Running head: CHOOSE MY PLATE: A LOCAL SCHOOL STUDY

Choose My Plate:
A Local School Study
Allie Cline
Arizona State University
Professor Miller Ed. D.
13 Sep 2015

CHOOSE MY PLATE: A LOCAL SCHOOL STUDY

Choose My Plate: A Local School Study

Introduction
Within recent years, there has been an American epidemic of obesity. The problems that
adults are having wit obesity, health professionals are finding that they are issues that could have
been prevented from an early age. This epidemic has grown beyond its bounds and is affecting
the youth of the United States. Childhood obesity is a hot topic that has some parents worried
and looking for ways to cut sugar and gluten from their childrens diets. What a person consumes
has an equivalent value to proper physical activity in achieving a healthy weight. Michelle
Obama has played a major role in the advocacy for children in fighting childhood obesity, and,
with the Obama administration, she has created nutrition standards for schools in the US to
follow to combat the childhood obesity epidemic.
This study aims to provide information about the standards that are easily translated, and
examines how one local school measures up to those standards. Trevor G. Browne High School
is a school of about three thousand two hundred students located in Phoenix, Arizona. It is a Title
I school with a student population that is 90% Hispanic. According to administration records,
roughly 73% of the student population is on a free-reduced lunch program. The school also
offers free breakfast for all students. The images below offer a snapshot of a typical daily
nutrition for students eating breakfast and lunch at school.

CHOOSE MY PLATE: A LOCAL SCHOOL STUDY

(USDA.gov 2015)

CHOOSE MY PLATE: A LOCAL SCHOOL STUDY

Meeting the National Standards

At this time, Trevor G. Browne High School does meet the nutrition standards for school
lunch and breakfast programs. The national standards state that schools must:
Offer fruits and vegetables as two separate meal components offer whole grains
offer a daily meat/meat alternate at breakfast; offer fluid milk that is fat-free and low-fat;
offer meals that meet specific calorie ranges for each age/grade group; reduce the sodium
content of meals food products or ingredients contain zero grams of trans fat per
serving. (Federal Register 2012)
TGBHS is currently following these standards per their lunch menu, although a more in-depth
study into the actual ingredients, and where they come from, would be required to make a better
determination of the accuracy of their program.
The snapshot above of a daily meal is also not accurate in predicting the accuracy of the
program due to the fact that the Supertracker does not offer the actual foods and ingredients
the school is using, but it is good to use as a rough estimate. If solely basing the accuracy on the
Supertracker, it would appear that the school is not following the NSLP guidelines due to
sodium content and caloric intake. In accordance with the NSLP TGBHS also offers a freereduced lunch policy to its qualifying families. Their student wellness policy (J-4961JL-R) on
the schools website states:
All foods and beverages made available on campus during the school day are to be
consistent with the Arizona Nutrition Standards [strictly following NSLP]. Guidelines for
reimbursable school meals shall not be less restrictive than regulations and guidance
issued by the Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to law The Phoenix Union High School
District #210 announced its policy for providing free and reduced-price meals for

CHOOSE MY PLATE: A LOCAL SCHOOL STUDY

children under the National School Lunch and Breakfast program. Each of the 16
PUHSD High Schools offer healthy meals every school day. Breakfast costs $0(PUHSD
offers FREE universal breakfast to all students); lunch costs $1.50. Your children may
qualify for free meals. (PUHSD 2015)
Parents must fill out an application in order to have their students placed on the free-reduced
lunch program, but several factors including receiving SNAP benefits will qualify the students.
Meeting Dietary Guidelines
The NSLP is just one program that has heavily influenced the nutrition limitations in
schools. The NSLP guidelines are drawn and constrained straight from the most current Dietary
Guidelines for Americans (2010). Similarly, these guidelines instruct Americans to:
Limit calorie intake to the amount needed to attain or maintain a healthy weight
consume foods from all groups in nutrient dense forms and recommended amounts
reduce intake of added sugarsreduce intake of sodiumincrease intake of whole
grains increase intake of milk and milk products and replace whole milk and full-fat
milk with fatfree or low-fat milk products. (2010 p.45)
These guidelines are almost identical to those set forth in the NSLP. TGBHS seemingly is
meeting the criteria set forth in the 2010 DGA, however using the Supertracker will lead to an
inaccurate measurement of the schools program with similar findings to the inaccuracies
towards the NSLP guidelines.
Improving the System
A sad factor of the system that NSLP and the DGA coming from the current
administration governing the United States, is that requirements are placed upon schools for
accountability with little regards to what is being done outside of the school. There is not as

