Running head: Choose My Plate

Melissa Fitzpatrick
PPE 310: Health Literacy for Schools
Dr. Hesse
3/28/2016

Introduction
We live in a world that is suffering from a major food crisis. In countries abroad, people
starve to death because they do not have access to food of any kind. People suffer from
malnutrition, and various other health impairments because of a lack of nutrition. However, in
the U.S. we are constantly over-eating. Many Americans become overweight or obese because of
poor food choices. Tools such as ChooseMyPlate.gov can help you to really look into what
youre eating, and see exactly what putting that meal into your body means. This website was
created by the USDA Center for Nutrition & Promotion to help people figure out what nutritional
value the meals they are eating hold. Children often time have no choice in what they eat.
Parents or the school provides a meal and children can either eat it, or nothing at all. At a title

one school where nearly all students receive free and reduced lunch and breakfast the school
becomes responsible for making the right choices for the child and meeting the standards for the
National Standards for School Meals and Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A teachers job is to
advocate for their kids and part of that is ensuring the district provides healthy and nutritious
meals to our students.
National Standards for School Meals
The National Standards for School Meals requires that schools increase the availability of
fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals; reduce the
levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals; and meet the nutrition needs of school
children within their calorie requirements (2012). It is hard to say whether or not Valley View
truly meets this requirement. There is a fruit station at breakfast, and a salad bar at lunch but they
are not available at the same time. The fruit bar, though available is more often than not just a
plate of apples and bananas. There is not very much variety for our students to choose from. In
addition, the salad bar while there is typically just lettuce and carrots that most students cover in
ranch dressing. It would be much better to include these nutritious options with the meal rather
than leave them on the side as an afterthought. This does nothing to add to their nutritional needs
and seems to be there more for show. One positive is that there are many low fat drink options
such as water, skim milk, and sugar free juices that children can choose.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans
In general, there are three things we need to focus on when it comes to healthy and
nutritious meals. 1. Balancing calorie intake with physical activity 2. Consume more fruits,
veggies, low fat dairy, and whole grains 3. Consume fewer foods with sodium, fats, cholesterol,
and sugars (2010). On march 28th, the breakfast and lunch option provided at Valley View

Elementary School did not met these dietary guidelines. A student who ate both breakfast and
lunch from school on this day would have had more than their daily intake of calories, fats, and
sugars. The child would have to had complete at least 90 minutes of activity in order to maintain
their weight based off of these two meals alone. The child also did not have a fruit or vegetable
serving with breakfast so they would not meet the target goal for the day. In addition, the sodium
intake was over what is recommended daily.
Improving Nutritional Intake
To improve my students nutritional intake, the breakfast option would need to contain far
less sugar (i.e. maple syrup) and provide a healthier choice such as agave nectar or even sugar
free syrup. Also, the fatty sausage patties could be traded in for something more lean such as
turkey bacon or chicken sausage. Finally, sugar free OJ or fresh squeezed would be a much
healthier alternative to the sugary juice provided. In addition, provide more fresh fruit options
and putting them with the meal as oppose to a side dish would increase students nutritional
intake immensely. The lunch menu was a slight improvement as it provided veggies for the
students to consume. Perhaps replacing the fatty ranch dressing with something such a greek
yogurt would still provide students with a dip that may be healthier for them. Also, using a meat
source that is not a processed hot dog, but rather something fresh like a chicken breast would be
a healthier choice.
Another change that would be made to improve the nutrition at Valley View would be to
include salad with the lunch meals as oppose to a side salad bar. Students tend to ignore the bar
because its on the side of the cafeteria. It would benefit all students to include the salad or
another type of veggie with their meal. Giving students more to go with their meal as oppose to
making it a choice would encourage better eating. As oppose to a sugary dish such as baked

beans students could be given steamed veggies or a healthy grain. These dishes are not only easy
to make, but could really make a difference in the schools meal options. Making these minor
changes would truly increase the nutritional value of the meals immensely.
Reflection
Food is essential to our daily living and we could not live without it, but choosing the
right food is just as important as having it. It is clear to see what an impact food has on our
students daily lives, and while the school is doing its duty providing meals to those in need, we
must go beyond that to give our students the proper nutrition they need to not only survive but
succeed. Many of the foods and beverages that are provided contain no nutritional value, instead
they are just empty calories. I have seen firsthand higher rates of overweight children in my
classroom, and most of those students do not have access to healthy foods at home. It is crucial
they are provided with the things they need while they are in school.
I could use this tool to show my students exactly how what they are eating affects their
minds and bodies. Students can figure out how to maintain a more balanced diet and also
determine the amount of physical activity they need to perform based off of what they are eating.
We can create goals as a class to work toward together so that no one student is singled out for
their eating habits or weight. It could also be made into a fun project similar to what I did in my
sixth grade classroom. We kept track of our daily calorie intake every day for a week. Then, we
used math formulas to figure out our sugar, fat, and cholesterol intake. When students see these
results they will be more motivated to figure out how to change their eating habits to lead
healthier lives.
Involving my students in seeing this data will not only help them to improve physically,
but also academically. Students work better and achieve more when they have the proper diet and

exercise routines. I want to help encourage my students to lead healthy and active lives in and
out of our classroom. I also want to advocate and change the community of my school to help
provide more nutritious and well balanced meals for students who may not get a chance to enjoy
them outside of school. With tools such as this we can help change the climate of our entire
school.

References

Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (2010, January). Retrieved March 28, 2016, from
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2010.asp#overview
MyPlate. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
about.html
Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. (2012).
Federal Registrar, 77(17), 4088-4089. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-01-26/pdf/2012-1010.pdf

Criteria

Points (5) Exemplary

Points (3) Proficient

Introduction was well organized

and created a plan for the paper

Introduction was somewhat organized

and created a plan for the paper

ChooseMyPlate

Analysis

SCORE: x1

One breakfast and one lunch (or 2

restaurant options) were evaluated
Results reflect a hypothetical
student
Screen shot was included

Application of

Contained a very detailed

application of National Standards
for School Meals
Contains very detailed applications
of Dietary Guidelines for
Americans
Contains very detailed discussions
for 3 changes to improve nutrition
A summary of the current state of
the schools nutrition was included
Summary of changes were included
A detailed reflection regarding how
this teacher knowledge of students
impacts your students inside and
outside your classroom

Only one breakfast or lunch (or 1

restaurant option) was evaluated
Results reflected a hypothetical student,
but not enough information was
provided
Screen shot was included, but
incomplete
Contained a somewhat detailed
application of National Standards for
School Meals
Contained somewhat detailed
applications of Dietary Guidelines for
Americans
Contains somewhat detailed discussions
only 2 changes to improve nutrition
A summary of the current state of the
school in terms of nutrition was included
but did not align with paper
A summary of the proposed changes was
included but did not align with paper
A general reflection of how this data
impacts your students

Introduction
SCORE:x1

results and proposed

changes

SCORE:x1

Summary/Reflectio

n SCORE: x1

Writing

SCORE: x1

Referencing Style

SCORE:
x1

Proper grammar and punctuation is

used throughout the proposal
All sentences are clear & developed
Paper was at least 3 pages with
standard margins, font, & text size

APA style referencing used

throughout paper and on the

reference sheet
The file document name contains
Lastname.firstname.assign#.course#
This rubric was attached

Most grammar and correct punctuation

is used throughout the proposal
Most sentences are clear & developed
Paper was 1-3 pages with standard
margins, font, and size of text

APA style referencing mostly used

throughout the paper and on the
reference sheet with some errors
The file name somewhat contains the
Lastname.firstname.assignment#.course
#
This rubric was added but not at the end