Tackling Nutrition with the Truesdell Trojans, Part II: Good fats

This winter, DC SCORES is partnering with Common Threads to bring a curriculum on healthy eating and living tos even schools for six weeks as Winter SCORES programming. You can see updates from the schools by searching #WinterSCORES on Twitter and Instagram. Specifically, we're following the progress of Truesdell Education Campus. Follow along below.

Written by Dahlia Chaudhury
Communications Intern

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At 4:15, just like the previous week, students began funneling into the classroom to begin their time with DC SCORES. Their The Kitchen Times for the day was headlined: "Is Fat a Part of a Healthy Diet?" It outlined the good and the bad about fats and gave the students some new vocabulary like unsaturated fat, saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol.

The writing coach, Cailin Eisele, began the lesson on Good Fats vs. Bad Fats. She explained how healthy fats are helpful to the body and nutritious, even though fats have a bad rep.

"What kinds of fats do you think are bad fats?" she asked the class.

Shouts of junk foods filled the room:

"Pizza!"

"Donuts!"

The class quickly realized all their favorite foods were classified as bad, or trans fats. After the lesson, the students did an activity on classifying good fats. They were given a riddle and had to decipher, from a word bank, which healthy fat the riddle was describing.

An example was "I am the cornerstone in guacamole." The answer? Avocado!

The last activity for the day involved looking at nutrition labels to find the amount of fat in students' favorite unhealthy foods. They were given a sheet that contained six common unhealthy foods, told to pick their favorite, and then find a friend to compare with.

Wilmer R. picked cheddar cheese; "It had nine grams of fat, which is a lot," he told me.

After everyone had shared their findings, the students packed up to head home.

Although there was no snack, the Trojans were excited for a special treat later in the week -- a visit Brainfood DC! Stay tuned!!

Healthy & Happy at Marie Reed, Part III: Lessons learned from Winter SCORES

As a part of the winter season with DC SCORES, intern Kristen Miano is spending some time with the Marie Reed Panthers as they learn about healthy eating and healthy living. Kristen is writing about her experience being in the classroom with the students as they grow in their understanding of how to live healthier and happier lives through better nutrition and active lifestyles. You can follow Kristen and her observations on Twitter, Instagram and Flickr.

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Written by Kristen Miano
Digital Media Intern

The last nutrition class for the Marie Reed Panthers took an overarching look at the entire season by asking the students a very basic question: Where does our food come from?

Starting off simply, nutrition teacher Carolyn Brandt asked the class where meat comes from.

“Animals!” was the resounding answer.

But there was more to the answer, though. We can eat two different kinds of animal products: meat and other items that come from animals.

“What comes from animals that we don’t need to kill the animals for?” asked Ms. Brandt.

“Tofu!” was one, emphatic answer.

Other correct answers included milk, eggs, cheese and the spectrum of dairy products.

The discussion then moved on to plant-based foods, like all the fruits and vegetables the class had learned about during the six-week season. Though most whole fruits and vegetables are easily identified as plants, it was important to note that most are different parts of the plant. For example, a potato is a plant root, but celery is a plant stem. Broccoli is a flower, while spinach is a leaf.

Next, the students divided into two teams -- boys versus girls -- to test their knowledge. Whenever the teacher held up a picture of a food, the teams were told to act out where the food came from to score points. For example, if the food came from an animal, the entire team needed to flap their arms like a chicken. If the food came from a plant, the team had to wave their hands like leaves on a tree. Though each team did extremely well, the girls’ team won the game by a single point.

Snack during the final week was a little different than usual. The “tasting” snack was designed to reinforce one of the main themes of the entire season: Trying new foods can be fun. Each student got to try a sample of a new, healthy food from a variety of options, including rice cakes, hummus, blueberries, yogurt raisins, sunflower seeds and baby carrots.

Despite initial protests that the hummus “looked gross” and that the rice cakes “aren’t rice krispie treats,” many of the students enjoyed the snack so much, they came back for seconds.

