Departments: Health & Fitness
A Morning Boost for Every Child

Subsidized breakfast programs have been around for years, but some schools offer them with a new twist.

It's just before 8 a.m. and the day's activities won't kick off for another 15 minutes at the Van Bokkelen Elementary School in Severn, Maryland. Yet students already sit at their classroom desks, quietly reading. Classical music pipes in over loudspeakers. Teachers move about calmly, smiling.

And the students-all of them-happily consume a breakfast of milk, juice, and fortified buns.

Here is the latest incarnation of the federally funded school breakfast program: The meal is still subsidized, but at Van Bokkelen, it's served to every student-regardless of family income-and it's seamlessly woven into the ritual of the classroom morning. No stigmas, no hassle. Just a surefire way to get nutrients into young bodies right before learning begins.

This so-called "free universal breakfast" started as a pilot program several years ago in a handful of Maryland schools but has now spread to 90 schools in that state and throughout school districts in Minnesota and Massachusetts. Partly funded by the participating states, the initiative is getting rave reviews from teachers and administrators, who say the impact on student academic achievement and attentiveness has been dramatic.

According to researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, for example, tardiness dropped by half and absenteeism by a third in certain Boston schools that began the program. In Maryland, officials charted a rise in test scores in some schools, along with a noticeable drop in behavior problems.

Intrigued by these results, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is conducting its own three-year study in 144 schools in six states to measure the impact of a universal breakfast program on a host of factors around student learning and behavior.

For now, though, Selecia Hardy, a fourth-grade teacher at Van Bokkelen, doesn't need research to tell her what she's seen with her own eyes. Before the breakfast program started, only about 35 percent of her students ate a subsidized breakfast. Not only were students generally "sluggish," she says, but by mid-morning many were complaining of stomach aches or hunger. Now, with everybody eating immediately before teaching begins, students are "happy, excited, motivated to learn, and on-task," she says. "And rarely does anybody ask, "What time is lunch?"

The breakfast itself is simple-at Van Bokkelen students can choose from a banana loaf, muffin, bagel, or fortified bun, along with milk and orange juice; other schools offer cereal and yogurt or French toast. But all meet federal nutrition standards and provide one-fourth of the day's recommended levels of protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

The difference: All children are eating, and staff no longer must deal differently with free, reduced-price, or full-pay students. There's no stigma associated with getting a subsidized meal. And, says second-grade teacher Stephanie Shermer, the morning routine provides a quiet start to the day and encourages reading.

Hardy says the breakfast doesn't even interfere with last-minute planning, as she feared, and her room stays clean. "This is a great program," she says. "I wouldn't go back."

--Karen Pertschuk
NEA Health Information Network

Want to Learn More?

• Visit the NEA Health Information Network website at www.neahin.org.
• Contact the Food Research and Action Center for their School Breakfast Score Card at www.frac.org or 202/986-2200.
• Contact the American School Food Service Association at www.asfsa.org.

What's Up at HIN?

A New look
NEA HIN's mission has always been to improve health, safety, and student achievement in public schools. The network does this by providing school employees with vital, effective, and timely health information through parent, community, public, and private partnerships. To give you more and better information, NEA HIN redesigned its website, www.neahin.org, to be more user-friendly and provide a wealth of new health information just for NEA members. Use the search engine to look up various health topics, or explore the site by clicking on programmatic links. Enter your e-mail address to receive a monthly electronic newsletter with updates on HIN programs and activities, upcoming conferences and events, and useful resources. Visit www.neahin.org today!

'September 11 Remembered'
To mark the first anniversary of the September 11 tragedy and help members and students cope and heal, NEA and NEA HIN have developed a special "September 11 Remembered" website. Here, teachers, parents, and students can discover ideas, lesson plans, discussion points, and related information to help in sharing and learning from this tragedy. Learn more in the In Focus section, page 22. Then visit www.neahin.org/september11.

Making School Even Safer
It's true: Gun violence is a problem in our schools. Yet schools continue to be the safest place for kids. Still, the fact remains: Nine children die from gun violence every day. Because schools can play a leading role in creating safer communities, NEA and NEA HIN are initiating a new project to combat gun crime in our schools and communities. The issue is safety, not gun control. NEA supports sensible legislation that respects the rights of lawful gun owners, while preventing guns from falling into the wrong hands. For more information, visit www.neahin.org/gunsafety.

Working Out Our Stress

Get Ready, Get Set, Move!

The start of school can be one of the most stressful times of the year, but health experts say it's actually the perfect time to think about how to consciously make movement-vigorous, pleasurable movement-a natural part of each day. No fuss, no muss. Just fun.

