School nutrition programs lead to trimmer students: study

Last Updated: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 | 9:57 PM ET

CBC News

Elementary school nutrition programs can help to prevent child obesity and more schools should participate in them, according to the authors of a new study in Nova Scotia.

In 2003, researchers went to schools around the province to weigh 5,200 fifth graders and ask them about their diet and physical activity levels.

Of the 291 elementary schools in Nova Scotia, 282 completed a short survey, and the average response rate among students was 51 per cent.

Students who went to schools that banned junk food were healthier.

The study, called Children's Lifestyle and School Performance Study or CLASS, divided students into three groups:

• Those in schools with no nutrition program.
• Those in schools with a general nutrition program.
• Those in schools with a fully-integrated nutrition program involving parents, teachers and the community.

Students in the third group who attended certain schools in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley fared the best. Their schools followed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's guidelines for healthy eating programs.

The Annapolis Valley schools participated in a project partially funded by Heath Canada. The program made it easy for students to choose healthy snacks like fruits and veggies instead of fat-laden junk food, regardless of their parents' income.

Grade 5 students were given the option of exercise at lunch time.

"Chocolate bars do taste good but you should only have those sometimes," said 10-year-old Julie White. "I think apples are pretty tasty and they are good for you."

For motivation, when students like Julie choose an apple, they get to put in a ballot for prizes such as a calculator.

"Every parent tries to get their children to eat their vegetables, drink their milk," said Susan Hergett, a mother in Port Williams, N.S.

"Since they started school, they get the messages at school, as well. Makes it a whole lot easier."

Nutrition benefits

In the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health, investigators report the Annapolis Valley students had obesity rates that were 72 per cent lower than those of students who attended schools without a nutrition program.

"Our finding that school programs are effective in preventing childhood obesity supports the need for broader implementation of successful programs, which will reduce childhood obesity, and in the longer term, ... health-care spending," wrote study co-authors Paul Veugelers and Angela Fitzgerald of Dalhousie University.

• INDEPTH: How to get kids moving

Kids who participated in a general nutrition program had somewhat lower obesity rates than their counterparts who lacked any program.

But exercise rates across all three groups were generally the same.

Annapolis Valley students did spend slightly less time doing sedentary activities like watching TV and playing video games, compared to the other two groups.