As the Winter SCORES season wrapped up its final nutrition class, the students took a moment to reflect on what they learned.

“I learned that we need good nutrition and that there are different kinds of food groups,” said Mamadou D., age 10, “We should eat healthy foods and be careful of what we eat.”

Jacqueline W., age 9, said she learned it was important to read nutrition labels, especially when it comes to checking a food’s fat content.

“I can eat healthy by eating lots of vegetables,” she added. “Also, fruits and dairy are healthy too.”

Overall, the Marie Reed Panthers are walking away from Winter SCORES with a better understanding of how to lead happier and healthier lives by picking the right foods to eat. The lessons they’ve learned are important for health now, will help them be better soccer players this spring season, and most importantly will continue to benefit them as they grow and learn beyond this season.

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Previous series blogs
Part I
Part II

As National Childhood Obesity Month begins, much progress still needed

In September 2010, President Barack Obama declared September National Childhood Obesity Month.

Even for a president with many competing priorities and people to answer to, it was a no-brainer. Childhood obesity had become an epidemic in this country, an issue that could no longer be ignored — even by perfectly healthy people and their families.

Health care costs soared. The rates of Diabetes and heart failure -- particularly at young ages -- reached scary territory.

Not just adults but kids, beginning at a very young age, were getting bigger. Eating worse. Exercising less.

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Fast forward to today, the third day of this year's focus-driven advocacy month. Things are better, relatively speaking. Thanks to NCOAM, Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move,' initiative, leaders across the country who advocate for healthier lifestyles, and nonprofit programs, the needle has shifted.

Obesity rates in many cities have dropped. Not significantly, mind you. The point is that they aren't trending in the other direction -- anymore.

Here's a sampling of the good news:

Obesity rates for children ages 2-5 dropped significantly from 2003-04 to 2011-12; there was a smaller decrease for children ages 6-11 (Wall Street Journal)

The number of obese teens leveled off and the rate of overweight teens dropped slightly between 2005-'06 and 2009-'10 (HealthDay)

In May 2010, DC passed into law the Healthy Schools Act, which has brought more nutritious foods in District meals for students and more education about healthy eating.

The number of schools with gardens, particularly in DC, continued to increase -- leading to healthier foods on children's lunch plates (elevation DC)

State programs in L.A. and New York helped lead to decreasing levels of obesity (U.S. News & World Report)

States like Colorado and California have added mandates to the school curriculum for a course in health and for teachers to have taken health classes, respectively.

The USDA made the first nationwide changes in 15 years to school meals (USDA)

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Yes, progress has undoubtedly been made. Compare that with 2010, when you had to go back decades to see a positive trend, and we should be optimistic.

Still, we're plagued by myriad issues, particularly in Washington, DC. It remains a difficult, often unfeasible task for low-income families to get healthy and affordable food for their families. Food deserts aren't as vast, but still exist and provide obstacles for those who rely on public transportation.

And students still don't get close to the recommended amount of physical activity during the school day (60 minutes), and have few easy-access and free options during the after-school hours.

During the next month, follow @DCSCORES on Twitter as we share statistics and articles about the still-devastating local and national issue and also share how we — and others — effectively fight the epidemic and set youth up for healthy adulthood. 

The Power of Choice at Bancroft Elementary part IV: Changing lifestyles

This winter, DC SCORES intern Kara Dunford is spending her afternoons at Bancroft Elementary School as the Bengals take part in Winter SCORES. Each week, Kara is writing about her experience observing and interacting with the students as they learn about nutrition and healthy eating habits through the Power of Choice curriculum. You can also follow Kara’s observations on Twitter and Instagram by searching #WinterSCORES. View photos on Flickr. 

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Written by Kara Dunford 
Communications Intern

Coach Guzman stood at the front of the Bancroft Elementary School classroom, ready to address his DC SCORES team.

“I wanted to let you all know that this is our last nutrition class.” He paused briefly. “So I brought tissues in case you need them.”

Guzman held up a box of tissues and the students laughed.

