For the first time, an annual report from Trust for America's Health included state-by-state figures on childhood obesity, showing that Washington, D.C., was first with 22.8 percent of its children overweight. Missouri ranked 15th in this report. Jim Marks, a senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Founndation, which sponsored the study, said, "(the report) is a devastating indictment". "The nation is in the middle of a public health crisis that is deteriorating rapidly, and we are treating it like an inconvenience". Marks also stated, "These children could be the first generation to live sicker and die younger than their parents".
Knowing this information, what do you think we as teachers of elementary children can do in the classroom? Is there anything that could be done by teachers to inform parents? Please comment.
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This is a blog created for students in EDU 345 & EDU 545 at Lindenwood University. Use this blog to help you understand other people's point of view! Have fun. Patt Kellar
71 comments:
I believe there is much we can do.
The numbers that are in this are disturbing. I didn't know that our statistics were so high.
I think that teachers should work on getting their classroom more interactive. By getting up and doing a nature hike or scavenger hunt, children can get a little activity in that they may have not of received otherwise.
I believe that it is the main responsibility of the parents to instill good eating habbits in their child. However, since they are at school a lot, we can do little things to help them make healthier choices. Teaching them early on in their education will help lessen the chance of becoming overweight. When the students are rewarded they could be given mini bananas or fruit related snacks i.e. yogurt. If we did this maybe they would aquire the taste to eat healthy foods earlier. If we as teachers do this we should also explain why this is a healthier choice than junk food or candy.
The best thing that teachers can do in the elementary classroom is simply to keep children informed. Of course, many will be too young to fully understand the long-term consequences. At the same time, though, many still look up to teachers, and are likely to listen to them if they encourage healthy choices.
Bridgette mentioned that parents will be most effective in instilling good eating habits in their children, and this is true. On the other hand, many parents may not fully understand how to keep themselves and their children healthy. If a teacher already sends out a weekly newsletter, they could always include one section with tips on such things. Also, they could volunteer to lead a "training session", where parents could come in and learn more about keeping their children healthy.
Also, like Brittany said, we can have the students be more active.
I completely agree with Bridgette 100%. For instances some of the ways that we could try to instal good eating habits is show and explain all of the food groups and make up little activities for the students to all participate in. This will get them excited and maybe have them keep a journal about what they eat for every meal over the weekend, this could be brought in and talked about why and if they thought that what they ate was a good choice or bad. Because we are only teachers we can only push certain strings and no over cross our boundaries.
Teachers can do much with physical fitness.
I think there are quite a few things that we can do as teachers. First, set a good example. As a teacher, pick healthy foods in the lunch line or pack a healthy lunch to bring to school. Also, be active during P.E., especially in younger grades. If a student sees a teacher just sitting on the sidelines, what kind of a message is that sending to the student? Also, talk about food, not just WHAT foods are healthy, but WHY certain foods are better choices and WHY they are considered healthy. Bringing examples into a classroom would be an idea...tasting party Fridays or something (or at least once a month). Teachers could offer "stretch times" for when students seem to be lagging, either right before or right after lunch, just to get some blood moving and the brain juices flowing, kind of like a 7th inning stretch. There are plenty of things teachers can do IN the classroom, but it's the meetings that go on outside of the classroom between educational higher-ups that we need to approach - keep physical education, art, and music alive in our schools - they are way too important to skip out on!
I agree with Bridgette that it is mainly the parents responsibility to inform their children on healthy eating habits. However, teachers can do little things that can help in a big way. I think if the kids had longer P.E. times and if they had health class longer, that could help. Also, eliminating all the unhealthy foods and replacing them with healthy foods could take the desire away. There is only so much a teacher can say to a parent about teaching nutrition and not making the parent feel like they are being criticized. One way to inform the parents could be to let them know what healthy activities you are teaching in the classroom. For instance, teaching different exercises and activities and then having their homework be that they need to go home and try one and then write about it. This could show the parents what their kids are learning in school and maybe they will participate in the activity with their child. I also, like what Megan said about having a training session. That could be very informative for the parents.
