Healthy Students Act delivers better food

Better food choices. More activity options. These are the two key goals of the Healthy Students Act, which began as Senate Bill 2369 during the 2007 Legislative Session and was recently signed into law by Gov. Haley Barbour.

The legislation was designed to help children lead healthier lives today and develop habits that will help them be healthy throughout their lives.

The bill requires grades K-8 to have 150 minutes per week of activity-based instruction and a minimum of 45 minutes of health education instruction.

Not only will students enjoy the benefits of increased exercise, they will learn why physical activity is beneficial. High school students will be required to complete a one-half Carnegie unit in physical education for graduation. However, these measures are not required to be put into place until the 2008-2009 school year. Schools will utilize the 2007-2008 school year to plan for the staff and schedule changes that are necessitated by the Healthy Students Act.

The bill also requires that schools modify their wellness plans by the 2008-2009 school year to include ways to promote increased physical activity, healthy eating habits and abstinence from tobacco and illegal drugs through programs that incorporate healthy lifestyle choices into core subject areas. The bill provides for a physical activity coordinator at the Mississippi Department of Education to assist in district physical education programs.

The bill also addresses the menu choices that are served during breakfast and lunch at school, which are already required to follow federal guidelines. The bill requires the Mississippi Board of Education to adopt guidelines by March 1, 2008, which will be implemented during the 2008-2009 school year, for the Child Nutrition School Breakfast and Lunch Programs.

Utilizing the most recent scientific principles regarding health and fitness, the State Board will develop a policy that will address healthy food and beverage choices, healthy food preparation, marketing of healthy food choices to students and staff, food preparation ingredients and products; availability of food items during lunch and breakfast and methods to increase participation in the lunch and breakfast programs.

During the legislative session, there was discussion of some requirements that were not included in the final legislation approved by both houses. The requirement that schools measure and report to parents the body mass index of all students was one of these issues that was discussed but not included in the final bill. Another example is the removal of deep fat fryers from school cafeterias.

While there are many that are both for and against these changes, we know that the lifestyle changes Americans have made over the last 20 years have not been for the better. More fast food, fewer vegetables, more television and less outdoor play have contributed to disturbing health realities for our children that will not improve with age unless dramatic changes are made.

There is a strong connection between health and student achievement, so schools must help students be as healthy as possible so that they can succeed in the classroom today and lead healthy lives as adults.