Tissues weren’t needed as the Bengals wrapped up Winter SCORES by embracing their new tools for a healthy and active lifestyle.

On my last day with the Bengals, I had the opportunity to chat with a number of the students about their thoughts on the six-week winter program.

Although it was a short season, this winter was packed with nutrition lessons, covering everything from nutrition labels to solid fats. The Bancroft coaches chose a variety of lessons from the USDA’s Power of Choice curriculum.

In our conversations, it was clear that the Bengals had soaked up a great deal of the information and were excited to put it into practice in their own lives.

A number of students pledged to decrease their intake of junk food and soda, turning instead to fruits and vegetables.

The last day of nutrition programming was set up to help students take the lessons learned from theory to practice. The coaches provided a variety of healthy snack items, including various fruits, yogurt, and cheese, for students to try and determine which they liked best, with the goal of making these snacks part of their healthy routines.

It was fun to see students who were hesitant at first about trying new foods embrace the opportunity and discover new favorite snacks.

In my conversation with fifth-grader Tatiana B., I learned how she was planning to add healthy items -- including salads, carrots and apples -- into her eating routine. She said she was surprised by how much she learned this winter, noting that her favorite lesson taught her about healthy alternatives to soda.

It was the end of our conversation, though, that stuck with me the most.

I asked Tatiana why she thought it was important to implement the lessons of Winter SCORES into her own lifestyle. She paused for a moment, and then smiled.

“To make ourselves proud.”

By providing the students with the tools and information they need to live a healthy and active life, Winter SCORES also instilled a sense of self-confidence in the Bengals. It was incredible to see the progress Tatiana and her classmates made over the course of the season, initially participating begrudgingly but soon embracing each lesson enthusiastically.

After a jam-packed winter season, I’m excited to see what the spring brings.

Check out the video to hear the Bengals’ thoughts on Winter SCORES. Continue to follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as we gear up for the spring.

The Power of Choice at Bancroft Elementary Part III: Where's the fat?

This winter, DC SCORES intern Kara Dunford is spending her afternoons at Bancroft Elementary School as the Bengals take part in Winter SCORES. Each week, Kara is writing about her experience observing and interacting with the students as they learn about nutrition and healthy eating habits through the Power of Choice curriculum. You can also follow Kara’s observations on Twitter and Instagram by searching #WinterSCORES. View photos on Flickr. 

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Written by Kara Dunford 
Communications Intern

Coaches at Bancroft Elementary School distributed a variety of snack items to the students, who watched as carrot sticks, cookies, yogurt and more were placed in front of them.

“How many of you had a snack today?” one of the coaches asked. Nearly every hand in the room was soon raised, and students happily announced their choice of snacks.

Since snacking was deemed to be a popular activity, the coaches were ready to arm their students with the knowledge to choose healthy food items to munch on.

“Who remembers how to tell how much fat is in a snack?”

I was impressed as the students recalled information from previous weeks, remembering their lessons about nutrition labels and percent daily value figures.

The students knew to look for the numbers, but what does fat look like? We were about to find out.

Armed with a variety of snack items and paper towels, the students set to work to provide the group with a visual of the fat contained in some of their favorite foods. Rubbing the paper towel over the food caused some items to leave greasy marks, while others did not. Chips, cookies, chocolate, cheese, and peanut butter left the paper quite dirty, revealing their solid fat content in the process.

The students learned that foods with high levels of solid fat provide few other nutrients that are necessary for a healthy lifestyle. Snacking on items low in fat, like fruits and vegetables, can help provide the body with its required food energy and nutrients.

The Bengals will probably not go around rubbing paper towel over each of their food choices. When combined with the knowledge about nutrient labels, however, the visual of solid fat can help steer the students toward healthy snacks.

While the students were preparing the day’s healthy snack -- fruit and vegetable roll-ups -- I had the chance to chat with Coach Guzman about his team’s winter SCORES experience.

