Running Head: CHOOSE MY PLATE

Lindsay Godfrey
PPE 310
Lacey Merritt
October 21, 2015

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Introduction
In the past few years, there has been a big push to get healthier meal options in our
schools across the country. There are many challenges that come along with trying to implement
healthy meals for our students while staying within the budget. Because there has been a rise in
childhood obesity and other diseases and complications associated with it, it is crucial schools in
this country begin offering healthier food for students. There are many useful tools for students
and teachers that can help to engaged students in their own health and have a healthier lifestyle.
Some students may not know what they should or should not eat and they need to be aware of
the benefits of eating healthier. Teachers can play an important role in helping to educate
students on their own health.
National Standards for School Meals

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The National Standards for School Meals strive to attain schools that provide healthier
options for students such as, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, more fat free dairy products and
menu items lower in sodium (2010). Tres Rios Elementary School does meet some of these
standards however, they do not meet all of them. They offer fruit and vegetables at breakfast and
lunch for the students and most of them choose these as a part of their meal. They also offer
milk at both meals that is low fat or non- fat. However, they do not offer many whole grains for
either breakfast or lunch. Many of their choices are sugary or high in sodium and fats. Many of
the lunch options are fried and high in sodium and fats (2015). They also do not offer many
meat or meat alternative options for the students at breakfast. In the above example, the student
would be lacking protein from the meals offered at school. While the students do have the
option of having vegetables at lunch, they are not always dark greens and the students are not
required to have them which leads to many students passing on the vegetables.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans in, people should lower their intake of
sodium to less than, 2,300 mg a day and about half of the population should continue to decrease
their intake to about 1,500 mg. This amount pertains to children in particular. Less than ten
percent of their calories should come from saturated fats and healthier fats should take their
place. Trans fats and oils are also recommended to be reduced to as little as possible in their
diets. Foods like fruits and vegetables should be increased as well as including whole grains
throughout the day (2012). With these recommendations, a student who consumes the above
breakfast and lunch would not meet the guidelines. The sodium they would have consumed
would be 2714 mg which is drastically over the limit. The saturated fats is not over the limit but
still high at 16 mg. This student would have also had 99 percent of their grains come from

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refined grains rather than whole grains. While the student did include some fruit into their diet,
there was still not enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains or dairy in their diet to maintain a
healthy lifestyle.
National Improvements
In order to make a change in the students health and nutrition, the school breakfast and
lunch meals offered need to be revised. First, they could offer more fresh fruit and vegetable
options than they do unhealthy snacks and sides. When students are given a choice between
French fries and fruit, many of the students will choose fruit more often. Making fruit and
vegetables a mandatory side to the students meal can introduce these healthier options to them.
According to the school menu right now, the students are offered one fruit side at both breakfast
and lunch. However with many other less nutritional options, most students do not have fruit at
both meals.
Another way they could improve the nutritional value of the school meals is by reducing
the amount of sodium per meal. Currently, a student would consume about 400 mg more than
the recommended limit of sodium per day. Sodium has proven to cause higher blood pressure
which can lead to heart disease later on as well as increasing the chance of obesity (How Does
Salt Affect Children?). Because of these negative health effects of sodium, it is important to
reduce the amount in childrens foods and replace them with meals that are fresh and low in salt.
Taking away some of the frozen and high sodium meal options at the school will reduce this
health impact and help to improve kids nutrition.
Lastly, increasing the healthy and lean proteins in meals can be beneficial as well. Right
now the average student at Tres Rios Elementary School is getting about two ounces of the

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recommended five a day, which is about 34%. By including lean meats like chicken or turkey
into some of the meal options for breakfast and lunch, this number can be increased. Protein is
important in children in order for them to grow and develop strong muscles and keep their body
running properly (Charging Life, 2012). Adding in other protein rich meat alternatives is also
important for those students who choose not to eat meat. Dairy items such as low-fat or fat free
milk or yogurt also contain a good source of protein for the students. These additions and
revisions to the menu will not only help improve students health, but will also help to improve
their performance in the classroom.
Reflection
Teachers can use this tool in a variety of ways to educate their students and make an
important impact on their health. Educators play a key role in students behaviors and actions
inside and outside of the classroom. This tool is a great way to introduce students to the basics
of healthy eating and being aware of what they consume throughout the day. The students could
use this to track what they eat at school and at home and see the nutritional value of each item as
well as whether or not they meet or exceed the recommended daily values. This would be great
for a health unit on food and nutrition so that the students could get a visual representation of
how much good and bad things they eat each meal. Seeing the results first-hand could be a
powerful way to teach students about the importance of eating healthy.
Through this tool, students will learn what they daily recommended values are and how
they can achieve that. They are able to manipulate their meals to see what they can eat or take
out of their meal to improve the quality of the food they consume. They will learn what foods
are high in saturated or trans fats and what foods are more nutritious. The Choose My Plate tool
can teach students about the main food groups and how much they should consume of each a

