Advocates of school nutrition standards use high-school chefs' competition to show that food can still taste good

The higher school-food standards required by the Child Nutrition Act expire this year, and Republicans are continuing their efforts to roll back some of them. Democrats and advocates of the standards used a student cooking event on Capitol Hill to generate support for the standards, apparently to counter arguments of some school nutrition directors that some of the healthier options are more difficult to prepare and serve.

In the final competition, the top nine high-school teams served their winning dishes to lawmakers. The dishes had to follow their cafeterias' budgets and the national standards: To win, students had to include products rich in whole grains, low in sodium and a half-cup of fruits and vegetables, Whitney Forman-Cook reports for Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter. She doesn't list any of the dishes, but they're listed with the winners on the "Cooking Up Change" website of the Healthy Schools Campaign.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., hosted the event. She said that she and Senate Agriculture Committee Chariman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who has vowed to roll back some of the standards, have been discussing the issue, and she would like to pass a bipartisan bill by Sept. 30, when the current law's authority ends. One standard Stabenow doesn't want to compromise on is the requirement for a half-cup of fruit and vegetables; Michigan is a big fruit and vegetable state.

Stabenow said the Department of Agriculture "is very willing to work with schools where there are issues" in meeting nutrition requirements. (Read more)

Southern Kentucky physician expands his in-school clinics; already in Russell County, will be in Adair County next year

Dr. Eric Loy
(Columbia Magazine photo)

An entrepreneurial physician in Southern Kentucky has developed a way to deliver school health services that could have a broader impact on communities.

Cumberland Family Medical, based in Burkesville, has clinics at the five schools in Russell County and now has a deal to do likewise with the four in adjoining Adair County.

Dr. Eric Loy, who owns the clinic, "said that the agreement could have an important impact on the community both short term, by helping create a healthier and more focused student body; and long term, by creating a culture where people get acclimated to seeing doctors and nurses for physicals and regular checkups on a consistent basis," Wes Feese reports for The Adair Progress.

“We have a chance to change the culture of health care in Kentucky,” Loy told the Adair County Board of Education, which voted to spend $80,000 next year on the clinics. That is "roughly the same cost the district currently pays for school nurses," Feese reports. "If the trial run next year is successful, both parties will have options to continue the agreement."

"Cumberland Family Medical will pay two-thirds of the nurse expense and will bill the insurance of the patient," Toni Humphress reports for the Adair County Community Voice.

School Supt. Alan Reed complimented the dedication and service of the county’s school nurses but said costs to employ them were “soaring,” Feese reports. Reed said of Loy's plan, “This is kind of a novel approach, and from all we’ve seen, we really like it. It cuts down on time and any barriers for a kid getting health care.”

Loy agreed, saying, “A lot of times that’s the barrier, that it’s hard [for parents] to miss work.”

School principals said sick students may have to sit in an office or lobby all day because working parents are unavailable to come pick the students up and take them to a doctor. "Director of Pupil Personnel Robbie Harmon said that this move could have a bigger long-term impact on the community than any project he’s worked on in his time in the school system."

Loy's in-school clinics are manned by a full-time nurse practitioner who travels between schools, and is overseen by a physician. "Loy said that all forms of insurance would be accepted, and that all children would be seen and treated, regardless of their ability to pay," Feese reports. "He also said that the clinics could help out with insurance enrollment."

Adair County had one of the state's highest percentages of people without health insurance until the federal-state Medicaid program was expanded under federal health reform. The uninsured rate has dropped dramatically, but some families are still without health coverage.

Burgin, in heart of Kentucky, is state's 40th school district to go tobacco-free; ban, won by students, applies to vapor products

Burgin Independent Schools, in the heart of Kentucky, will be the latest 100 percent tobacco-free schools in the state, and the first in Mercer County, which has a strong tobacco heritage.

The Burgin Board of Education voted April 8 to ban all tobacco use, including vapor products, on school grounds and during school-related student trips, Robert Moore reports for The Harrodsburg Herald. The policy becomes effective July 1 and includes any building or vehicle owned or operated by the board and applies to any renters of school property.

Burgin will be the 40th Kentucky school district to become fully tobacco-free. Kentucky has 173 public- school districts, with 1,233 public schools, according to the state Department of Education.