Research has confirmed it over and again: You can't go wrong by getting out and shaking a leg. It could save your life-and that's not just hype.

Studies show that inactivity actually poses a greater risk for death than some of the more widely feared diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and smoking. So huge is the benefit of physical activity, say researchers at the Dallas-based Cooper Institute, that a normal-weight person who's a couch potato has twice the mortality rate of somebody who's fat, but moderately fit.

"Physical inactivity actually increases a person's risk for death from all causes," says Heather Chambliss, Ph.D., a researcher at the Cooper Institute. "But it's something we can easily fix."

How? Get up and move!

"There's really no reason not to be moving," says Peg Jordan, a registered nurse and noted fitness expert with the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. "It helps relieve chronic stress and tension, helps you unwind, stretches your muscles, and removes the toxins that come with fatigue and anxiousness." Studies show that it also significantly reduces depression, increases our sense of well-being, improves sleep, and even boosts our brain power and memory.

If that doesn't convince you to get going, consider this: You don't have to slug huffing and puffing through a five-mile jog three times a week for a payoff. Research confirms that short, 10-minute bursts of activity throughout the day can render as many rewards. Walking briskly, playing tag with kids, dancing a jig, whacking weeds-anything that quickens your pulse, gives you a flush of heat and energy, and makes you feel "a bit dewy," says Jordan, can do wonders if you do it regularly, and mindfully.

"I like to think of it as joyful movement," explains Jordan, who's also a medical anthropologist and author of The Fitness Instinct (Rodale, 1999). "It's really about doing the things you love that inspire you-things that aren't necessarily the same old 'go to the gym' activities."

The key, she says, is to move at moderate intensity, using your muscles a bit more than you ordinarily would, for a total of at least 30 minutes a day-minutes you can "gather as you go." If you're severely overweight with health problems, Jordan says, it's advisable to check with a doctor and join a supervised exercise class to build good habits. But even then, she adds, you should do something that's fun, not drudgery.

"I like to tell teachers to practice some of the same principles on themselves as they do their new students. Keep tailoring your fitness activities to suit your unique self. Apply a take charge attitude to discover what makes you happy." At school, for instance, be creative; play hula hoop or dance with your students. Stretch every chance you get. Play ball. Make a game of going up and down stairs, skipping some when you can.

Once home, says Jordan, don't stop at the mirror to curse your body and lament what's not. Rather, use the time to make a peaceful transition from school. "Replace negative body talk with daily life-enhancing movements," she urges.

"Changing behavior is the first step to true wellness."

--Marilyn Milloy

Talk to Us

This is the first in a series of articles designed to help NEA members tackle stress and develop habits that will lead to better health. If you have a concern, comment, or question, or just want to share a good habit, please e-mail mmilloy@nea.org.

Ready To Move?

Try these activities to get your heart juices going. Be mindful of using your muscles a bit harder than normal. And remember: Just 30 minutes a day--10 minutes, three times!

• work in the garden
• do yoga
• dance (belly, jazz, salsa, swing)
• move to music
• jump on a mini-trampoline
• hit golf balls at a driving range
• build a sand castle
• hike a nature trail
• skate
• train a pet
• crawl around on all fours (and not necessarily with a toddler!)
• clean the house
• wash the car
• bicycle pretty streets
• take a city walking tour
• jump rope

Healthy Bites

Brown Baggin' It
Try an easy and refreshing lunch with two traditional Middle Eastern staples-hummus and baba gannouj. Made from chickpeas (garbanzo beans), sesame seeds, lemon, and garlic, they pack a wallop of protein and will help keep you energized all afternoon. Tip: Use for a dip with pita pocket bread cut up in triangles, or with baby carrot sticks, red and yellow pepper slices, or plum tomatoes. Or make a sandwich by stuffing the pocket bread with hummus or baba gannouj and vegetables. Finish off with orange slices, and you'll be well on your way to getting in your "five-a-day" servings of fruits or vegetables.

Get Inspired
"When it's hard to get motivated to work out, I focus on how I know I'll feel after I'm done. I'm always glad I exercise, so rather than grumble about not having time, I smile about how I will feel in 30 minutes or so, and start moving!"

--Sameta Rush,
a fifth-grade teacher
at Strawberry Park
Elementary School in
Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Good question!

Q: I haven't exercised in years. What can I do to keep from getting sore when I start?

A: Sue Stanley-Green of the National Athletic Trainers' Association says it's important to first see a doctor who can screen and treat any potential medical problems. Then start working out in moderation. If you're walking, for example, cover short distances, then increase the distance and speed as your body adapts. If you're using weights, start with light weights, then build up. Also make sure you warm up and stretch before and after you work out-that's critical.