In my opinion, the most important thing teachers can do is as Melissa said, set a good example. As teachers children as constantly trying to emulate what we do and if we are seen munching on candy bars and sitting on the sidelines as PE, this doesn't send the right message to kids. I also feel that it is vital to educate kids and make them more aware of healthier choices that are out there. I also feel as an educator that it is our responsibility either get a healthy lunch program initiated or maintain healthy lunch programs at our schools. As someone else mentioned tasting parties and stretching throughout the day are all easy and healthy ways to get and keep kids involved in making healthy choices.
I agree with Melissa. As a teacher we should set good examples. One of my professors told me that the new cool thing is for teachers to eat pretzels and drink diet coke. Well, if this is true, that is not a good example. Soda should be eliminated and substituded with something such as water, or crystal light. Also, let your students know that you participate in physical activity outside of the classroom. This will encourage them to get some exercise as well. By setting a good example only postive results will follow.
i agree with Brittany as classroom teachers there are many things we can do to get our students more active by planning our lessons with interactions and activities to get the children up and moving. I also agree with Bridgette in that we should encourage our students to have healthier eating habits and if we start this at a younger age they are more likely to have healthy eating habits through their life.
I agree with Brigette and Melissa. I think that parents have a lot to do with teaching their children how to live a healthy lifestyle, but teachers also play an important role because are with them a good majority of their week. They are a role model for the students. Teachers should make sure they are bringing healthy lunches to school and the students will see this. When having treats in class, try to make them healthy and get the students involved. The whole class could make a healthy treat together. Including lessons on health is also important. I know there isn't a lot of time to fit in these lessons with all the things that have to be covered for the MAP tests, but we need to find a way. Doing a short activity on nutrition or health at least once a week will help out tremendously.
The students need more time inP.E. classes. They should have P.E. at least two times a week. This will get the students more active.
I think it is mainly the responsibility of the parents, but there may be some things we as teachers can do to help. We can help students make better choices on the things they eat. For snack time we could send home a letter to parents to let parents know the kinds of things that should be considered for a snack. We can try to make our classrooms more interactive and have more activity that involves moving around. The only thing we can really do for parents is to keep them informed.
I agree it is the main responsibility of the parents to make sure their child is eating healthy, however I believe it is also a responsibility of a teacher to help inform students and parents on health and provide healthy opportunities. In my Elementary Education PE class I realized I must incorporate physical activity in every subject as much as possible. Even a subject such as math can get students running around to find the right answer card and so on. It is also important for teachers to never take away a child's recess time for bad behavior. Teachers need to encourage and initiate games at recess that are fun and require physical activity such as skipping, jumproping, or playing basketball. Of course, healthy snacks should always be given and encouraged. As for the parents, teahcers can show a movie, share devistating statistics and diseases, provide easy healthy recipes, and discuss healthy at every parent teacher conference.
I feel that it is mainly the parents' responsibility for what the child eats at lunchtime etc, but the teacher can provide healthy snacks in the morning or afternoon. Also, teachers need to inform the students of healthier alternatives. I agree with Bonnie in that activities should and can be incorporated in all classes. Even just having the kids get up and stretch and jog in place for a couple of minutes is good. Little activities throughout the day all add up to more than you think. As teachers, we should all be trying to think of new ways in which we can involve physical activities into our lessons.
I currently work in an Early Childhood classroom and my school has come up with a daily program called "Power Kids." This program includes about twenty minutes of stretching, light cardio, and actually lifting water bottles as weights. Its a great way to get the children moving and up in motion. I think that this is a great start towards incorporating a healthy lifestyle into young childrens lives.
I notice a lot of people commenting foremost on how it's primarily the parent's responsibility to worry about children's nutrition. I do agree, as parents are in control of the majority of their children's meals. At the same time, though, we shouldn't focus on what we can't control! Teachers can ALSO have a huge impact on their students, and it is definitely our responsibility to do so if we can, especially if their parents aren't the most health-conscious!
First, eliminating PE is not an option. These children need health and Physical education just as much as they need any other education. Second, playtime is not only good for their bodies but also for their minds. Children will become tired and unable to think clearly without moving around, particularly after lunch. As teachers, doing activities that engage movement is our responsibility, plus it keeps thing interesting. Science project that involve going outdoors or an activity that gets them out of their set are good ideas. Children should be able to utilize their active bodies during all times of the day.