CHOOSE MY PLATE: A LOCAL SCHOOL STUDY

much parent involvement when it comes to their childs nutrition in school, as there should be.
With that, students are also witnessing the types of foods they are receiving at school, which is
nothing like what they receive at home, and are often bringing in their own food from home, or
waiting until after school to eat. Some students have even gone as far to say that the food they eat
at school is not filling, likely due to the excessive caloric intake their bodies are used to. On the
adverse side, some students are glad to receive the food the schools provide because those are the
only meals they will receive all day.
Educators cannot force students to eat, but what they can do is play a role in helping the
students make educated choices about what they are putting in their bodies. TGBHS does not do
enough to educate the students about eating right. I would offer a meal choice program (more
than just picking food from whats in the line) that would help the students feel like they are
making their own decisions about what they are eating. It would still be within the guidelines,
and it is also enabling the students to learn an important skill about meal planning that they will
use later in life, and outside of school.
I would also offer a workshop to the parents about healthy lifestyles, which could count
as extra credit for the students. Sadly, parents cant always make these things, and ones whom
are uninvolved would never try, but just having the resource there for parents is a huge step.
Lastly, I would make an assignment, as a health teacher, requiring students to keep a log of their
diet and exercise for a minimum of two weeks, so students could figure out how much weight
they will gain if they keep on the path they are on.
Reflection
The Choose My Plate activity is a very helpful tool for students to get involved in
understanding how their meals, their caloric intake, and their physical activity level play a role in

CHOOSE MY PLATE: A LOCAL SCHOOL STUDY

their weight and overall well-being. As previously stated, an educator could use this as
assignment for students to track their eating and exercise habits to get students in the healthy
mindset. As shown above, the tracker is not very accurate, and the tool is not greatly optimized
for mobile devices, which is how most students are accessing the internet these days. Keeping in
mind the technology available, I personally, as an educator who has worked closely with
specialized nutritionists would rely more heavily on an app available in the Apple App Store and
the Google Play Store known as MyFitnessPal by Underarmour. It allows users to scan barcodes
of products they eat, and has a greater accuracy of food searches or manual inputs. This app also
allows the user to keep track of their fitness and weight, and can even be used to track routes. It
is probably the most accurate health app available in terms of what it can do.
If a student did not have a mobile device, the Choose My Plate website would be used
as an alternate means followed by a regular hand-written journal. With the use of the mobile
device students would conscious of their lifestyle choices at every moment, provided that they
actually use it. I am not sure if an educator can force a student to participate in any of these
activities, but just providing the information to students is a step in the right direction. Students
at TGBHS have appeared to be making poor food choices due to the food offered at their school.
In my observation, more students were choosing the salad bar over the offered food.
Some students also stated that they wait until after school is over to grab something at home or
fast food on the way home, which is causing them to go longer periods without eating, causing
their bodies to store much more fat than it needs to. The school is surrounded by an array of fast
food including Carls Jr., Panda Express, and Subway. Although the school is a closed campus,
students do not mind waiting for the foods that they want. Educating the students is the only
way to influence positive change.

CHOOSE MY PLATE: A LOCAL SCHOOL STUDY

References
Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2010.asp#overview
National School Lunch Program (NSLP). (2015). USDA. Retrieved from
http://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/national-school-lunch-program-nslp
Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. (2012).
Federal Registrar, 77(17), 4088-4089. Retrieved from
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-01-26/pdf/2012-1010.pdf
Phoenix Union High School District. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://phoenixunion.org/Page/17158
Supertracker. (2015). USDA.gov. Retrieved from
https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/foodtracker.aspx

CHOOSE MY PLATE: A LOCAL SCHOOL STUDY

2Criteria

Points (4) Exemplary

Points (2) Proficient

Introduction was well organized and

created a plan for the paper

Introduction was somewhat organized and

created a plan for the paper

ChooseMyPlate

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

Analysis

One breakfast and one lunch (or 2

restaurant options) were evaluated
Results reflect a hypothetical student
Screen shot was included
Applied 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

Contained a somewhat detailed application of

NSSM
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

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

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
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 used throughout

paper and references
The file document name contains
Lastname.firstname.assign#.course#
This rubric was attached correctly
Posted to your E-Portfolio correctly

APA style referencing mostly used throughout

the paper and references
The file name somewhat contains the
Lastname.firstname.assignment#.course#
This rubric was added but not at the end
Posted to your E-Portfolio, but incorrectly

Introduction
SCORE:x1

SCORE: x1
Application of results

and proposed changes

SCORE:x1

Summary/Reflection

SCORE: x1

Writing and Reference

Style

SCORE: x1