The Kentucky 100 percent Tobacco-Free Schools website says, "Studies show that schools with 100 percent tobacco-free school policies for three years of more have 40 percent fewer smokers than those in non-tobacco free school districts." The 2013 Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 18 percent of Kentucky youth smoke, and 47 percent of them have smoked at least once.

"I’m really proud we’re going to be a tobacco free campus," board member Priscilla Harris told the Herald after the meeting. "We want to set a good example." The independently owned weekly newspaper recently did a three-part series on tobacco in the county, including Burgin students' efforts to get tobacco banned.

Kentucky 100 percent Tobacco Free Schools map, with Burgin added

Electronic cigarettes are 'high on every school system's radar right now,' Western Ky. school official tells Henderson newspaper

This story has been updated to reflect recent data about teens and e-cigarette use.

School officials in northwestern Kentucky are trying deal with an increase in the use of electronic cigarettes by students, Erin Schmitt reports for The Gleaner in Henderson.

Union County Schools spokeswoman Malinda Beauchamp told Schmitt there had been 16 discipline referrals of students using e-cigarettes at Union County High School and 26 at Union County Middle School this year. There is no data from previous years for comparison, but school officials "have noticed the rise" and want to be proactive in preventing more usage, Beauchamp said.

Schmitt reported on e-cigarette usage at other schools in the region and found 15 to 20 incidents at Henderson County High, but only a few incidents in North Middle School, South Middle School and Central Academy, according to Julie Wischer, public information officer for Henderson County Schools.

The Webster County Schools did not have exact numbers of incidents of usage, but has e-cigarettes listed under its policy as a tobacco product or paraphernalia, Todd Marshall, Webster’s director of pupil personnel, told Schmidt. Though it’s a new issue, Marshall said, “It’s high on every school system’s radar right now.”

A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of high school students who tried e-cigarettes has tripled in one year, to more than 13 percent, while smoking of traditional cigarettes dropped to 9.2 percent from more than 13 percent, CBS News reports.

“Many users of marijuana prefer e-cigs or vapes because it’s smokeless, odorless and easy to hide or conceal,” Henderson County Supt. Patricia Sheffer told Schmitt. “This ‘vaping’ is a concern in our schools and elsewhere among youth, because it can produce a nearly instant ‘high’ with little or no detection."

The preventive measures include: a Facebook message to parents and students from her about the dangers of e-cigarettes, which not only involves nicotine usage, but also marijuana, alcohol and other drugs that can be ingested through the device; updating policies, procedures and the student code of conduct to include prohibitions on e-cigs and vapor devices on school property; a commitment to find out how the student got access to the device; and a required drug and alcohol screening if caught, with parent-paid counseling if the screen is positive.

Crittenden County Elementary School is latest school in area to restrict nuts to protect the health of those with nut allergies

This story has been updated to include information about other Western Kentucky schools with nut restrictions.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a lunchbox staple for many American children, but they can also pose a serious health risk to those with peanut and tree-nut allergies, especially in the young. The risk has prompted the Crittenden County school district to become the latest in the area to restrict the use of nuts at the Crittenden County Elementary School in Marion.

"Peanut and tree nut allergies plague an estimated 19 million Americans and the number of children with peanut allergies in the U.S. has nearly doubled in just over a decade," The Crittenden Press noted.

After researching the issue and how other schools have dealt with it, the school's parent-teacher council and wellness committee created a policy that restricts but doesn't ban nuts, the Press reports.

The policy asks everyone to be aware that nut products are dangerous to some of the students and asks them to not send those products to school, Principal Melissa Tabor told the Press. She said at least five students have proven nut allergies.

Several other Western Kentucky schools have peanut restrictions,Genevieve Postlethwait reports for The Paducah Sun, including Carlisle County and Fulton County schools, with Paducah and Hickman County schools having restricted peanuts for varying periods of time in the past. (Story is behind a pay wall.)

"We do it on a case-by-case, year-by-year basis," Penny Holt,the district's nutrition director, told Postlethwait of Paducah schools' approach to restricting peanuts and other allergens. "If a child has an allergy that is that serious, we're not going to risk it," she said, noting that they are seeing an increase in all kinds of food allergies.