Coach Guzman echoed a sentiment I had about the students: while hesitant to embrace the nutrition curriculum at first, the Bengals soon looked forward to the lessons in healthy lifestyles and seemed eager to implement the lessons in their own lives.

“I like that the curriculum provides both access to nutrition and the opportunity to play soccer after school,” Guzman said. “It highlights both components to living a healthy life.”

Guzman said he hopes his students continue to remember the lessons learned in the classroom as we look toward the spring season. If last week’s discussion of the previous lessons on nutrition labels are any indication, the Bengals are on the right track.

Check out the third video installment to hear from one of Bancroft’s coaches. Be sure to follow along during the last week of winter programming on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #winterSCORES.

The Power of Choice at Bancroft Elementary part I: Reading nutrition labels

This winter, DC SCORES intern Kara Dunford is spending her afternoons at Bancroft Elementary School as the Bengals take part in Winter SCORES. Each week, Kara is writing about her experience observing and interacting with the students as they learn about nutrition and healthy eating habits through the Power of Choice curriculum. You can also follow Kara’s observations on Twitter and Instagram by searching #WinterSCORES. View photos on Flickr. 

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Written by Kara Dunford 
Communications Intern

Coaches at Bancroft Elementary School circled the classroom presenting a bowl of paper clips to DC SCORES students, who were encouraged to take as many as they pleased.

“Oh, I like the shiny gold ones,” one student eagerly exclaimed, as others grabbed handfuls from the bowl.

“There must be a trick,” another student said, questioning the activity’s purpose as he selected only one paper clip.

After the last student had made her selections, the coaches revealed the next step: each student would need to share facts about themselves to total the number of paper clips selected. Groans rang out throughout the room, as students counted 52 paper clips, 84, 100, and more.

The sharing complete, the coaches asked who would change the number of clips selected if they knew the activity’s purpose. I wasn’t surprised when hands shot up around the classroom.

“So if we know the consequences, we can avoid being tricked,” the coaches explained.

How can the students avoid being tricked by food? By learning how to read nutrition labels.

DC SCORES winter programming offers students a chance to combine soccer practices with an understanding of basic nutrition, learning how to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.

The first nutrition label students examined? A family size bag of Lay’s potato chips. As eyes grew wide at the sight of the popular snack food, the coaches guided students through the parts of a nutrition label, learning the amount of calories, sodium, total fat, and saturated fat inside the bag.

Then it was time to get active. The students showed off some pretty creative dance moves as music blared from the stereo.

To link the two activities together, the coaches asked how long an individual would need to dance to burn off the entire bag of chips.

Students called out their answers. Some were much too low. Thurday minutes. Some were much too high. A year.

But when the final answer was revealed, all in the room, myself included, were surprised by the result.

Twenty-six hours. It would take over a day of dancing non-stop at a moderately fast pace to burn off the calories contained in the bag of chips.

Choices have consequences, as the Bancroft Bengals learned this week.

Empowering students to learn the contents of their food choices is just one of the lessons of winter programming. As the weeks go on, I will be spending time at Bancroft Elementary School, engaging with the students and learning alongside them. I’ll share my adventures on this blog, as well as in a weekly video series. On social media, search the hashtag #winterSCORES to follow along.

Check out the first video installment (embedded above) for an introduction to winter programming and a peek at some of the Bengals’ awesome dance moves.

Winter season focuses on teaching nutrition to students at seven schools

Last week, a dozen or so DC SCORES coaches sat around a table in our office eating potato chips.

Wait. What?

Let us explain. The coaches were participating in an exercise that is included in DC SCORES' Power of Choice winter nutrition program, which begins after school today at seven schools throughout Washington, DC. For the next six weeks, students will spend two days a week learning about nutrition and healthy living and two days practicing soccer indoors as part of the scaled-down winter season.

During nutrition lessons, students will be guided through a series of exercises that help them learn about things such as calories, good fats versus bad fats, portion control and more. They'll also gets hands-on experience learning how to prepare healthy snacks and meals.

