with food.• Simple, direct, easy to follow. See example
provided. • Post it in cafeteria, share with parents.
Best Practices for School Lunch
• 10 Steps provided on handout.– Enough time to eat, 20 minutes after sitting down
with tray– Use a Recess Before Lunch Schedule– Follow the Division of Responsibility in Feeding – Encourage adults to model healthy habits in the
cafeteria.
What to Say and What Not to Say in School Cafeterias
Phrases that HINDER• Finish your milk.
• You didn’t eat enough of your lunch.
Phrases that HELP• Are you still thirsty?• Are you finished with
your milk?• Did you get enough to
eat today?• Are you finished with
your lunch?
What to Say and What Not to Say in School Cafeterias
Phrases that HINDER• You need to try one bite of
that.• Please take a “No, thank
you” bite for the cook.• You should try that, it is
really good.
Phrases that HELP• You are in charge of
choosing which foods on your tray to eat.
• Everybody likes different foods, don’t they?
• You don’t have to eat it.• You might decide to try a
bite of that next time.
What to Say and What Not to Say in School Cafeterias
Phrases that HINDER• No dessert until you
have eaten all of your (main dish, fruit and vegetables, or the rest of your lunch tray.)
Phrases that HELP• We serve dessert with
lunch.• Everyone gets one
serving of dessert .
What to Say and What Not to Say in School Cafeterias
Phrases that HINDER• Hurry, you only have
five more minutes to finish your lunch!
Phrases that HELP• You have five more
minutes to enjoy your lunch.
• Fill up your tummies in the next five minutes.
Other examples from your schools?
Let’s Practice
Other things to consider:
• Discipline during meal periods• Other situations?
– Always fall back on the Division of Responsibility and the role of the adults.
Problem-Solving- What can a school do?
– Training of staff by role modeling and use of this resource
– Follow a Positive Mealtime policy and include in staff handbooks
• Staff turnover• Life-long and personal beliefs about food and eating.
– Schedule adequate time for students to eat their meals (20 minutes SEAT time.)
– Other ideas?
Cafeteria Supervision
• What do you like about your role in supervising children in the cafeteria?
• What would make adult’s job duties in the cafeteria go more smoothly?
• Sharing of techniques to manage noise level and flow of students
• What works well in your schools?• Any feedback on Recess Before Lunch?
References
• Ellyn Satter, www.EllynSatter.com • Dr. Janice Fletcher and Dr. Laurel Branen,
University of Idaho, Feeding Young Children in Group Settings
• Katie Appel-Goble, MT School Food Service Peer Educator.
Questions/Comments
• Check out OPI School Nutrition Programs website for more useful resources:
http://www.opi.mt.gov/Programs/SchoolPrograms/School_Nutrition/
• Montana Team Nutrition http://
opi.mt.gov/Programs/SchoolPrograms/School_Nutrition/MTTeam.html
• New Dietary Guidance- Choose My Platehttp://www.choosemyplate.gov/
Healthy KidsHealthy Communities
Together
Everyone
Achieves
More
Insert Instructor’s contact information here.
Thank you!