Another school, Heath Elementary, has a child with an airborne peanut allergy so the school does not serve any peanut products or cook with any peanut products, Sara Jane Hedges, food services director for McCracken County schools. told Postlethwait. Students are still allowed to bring peanut butter products, but " "It's just taken care of very carefully," Hedges said.

Crittenden County Elementary school's policy does not require school personnel to check backpacks or lunchboxes for nut-containing products, but if they see children have one of these products, they ask them to sit at a designated table for that day, where they can ask a friend to join them.

The school sent home a list of nut-free snacks, including safe name brands that do not contain peanut oil, to help parents re-think what to pack in their child's lunch or to send for school snacks or for school parties.

So far, the principal said, parents have been receptive to the policy, and one parent told her that they had successfully switched to a soy butter that tastes like peanut butter because their child wants peanut-butter sandwiches for lunch.

The policy states that those with severe allergies to peanuts or nut products may be at great risk of anaphylactic shock, "an allergic reaction causing swelling, difficulty breathing, itching, unconsciousness, circulatory collapse and sometimes death," if they ingest or are exposed to these products.

"Because of the possibility of cross-contamination, a campus-wide, comprehensive avoidance of foods containing nuts was deemed to be the best solution to reduce the health risks to students with allergens," Tabor told the Press.

Crittenden County School Supt. Vince Clark told the weekly newspaper that he supports the school's policy, despite the argument that it creates a burden to parents of students who love peanut butter.

“There are valid points on each side of the issue,” he told the Press. “Ultimately, we have to support efforts to offer a safer learning environment for the children.” (Read more)

As school-lunch debate puts attention on rejected meals, we might consider a bigger problem: food wasted at home

The new nutrition rules for school meals have led some students to throw away food they're served. Schools across the country are estimated to waste $1.2 billion worth of food every year, based on extrapolations from a study the National Institutes of Health conducted in Boston schools. That's a lot of wasted food and money, but students and their families waste even more food at home, George Jones writes for WFIE-TV in Evansville.

According to the U.S. Department of Education approximately 49.8 million pre-K through 12th-grade students will attend public schools this year. Each student is estimated to waste about $33 worth of federally funded lunches per year. "The average person in the general population wastes almost that much in total meals during one month," Jones reports.

Americans threw away $161 billion worth of food in 2010—nearly one-third of the available food supply, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That means the average person discards $372 worth of food each year, or four times as much as students.

"Sometimes people say it's the family and parents making choices, but it's the larger system we're in that making this problem," aid Pamela Koch, director of the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education and Policy at Columbia University. "They're working so many hours they think they don't have time to shop and cook healthy. And the most inexpensive foods are the ones that are not the most healthy for them."

Rising obesity rates and fast food consumption show that adults aren't eating well-balanced meals, much less school-aged individuals. The School Nutrition Association supports the rules requiring reduced-fat and fat-free milk and more fruits and vegetables, but "feels serving only whole grain breads and requiring children to take food they don't otherwise each is burdensome for schools," Jones reports.

"You're never going to be able to promote healthy diets for kids if they don't get healthy options across the board," SNA spokeswoman Diane Pratt-Heavner said. "It's the students who are unfamiliar with those healthier choices who are not responding well."

Students part of the Montgomery, Ala., group called E.A.T. (Education, Act Transform) were much more receptive to trying new foods—such as radishes—when they went through the process of planting and harvesting them. "They come here, and now they have an understanding," E.A.T. South Executive Director Denise Blake Green said. "They've seen the cycle—planting, harvesting, cooking, composting. When they leave here, food looks different to them." (Read more)

Chickenpox outbreak reported at Crab Orchard

Five students at Crab Orchard Elementary School in Lincoln County have been diagnosed with chickenpox, putting the county school system on alert, Ben Kleppinger reports for The Interior Journal in Stanford. Eva Stone, the schools' health coordinator, told the newspaper that the students had been diagnosed with by at least four health-care providers, and an unknown number of siblings under school age have also been diagnosed.

"A letter was sent home to Crab Orchard parents earlier this week, notifying them of the diagnoses and informing them on how to identify the symptoms," Kleppinger reports. "The letter encouraged parents to make sure their children are vaccinated against chickenpox and warned that people with chickenpox should avoid contact with others who have not had the illness or the vaccination. The chickenpox vaccination is about 80-85 percent effective after one dose, so a second vaccination is routinely recommended, according to the letter."