I did not realize how high the statistics were. It does seem that this problem will get out of hand if we don't acknowledge that it is a problem. The teachers can do a lot for the children while they are in school. They can have different lessons that present healthy food choices in multiple ways. But really that only goes so far. The material that is taught in school needs to be reinforced at home. Its crucial that parents are on board with the issue and that there is cooperation between the teacher and the parents. I think ultimately that will have great impact on this situation.
As teachers we can educate students about healthy eating and the importance of exercise. The students can bring home what they learn by getting their parents involved. They could do this by having an assignment where they track what they eat and the exercise they get and have the parents sign the daily log. They could do this assignment for a couple of weeks.
As teachers we can educate students about healthy eating and the importance of exercise. The students can bring home what they learn by getting their parents involved. They could do this by having an assignment where they track what they eat and the exercise they get and have the parents sign the daily log. They could do this assignment for a couple of weeks.
February 19, 2009 4:40 PM
I think that teachers should be required to teach about health and nutrition. maybe they could somehow incorporate healthy foods and habits into their lessons. If students are allowed snack they should only be allowed to bring healthy foods. I agree with Brittany Prater, it would be a good idea to get students out of their seats and incourage them to be more active.
I agree with Bridgette. I think it is the parents job first to instill a healthy lifestyle into their child's life. As teachers we can help with this by doing lessons on good eating habits and getting the students up and moving in the classroom.
Can we get parents to intervene? We can’t even get parents more involved with their child’s after school programs or homework. Approach any parent with a child in school and ask them when the last time they read a book to their child or helped them with their homework. Painfully, the answer would be intriguing. Most of the time parents feel that they have too many other things in their lives and often forget about their own child’s wellbeing. Parents would rather throw money at their child for school lunches than to stop and pack their lunch for them. Parents often feel they don’t have the time and if the child has no parents at all (which is at an increasing rise), to often the child isn’t properly taken care of. So where does the responsibility fall? Of course the responsibility is with the parents or legal guardians, but can you really count on them? Because of this I feel the schools, state and federal government need to take action through educational programs in the school mandated by the state, federal school lunch programs and the absence of vending machines in all private and public schools nation wide at all grade levels including college. The federal government can step in and regulate national advertisements and implement tighter restriction with the food administration, but sadly this will never happen until parents start outliving their children.
I agree with Bridgette, that it is the parents responsibilty to teach their child about healthy eating habits. As elementary school teachers, those young students look up to us, so by choosing healthy foods that the students see us eat will be a good example. I also think that we should teach them about healthy eating. It may be the parents job to fix them a healthy meal, but what do students know about eating healthy at a young age. We need to teach them that eating healthy now will effect what will happen to them in the future.
I think that teachers should require parents to bring only healthy snacks for their children at school. If parents will not provide those healthy snacks, then I think it is time for the school to step in and provide those snacks for the children. The gym classes should also be made longer. But in reality, the length isn't event the problem in some schools, it is more the teachers. I know in my high school, we weren't made to do anything. The teachers told us the activity for the day but it was our choice if we wanted to do or just walk around. As long as we were moving in some way, they didn't care. We need to have more physical education teachers instead of people just trying to earn an easy paycheck.
Children learn by watching. I think that if teachers are good role models and show the students what a healthy snack looks like instead of letting the kids bring cookies and chips for snack it could make a world of difference. Removing soda machines from school would be a good place to start as well. The teachers may not realize how big of an impression they are making on their students.
Maybe during the nice months the classes could go outside more. Not run a mile every period, but do an activity that would require some walking or stretching even. Making shapes with their bodies, life size math problems, or teaching about wind using the parachutte.
Parents also pay a vital role. Inforcing the healthy snack with parents may be diffucult at first but worth it in the end. Eating junk is not going to help their minds be productive,have energy, or be able to concentrate.
On what nicholas said, certain high schools in the area around my house have eliminated soda machines and vending machines on campus. It definitly reduces the amount of soda the students take in, but does not completely do away with it. I think that by the time students are in high school, they are so far into their regular routines that it is hard to get the students to listen to what is right. If the lunch programs in elementary schools were more structured in what they gave the children for lunch, then better habits would be formed early enought to have a strong effect. Some schools are saying that they are trying to get the students to make healthy choices by adding some healthy snacks in the lunchline. But does the presence of an apple in the lunchline matter if they put it next to french fries? They know that the students are more likely to pick the bad choices, so the healthy snacks tend to sit there untouched.
