School nutrition addressed in state report

Getting California's schoolchildren to eat healthier at school is the aim of a new report released by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.

Titled "School Nutrition . . . By Design," the report includes practical voluntary steps schools can take to improve nutrition, ranging from scheduling lunch times for when students are more likely to eat healthy food, to ways to create a school health council, to enlisting students in planning healthy and studentfriendly menus.

The report contains resources and examples from school districts and organizations that have already implemented successful strategies to improve the school nutrition environment.

To ensure that the ideas in the report are put into practice, a copy has been sent to every district superintendent in the state. The California Department of Education also is hosting workshops throughout the state to help schools learn how to implement the strategies.

The report is the culmination of work by O'Connell's Advisory Committee on Nutrition Implementation Strategies.

An online version of the report is available on the California Department of Education website at www.cde.ca.gov.

This story provided by StatePoint Media.