An Evaluation of Elementary School Nutrition … Jennifer Sherry
Recently emphasis has been placed on the health of our children, specifically pertaining to obesity. This what led to the Evaluation of Elementary School Nutrition Practices and Policies in a Southern Illinois County by Jennifer Sherry. Obesity had been associated with increased adult mortality through heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke and as a major factor in obesity is diet, school breakfast and lunch programmes were targeted.
More than 84% of children exceeded the United States national recommendations for daily total fat and sodium intake and although it was acknowledged that school diet was not the only contributor, school diet did affect students’ immediate future health. Teachers, dietitians, school nurses and food services supervisors needed to work together to encourage the best health possible for their students. To ensure this, school breakfasts and lunches needed to be nutritious and appealing to the students to offset skipping meals or choosing unhealthy alternatives.
In this evaluation, Sherry proposed to assess elementary school nutrition, nutrition cafeteria practices, credentials of school food service managers and their ability to collaborate with teachers regarding proper nutrition. This was to be done using the School Health Index (SHI). 8 of 14 rural Illinois public elementary schools gave permission for the evaluation. The food services manager was contacted to establish a one-hour interview. Although there were 8 schools in the survey, there were only 3 different managers as 2 managers were responsible for multiple schools. 14 questions were used to collect information on strengths and weaknesses of each of the school’s programmes. A pilot study was done first to check the validity of the test. After adaptations were made, the managers were interviewed, then given the survey 1 week later. The surveys were scored using a “Likert-type” scale, 1 = under developed; 2 = partially in place; 3 = fully in place. The scores were calculated as a percentage.
Results of the survey showed that a federally acceptable programme, with decreased sodium and fat, was fully in place in 4 of the 8 schools. 4 of the 8 schools did not promote healthy eating practices by announcements or posters; staff of 4 of the 8 schools had emergency training with food allergies, choking and natural disaster. 4 schools had 1 or 2 methods in the classroom to reinforce healthy eating. 5 schools had only a credentialed manager, 3 had a manager who had a masters degree in Home Economics.
On first perusal, it appears that the study was thoroughly done. It was formalized and description of what occurred was included. The purpose, to assess elementary school nutrition programmes, was clearly outlined, and there was a strong connection between the result and the purpose of the survey. All of these points are part of the Stake Countenance Model.
Part of the survey was to garner suggestions to improve the existing programme, a characteristic of a Provus Discrepancy Model. Accountability existed between the school and the government as the taxpayers were financing programmes. Justification was needed for continue support of the programme. The Stake Countenance Model and the Provus Discrepancy Model were the two main models utilized in this survey.
The survey itself was organized, the goals were clearly outlined, a pilot test with a school of the same size and social climate of the other schools was used. The survey itself was based on an apparently “proven” model established and used repeated by United States schools interested in evaluating their nutritional programmes. Liabilities occur in that only 8 out of 14 schools were used in the survey, just over half, which is a very small sample. Are there only 14 rural counties in Illinois or are there more that could have been surveyed? I would also question that the only people who were surveyed were the managers. All 4 of them! All of the information accumulated was from 4 sources. The survey showed that 1 manager had more than a high school education. Were the programmes at the schools that had the manager with the master’s degree programmes that were “fully in place”? Also, the report showed that 4 of 8 programmes had “reduced” their sodium and fat intake. It did not show that the intake was equivalent or less than the federal requirement of 574 mg.
Yes, the programme showed that there could be more collaboration between nurses, managers and teachers; that more planning and discussion was necessary for schools to continue to develop more healthy eating habits. However, was there not an easier, cheaper way to glean this information?
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