I think that we as teachers need to become more activiely involved in their everyday life, not just in the classroom. We need to model good eating behavor in front of them. For example, during lunch, we need to eat healthy and by the students watching what we eat, they would see that and hopefully follow that same path. In the classroom, I would plan more activities that would get them up out of their seats or possibily take them outside. For example, if I were teaching a unit on measurement, I would have them run or skip the distance and then they could measure that. P.E. also needs to be a priority everyday because they need to have that physical activity on a daily basis. Teachers could have a Parent Night at their school where a child nutritionist would come and talk about the negetative effects of overweight children. They would then offer ways to improve daily eating habits as well as more ways to stay active.
Lots of these suggestions are great. You will have to be careful about giving foods to kids in your classroom and when you give it. You have to watch out for food allergies and you probably won't be able to give kids any food before lunch or you will end up with a grievance filed against you by the cafeteria staff. Also, you will not be eating lunch with the kids under most circumstances. If you have spent any time in an elementary cafeteria, you know that you will NOT want to eat there!! In the schools in my area, the only recess is during the lunch period. You will be so busy eating your own lunch, calling parents and making copies, etc. that you won't be outside with the kids during that time, so it's sometimes tough to influence the kids when they need it.
One suggestion that hasn't come up is making some sort of activity "homework". That could work very well, especially in younger grades when there isn't much homework assigned. I have a friend who includes exercise on her kids' chore charts, just to get them moving a little. Other times that you may have influence over children are in after school activities or things with your own kids. I just started the Fit and Fun badge with my daughter's Junior Scout troop and we are having a race to see who can get to the end of the exercise chart in 2 weeks.
We all do things that we know aren't good for us. We eat too many french fries, have a few too many at Mardi Gras, stay up too late, etc. We need to focus on teaching moderation, not just eliminating all sweets from childrens' diets.
This is crazy. I see if everyday, kids are def. getting bigger and bigger.... more unhealthy as the years go by. I think it is very sad. As a pre-service teacher I do believe there is a lot we can do to stop childhood obesity or at least slow it down. I think there are a lot of teachers that contribute to the obesity growth among students by rewarding them with unhealthy treats in the classroom. Treats are not bad but it would be better to reward them with healthy snacks. Ultimately I think the real problem is the parents and the eating habits they teach their children.
I too agree with all of the comments posted thus far. One problem that I see as a parent, is the way that food is glorified on television and in the media. As a family, It seems that most family functions focus on food. Birthdays, class reunions, weddings, family reunions, sporting events and holidays all have an abundance of decadent food choices. What is a celebration without cake, cookies, cupcakes, soda, and all of the junk food? Children and adults usually do not celebrate with salad or green beans. I think we as teachers do have to focus on good eating habits, but we must be careful not to take it to an extreme. This can often lead children to indulge endlessly on bad food choices when a parent or teacher is not around. My sister in law is so strict with her children regarding food choices that they bring healthy snacks to grandma's house and are not allowed to have birthday cake or cookies under any circumstances. This is too extreme. Children do need to be children and I believe that moderation is the key. Schools and Teachers do have a responsibility to teach children about making healthy food choices and activity, but as a Weight Watcher you learn that it is not as much what you eat but how much you eat. Having a piece of pie or cake is not a crime because we all enjoy a goodie now and then, but we must teach children that if we have that cake or pie we need to move a little more to burn the calories we have consumed. Weight Watchers also teaches their members that no food is a bad food. I believe education is key in teaching children how the body works to burn its fuel. If children understand that our bodies must use or store what it consumes they will become more conscious about food choices and amounts they have consumed. I also believe that children should have physical education daily because moving and building strong bodies will make them more capable of settling down in the classroom and increase their concentration.
I think as teachers we should guide our students into healthier eating habits by doing more health related lessons and activities. You could not only help show better ways of eating, but good exercising tips. The school's also need to increase P.E. time for elementary students and make better choices on food choices for the cafeterias. Schools have been cutting down students soda and candy intake, but what about all the of the greasy food they serve? They need to provide healthier foods for the students. Teacher and the school should also send home articles or even newletters about healthy eating and fitness to encourage all of this at home as well.