But back to the potato chips. Coaches learned from the exercise that eating just 15 Lays potato chips equals 150 calories consumed. And even after we had all danced for 5 minutes before the bag of chips was passed around, it would have taken half an hour of dancing -- we learned -- to burn off the 150 calories.

Wow.

The lesson? Eat in moderation, but also know that consuming healthy foods is only half of being healthy. You must exercise, too.

And that, in a nutshell, is what the winter program is all about -- combining healthy eating with physical activity through soccer.

"My hope is we're giving them the knowledge of what it means to live a healthy and active lifestyle," Program Director Cory Chimka said. "We're giving them the skills and tools and that hands-on experience that they can take to their families and say, 'This a healthy snack I can make for us with things that are accessible to me from the corner store on the end of the block.'"

Watch the embedded video for a more in-depth overview of the DC SCORES winter program, and follow the activities throughout the next six weeks on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching the hashtag #DCSCORESWinter.

DC SCORES winter program schools
Bancroft Elementary School
Burrville Elementary School
Jefferson Middle School
Lincoln Middle School
Marie Reed Elementary School
Thomson Elementary School
Wheatley Education Campus

Winter program focused on nutrition and healthy living begins at four schools

Written by Zach Elkin

AmeriCorps Program Manager

It was a seemingly normal Tuesday afternoon at Noyes Education Campus in Northeast DC. At dismissal, many students journeyed home or to a friend’s house; others stayed behind to complete homework or head to the gym for basketball.

But returning and new DC SCORES poet-athletes soon began to gather in the hallway, anticipating the start of winter programming for the first time ever at their school. The DC SCORES program had been on break since the Poetry Slam! in December, and students were eager to get back into action.

However, this winter students would enjoy a new component in addition to soccer play: nutrition.

Coach Shakeria and Coach Terrell began the afternoon leading an activity called “Mirror Image.” This fun game challenged pairs of students to practice shadowing each other’s movements and was accompanied by a discussion on how it feels to be a leader and follower, what happens when someone makes decisions for you, and how one’s personal values shape his/her goals.

Students later played a twist on the popular charades game, where students took turns acting out a personal value for the group to guess. Later this week, Noyes students will make peanut butter and “fruit-wiches” as they discuss why the snack is a healthy choice, what can be added or subtracted to make it healthier, and how the snack can be altered at home.

For the first time in three years, four teams are participating in the Power of Choice (USDA created) program that teaches youth how to make healthy eating and fitness decisions. The interactive, six-week program, which commenced this week at Bancroft ES, Noyes EC, and MacFarland MS (and next week at Brightwood EC), teaches students how to read food labels and safely prepare food, examines the benefits of eating healthy food, and gives students weekly hands-on practice preparing nutritious snacks.

DC SCORES is fortunate to have this winter’s program run almost exclusively by our AmeriCorps coaches, who volunteer their time and effort to making sure students are learning and having fun after school. AmeriCorps coaches are teaming up in pairs to instruct students using the Power of Choice curriculum and incorporate their educational and professional expertise into the workshops.

It is critical for students to receive these lessons and experience first-hand the processes involved in making smart food choices. With the obesity rate among children on the rise and an unforgivable lack of healthy food options in underserved communities, showing students how they can be in control of their eating habits may be the best way to get the message across and see real change.

Aside from the knowledge and skills students gain during Power of Choice, they continue to form positive relationships with their peers and coaches, and stay active during the time of year when many youth resort to eating larger portions of unhealthier foods and spend their after school time at home on the couch.

In general, when parents, principals, community members, and countless supporters talk about “DC SCORES,” the conversation highlights an exciting youth soccer game, memorable Poetry Slam! performance, or school event that celebrated a team’s service to their neighborhood.

This winter, stop by a participating school and check out students learning to make smoothies, cereal sundaes and pocket pita sandwiches. Sooner than later, when DC SCORES is mentioned, admirers will be hard-pressed not to include a memory from the winter season.

Winter programming is taking place from January 17 through March 2, so feel free to contact us if you would like to visit a school!