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day. It also allows students to see what portion of the calories eaten in a meal are considered
empty calories, meaning they have no nutritional value. This is very important to be able to see
in order to make a positive change in ones diet.
There is also a tool to track how much physical activity a person needs to have per day in
order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, considering the nutrition of the meals they ate. Often times,
people do not know how many calories they ate or how much activity they would need to do in
order to burn those calories off. This tool will help students to be able to directly see how much
activity they should do a day and how many calories they burn doing these activities. Most
students run around at recess or participate in activities in their physical education class
throughout the day. Some students may even participate in after school sports or activities that
burn calories. They put these into the tracker and see how much they burned off and how it
benefitted them that day. Using this resource will help many students to stay motivated and keep
track of their health meal by meal.
This important data can greatly impact students in many different ways. They will be
able to be in charge of their own health and be more aware of what they are eating. Being
educated on the health facts of the foods they eat often is the first step to making positive
changes in their diet. Once they are able to understand where they stand with the quality of their
food, they will be able to adjust their meals to improve their diet. This can also help students
behavior and academics improve as well. When students eat healthy meals throughout the day
and incorporate exercise into their daily routine, they will be more focused and have more energy
to get through the day. They will likely listen better in class and as a result, learn more and
achieve higher goals academically. Overall, using this tool can help students to become aware of

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the effects of healthy eating and physical activity has on their minds and bodies and how they
can make changes to improve their health.

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References
Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (2010). Retrieved October 22, 2015, from
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/dietary_guidelines_for_americans/ExecSumm.pdf.
How does salt affect children? (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2015, from
http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/salthealth/children/.
LESD Breakfast and Lunch Menu. 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2015, from http://toolbox1.s3website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/site_0412/littleton_octmenu_092215.pdf.
Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. (2012).
Federal Registrar. Retrieved October 21, 2015, from
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-01-26/pdf/2012-1010.pdf
5 Key Benefits of Consuming Protein - Charging LIFE. (2012, February 29). Retrieved October
24, 2015, from http://charginglife.com/2012/02/5-key-benefits-of-consuming-protein/.

Criteria

Points (5) Exemplary

Points (3) Proficient

Points (1) Needs Improvement

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Introduction
SCORE:x1

ChooseMyPlate
Analysis

SCORE:
x1

Application of
results and
proposed changes
SCORE:x1

Summary/Reflecti
on SCORE:
x1

Writing

SCORE:
x1

Referencing Style

SCORE:
x1

Introduction was well

organized and created a plan for
the paper
One breakfast and one lunch (or
2 restaurant options) were
evaluated
Results reflect a hypothetical
student
Screen shot was included

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
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#.cou
rse#
This rubric was attached

Introduction was somewhat

organized and created a plan for the
paper
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 was disorganized and

did not create a plan for the paper

Only one breakfast or lunch (or 1

restaurant option) was evaluated but
was incomplete
Results did not reflect a hypothetical
student
Screen shot was not included

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#.co
urse#
This rubric was added but not at the
end

Contained little detail on the

application of National Standards
for School Meals
Contained little detail on the
application of Dietary Guidelines
for Americans
Contained little detail or only
included 1 change to improve
nutrition
A summary of the current state of
the school in terms of nutrition was
not included
A summary of the proposed changes
was not included
A reflection of the practical data as
it relates to your classroom was
missing or incomplete

Many grammar and correct

punctuation issues are found
throughout the proposal
Many sentences are not clear and
underdeveloped
Paper was less than 1 page in length
with larger than standard margins,
font text size
Many errors in APA style
referencing throughout the paper
and on the reference sheet
The file document name does not
contain the
Lastname.firstname.assignment#.co
urse#
This rubric was not added to the
document submitted