Although I feel the main responsibility falls on the parents, I think we as teachers can have a big impact as well. Like Melissa said, our example can make a huge difference. Kids, especially in the younger grades, try to emulate their teachers. What are our examples saying about what we think is important? Also, like Christy said, we should involve physical activity in our lessons and try to find ways to get students out of their seats as much as possible.
Without taking everyone's ideas, I will just simply say that I agree with everyone's responses as a whole. There are particular pieces of everyone's comments that I agree with. Health Nutrition should start with the parents. It is their responsibility to take action and to help their children grow healthy and observe healthy habits. I believe that it is important that children should have physical education classes everyday, not just once or twice a week. It is a very important class that should be given more credit to. Some schools are starting to allow only one choice per child via the ala carte line. This is then, in turn, only giving the children one choice of a non-healthy food (snacks, soda, ice cream, etc) where in the past there were never regulations on this matter. I believe this may help a lot because it will decrease the intake of junk foods, but I also think that it is important to incorporate physical activity into some of the lessons that we, as potential teachers, should do each day once we become teachers. There are so many different ways that we could go about fixing this problem, but in my opinion, no one is doing anything about it currently, and depending on when the change will arise, it might be too late :(
I think as teacher's we can only do so much to help children live a healthier life style. In the classroom I think teachers can have the students get out of there sets more and move around then just having them sit at there desk all day. Also, I think that schools should also increase PE for the students so that they can exercise at least once a day. Also, I think the teacher can make fun activities to do with the students over health in the classroom. This gives the children the education they need to live a healthier life style. Another idea for a teacher is to maybe hand out a flyer to the parents over health for there child. The teacher can add in statics and important facts for the parents to help there child to live a healthier life.
Speaking as a parent, I will never know everything I need to do in order to keep my son healthy. NEVER. I'm very involved, I'm educated, and I have more time with my son than most, and still I am confidant I will never know it all. I would love to know that my son's future teachers will be introducing important health information and that he'll be bringing that information into our home and our lifestyles. I hope he has teachers, like some of you, who have mentioned being proactive.
Obviously yes, the main responsibility belongs to childrens' parents. However, since we can't worry about what children are doing at home, we have to teach them things when they are in our care so that they can go home and carry them out there as well. If parents aren't teaching them what they need to know in order to be healthy, we can do our part and hope that students take what we're teaching them as important and take it with them throughout life. I believe that P.E. class should incorportate Nutrition class. It would not be difficult to make nutrition part of P.E., mandatory. P.E. stands for "physical education" and teaching nutrition is part of physical education. As far as in the classroom goes, keep it simple. As everyone has said, offer juice, milk, fruit, and healthy foods as snacks and whenever possible, teach across the dicplines during lessons, teaching the importance of eating healthy and getting exercise.
I think that the parents should be involved in their child's nutrition but sometimes that is not a major concern to parents which is why I think teachers should incorporate physical activity in their day. Even if they do not have physical education class everyday, a teacher can come up with easy activities to keep the students active. Whether it is playing a simple review game that involves a simple game in the class, or if the students had a great week maybe allow some extra free time to let the students run around outside. Another way is to bring in healthy snacks and teach the students how to eat healthy food that is still good because some children think healthy food tastes bad.
Out of 50 states in America, being ranked number 15 says a lot about us as a whole. I believe that us future teachers of America can prevent these children in our classrooms by incorporating health into most subjects, where it is appropriate. Seeing the teachers eating healthy items for a snack or their lunch, the students will begin to believe that is what they should be eating. However, most students cannot contol what their parent/guardian packs for their lunch or as a snack, they can begin to tell their parents what they want from the grocery store. I agree with Bonnie and how maybe parent/teacher conferences should include a discussion about their child's health.
I think that there are many things a clssroom teacher can to promote excerice in the classroom. The teacher can plan there lessons so thta in the classroom the students are Up and moving in the classroom so that the children arnt sitting in there desks
I work in schools so the numbers are not that surprising to me. As teachers we should encourage our students to be more active, in and out of school. For example, maybe our lessons in the classroom could become a little more active instead of just mental. We could send home ideas with our students of fun and active games to play at home. And, we could get excited about health, fitness, and physical education classes. Although, teachers can only do so much parents need to pitch in.
The resposbility lies first with the parents, but as the caretaker of these childre 6-8 hours a day, it is also our responsibility to provide and educate both students and parents with the proper information concerning the healthy nutrition of our children. As many of us have already stated, we are models for our students behavior, they see and then do. It is also a good thing to incoporate some physical activity into the lesson such as jumping jacks or running place.
I think teachers should have students get up and move around during interactive activities. I think health education can be incorporated any classrooms as well. Students need to be educated on how to be healthy in oreder to be responsible for their own health. I believe that these are some ways to help children through their education.
I believe there is a lot any teacher can do to help prevent childhood obesity. Teachers can bring in real statistics relating to this epidemic and discuss them amongst their students (depending on the grade) and they can ask the students different ideas to incorporate exercise into their daily lives. They can also make more of their lessons include physical activity and not just sitting in their desk the whole day.
I agree with Bridgette Cunningham when she said that it is the main responsibility of the parents to instill good eating habbits in their child.
While the numbers are disturbing, I don't find them all too surprising. Society, as a whole, as become all about the quick and easy fix. More and more families are not sitting down and eating together every night. Many times people grab McDonald's on the way home because it's fast and it's easy and it takes next to no time to sit in the drive-through to get your food.
On top of that, kids are getting out and exercising as much as they used to. With so many advances in technology, kids are now playing their Nintendo Wii's, X-Boxes, or are online all the time. They aren't getting running around and playing outside like it was when I was in elementary school. It is also just too unsafe in some areas for our children to be allowed outside without being supervised the entire time. Let's face it, with people's busy schedules, parents most likely CAN'T be outside with their children for a couple hours after school, because many of them work or have other commitments.
As a substitute teacher, I notice that many elementary school teachers allow "snack time" in their classrooms during SSR time. Almost every day, I see some sort of candy, or sugary food item that these children bring for their snack. As a teacher, I think it is a part of my job to encourage parents to send a more healthy snack, such as pretzles, animal crackers, or even some kind of fruit or vegetable if it is possible to keep the item cold.
Teachers can incorporate physical activity into their daily classroom routine, and I believe that it is important to do so at every opportunity. Take the time to have the kids (and yourselves, as teachers) to do 10 jumping jacks, or 10 push-ups. Students are impressionable at young ages, and if we instill the importance of exercise and eating a well-balanced diet, students will remember.
Parents are responsible for educating their kids on the proper ways of nutrition and exercise. Those parents who do not do this are subject to severe child abuse and should be disciplined by law enforcement.
A few of you have referred to children in your posts, and I have 2 kids as well. From the parent point of view, it's a lot harder than you think to get your children to eat healthy. I breastfed both of my kids, gave them a wide variety of organic fruits and vegetables and limited their intake of junk. For my efforts, I've been rewarded with a 7 year old who will only eat white bread, Kraft singles and toaster waffles. No amount of punishment will sway her. She can wait you out until the next day when school is forced to give her lunch - even if I don't pay for it. She eats a hot dog bun and drinks some milk and she is ready to take us on again at dinner. Both of my kids are at a healthy weight, with the 7 year old being a little underweight. I certainly spend my fair share of time at McDonald's as do many other parents, but it is very disheartening to come home and cook a healthy meal, only to throw most of it in the trash.
We as teachers should do more interactive activities in and out of the class room just like Brittany said. Also i didn't realize that these children could die before their parents because of obesity. As teachers we are here to educate young minds. why not educate them on being health as well.
We as teachers should do more in the classroom to keep children active and interested in activity. It would probably be helpful to reward children with recess instead of punishing them by taking away recess. Children need to be active and be encouraged to play. As with parents I agree with Megan. We need to offer ways for parents to learn how to eat healthier meal choices. The newsletter is a great idea to offer possibly a healthy meal of the week or a healthy food option of the week. This is educating parents on making healthy choice without offending their parenting skills. Also parents would probably be interested in attending a seminar lead by a dietician about how to provide a proper diet for their children. I think a lot of the problems lies with a lack of education about how to eat healthy. I believe everything we can do to help parents and children learn how to eat more healthy then it will help teach them how to live healthier and less obese lifestyles.
I also afree that teachers can get students to become more active by doing things such as scavenger hunts, playing games such as soccer or other typers of activities. Nutrition is also a key factor to work on. Teaching students to have a healthy diet is also a key factor to involve.
Hi my name is Stacey Franklin and I work at a Elementary school. Everyday I watch as children walk up and down the hallways out of breath or walk so lazily you would seem like they just got done running a mile or two. During P.E. or recess they barely do any phhysical activity and when they bring snacks from home it's usually processed packaged food. I agree with the excerpt because I see it everyday. Children are maturing physically much quicker and are overweight due to lack of physical activity. It's very scary.
I believe it is the parent’s job first to make sure their child is receiving a balanced diet. The lunch menu is sent home to most elementary parents. I think that parents could circle (or some other way to indicate) which meal they would like their child to receive that day. I do think that teachers could make a better attempt at getting students out of their seat. Instead of looking at leaves in a book, take students outside to look at leaves in real life and compare them to the book creating a type of scavenger hunt. I think the over all key is for parents and teachers to work together to get each child the proper diet and exercise.
I believe that schools should take some responsibility in the unhealthy eating habits of our young people--after all, these children do eat one meal a day, 5 days a week, 9 months out of the year at school. I think that healthier lunches should be served and soda machines and snack bars made obsolete. I also believe that children should spend WAY more time in physical education and they should spend that time doing ACTUAL physical activity. These things, I believe, will be the first steps to a healthier generation of young people. Aside from those, children should be getting more education on health and nutrition to allow them a healthy and informed choice of lifestyle. Even if the parents (who should take main responsibility) refuse to feed their children healthy meals and encourage exercise, at least the school will have made somewhat of a positive effort...
I believe that it is the responsibility of the teachers and the parents together. The teachers need to be teaching good eating habits in school and making sure that they are carried out outside of school. I think it would be a good idea to make it a homework assignment for children to get at least three hours of physical activity at home a week. Just like parents are asked to log reading hours, perhaps we could do the same with exercise. We could have the parents sign off on the hours of exercise and students wouldn't feel like it is an obligation because they are having FUN!!!!
I think these numbers are very disturbing. As teachers, I think we have the ability to teach children good food choices and other health habits. The learning must not stop there though...parents also need to be held accountable for what their children are consuming. Teachers can send home flyers, documents, health reports, recipes, etc. to encourage healthy habits at home.
The numbers do not really come as that big of a surprise to me. Children are not as active as they used to be. There is no one person to blame, its honestly our society. We have made everything more convenient and by doing this there is less physical activity demanded from us in life. We should encourage our students to become more active in and out of school. We should also try to include health and nutritional tips within our everyday teaching. I am not saying there should be an entire lesson on only health and nutrition, but we should be able to highlight little tips within other lessons. Every little thing we say can make a difference.
I agree that there is a lot that we as future teachers can do. In most elementary schools there is no health class and I think most people forget this. I think most classroom teachers think that the PE teacher should teach health and most PE teachers think the classroom teachers should teach health. I think all teachers and staff should worked together and incorporated health into all subjects, even art and other extras the students may have.
Although most of my peers have commented that teaching children healthy food habits are mainly the parents responsibility, I believe teachers and schools should look at instilling healthy food habits as their main responsibility. As the statistics in the posting show, parents aren't doing a good enough job. I know that schools can be doing lots of little things to help, but I think American education systems should be doing more than just little things to help child obesity. Healthy eating and habits should be woven into the everyday curriculum for students, starting in elementary school and ending in high school. One idea as how to implement this idea would be to introduce a healthy food, such as an apple, every month and spend that month learning about what that food has to offer; what it has in it, why we need it, and how it helps our bodies. Also, talk about different ways that food can be used to make snacks, and or meals, such as eating and apple with peanut butter. Then at the end of the month, bringing in that food, and have a taste testing. This could also be used to help educate parents, but sending a short newsletter home at the beginning of the month about the food their child will be learning about, and then have to sign the newsletter giving permission for the taste testing. I also believe that the classroom should be more interactive, and get children out of their chairs and if possible outside for at least one lesson per day. The reason I don't believe that health can be left to the responsibility of parents is because if they lack the knowledge of healthy eating and habits, how are they supposed to be instilling it in their children. Its a negative and unhealthy cycle that will continue unless schools make the education of healthy eating and living a core within their curriculum, rather than just expecting parents to not only have the knowledge but also be passing it on to their children.
I agree very much with Melissa. I believe that, as teachers, it is up to us to set a good example for our students. If we set an example by eating healthy foods when we are in front of them, or by working out and being active, that sends a good message to them. A teacher can also make sure that there are more activities in their room that require students to be hands on and active, so that they are not just sitting at a desk writing all day. A way to take this into the children's homes could also be to make their homework more physical. Instead of a worksheet, teachers can give homework that requires students to go outside or move around. You can always send notes home to parents, but as I have not tried it yet, I am not sure how much good it does. I think it would be a good idea, though, to let the parents see these figures and then hopefully their concern for the situation will grow. If there are days where snacks can be brought into your classroom, you can send home notices saying that they can only bring healthy snacks (no cookies, chips, etc). You can also put it in the kids' minds as well as the parents', and tell them what can happen if they don't keep their bodies healthy.
When I read that 22 percent of children in Washington DC were overweight, I was amazed. I agree with most of what everyone else has said about bringing more fitness into schools. Incorporating activities that require the students to get up and move during a lesson will be something that I will do in my classroom. I also noticed that in many of the classrooms that I have observed in, the students snacks during snack time are pretty unhealthy. Some of the students even brought in entire bags of cheese-its or chips. I think a strict food guideline would be helpful. I understand that some parents may have a problem with this and say that it is none of our business what their child eats, but in some ways it is. As teachers, we have to deal with the consequences that come with overweight children, such as low self esteem, irritability, and laziness. Also, many of those unhealthy snacks tend to be messy.
I agree with Brittany and Bridgette that the parents are responsible for their children's eating habits. I am a parent of three and yes it is very difficult for us to have our children eat a healthy meal, however, we do educate our children on the healthy choices and how they benefit their bodies and how the unhealthy choices can harm their bodies and the long term effects of them. The numbers are very disturbing!!! As far an being an educator, teachers can incorporate movement activities in their lesson plans, maybe take the students outside for an extended period of time (if allowed) on nice days or maybe even a "free" recess. I also agree that teachers should lead by example because students do think highly of their teachers.
I feel as a classroom teacher it's our responsiblity to teach children the proper eating habits. Although we cannot be with them every min. to ensure that they recieve their fair share of fruits and veggies we are held accountable for the things that we teach. Of one of those should be good eating habits and all snacks given should be something healthy to futher promote good eating.
I think as teachers there is much we can do. There are several activities we could do in the classroom to make learning about healthy food options a fun thing. We should not make healthy food seem like a boring task to choose. Activities with worksheets that can be sent home to let the parents see would be a great tool to even educate the parents a little.
I believe that there is so much that a teacher can do. Teachers spend a great deal of time with their students and they look up to their teachers. If teachers promote exercise and good eating habits the students will follow along. Teachers should inter-grate physical activity into some part of every school day. Even if you out at recess come up with an activity to get everyone running around. In the classroom stress healthy eating habits and reward students for following at lunch and snack time.
I dont know where the blog goes for the one due on April 9th. So i guess i will do it here. The book i chose was called "When Someone Dies" by: Sharon Greenlee. This is a great book to read children when they loose someone that they love. It shows them that its alright to feel sad and shows them ways to handle their feelings in a good way. It also shows them that they have to get through it because those people arent coming back.
I will leave a blog as well because I do not see a different place for the mental health children's books. I chose the book I’m Not Invited By Diana Cain Bluthenthal. This book is great for preschool and early elementary grade levels. Any child who has ever felt excluded will be able to relate to this book. Charles and Minnie are in the same class and Charles is having a party next weekend. Minnie over hears the other kids asking Charles what time they should come. However, Minnie has not gotten an invitation to the party. She is concerned all week, and many things remind her of the party, the vocab words, her pajamas that look like confetti, and a wrong number phone call from Parties R Us. Minnie tries to stay positive and reminds herself she does not have to be invited to everything. She deals with many emotions all week.
I also couldnt find the blog for the children's book. I read the book "Hands are not for hitting" by Martine Agassi. I loved this book. It shows kids what happens when you use your hands to hit people and how it makes you and the other person feel. Also it shows what you can do with your hands like play with clay or sand.
The educational community has a responsibility to the total child.
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