Pleasant Street School 5-2-1-0: Fruits and Vegetables for School Snack Time

Summary

Impact Statement:

The county has a high percentage of overweight and obese children. Pleasant Street School staff implemented activities related to nutrition education in a school setting. Student knowledge about fruits and vegetables increased, and the school received additional funds to foster healthy eating.

Summary:

Aim: Second grade students will bring fruits and/or vegetables for snack at least 60% of the time by June 2009.

This project applied a multicomponent approach to improving healthy eating behaviors within an elementary school, based on the 5-2-1-0 Initiative. The second grade teacher had noted that only about 25% of students brought fruits or vegetables for snacks. This initiative aimed to increase that percentage to at least 60%. Activities included providing healthy foods for taste-testing during snack time, a field trip to local grocery store, partnering second grade students with fifth grade students in a "Book Buddies" reading initiative that included healthy snacks, actively engaging the principal in the initiative through the Principal’s Tie Award for the class bringing the most healthy foods for snack, and developing an educational bulletin board highlighting their healthy eating activities for the rest of the school.
The numbers of second grade students bringing fruits and vegetables for snack increased to 77%, exceeding the goal. The nutrition-focused initiatives spread to other classrooms within the school to include K–5, and the systematic implementation of Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) activities expanded to include promoting physical activity among students. An unexpected outcome of this initiative was a schoolwide practice that promoted bringing healthier snacks to school. Building on the work of this initiative, a Fruit and Vegetable grant was obtained, which led to increased access and consumption of fruits and vegetables.
• Hold taste-testing at snack time.
• Visit grocery store.
• Have “Book Buddies” with fifth grade.
• Design bulletin board.
• Integrate project into Pleasant Street School (PSS) Wellness Committee.
• Integrate fruit and vegetable education/consumption across the curriculum.

Organization that conducted the QI initiative:

Lakes Region Partnership for Public Health

Citation:

Laverack, S. Public Health Quality Improvement Exchange. Pleasant Street School 5-2-1-0: Fruits and Vegetables for School Snack Time. Fri, 03/29/2013 - 19:28. Available at http://www.phqix.org/content/pleasant-street-school-5-2-1-0-fruits-and-vegetables-school-snack-time. Accessed April 26, 2024.

Background and Aim

Aim statement:

Second grade students will bring fruits and/or vegetables for snack at least 60% of the time by June 2009.

Need For The QI Initiative:

The school had a high level of interest but fragmented coordination • The nurse and the guidance counselor teach a 4-week wellness curriculum for fifth grade, but there are few activities in place promoting healthy eating/active living. • The second grade teacher had noticed that many students did not bring healthy snacks to school. • The Lakes Region Physical Activity and Nutrition Committee (PAN) had identified this area as a priority but had not yet engaged in a formal initiative within local schools.

Area for Improvement:

• Obesity was identified as one of the top four health issues in the Lakes Region by Community Needs Assessment Survey 2008 respondents (41%) (http://www.lrpph.org). • Belknap County has the highest percentage of overweight and obese Women, Infants and Children program (WIC)-enrolled children of all counties in New Hampshire (2007 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System). • 75.3% of Belknap County residents consume less than five servings of fruits and vegetables a day (2007 New Hampshire Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System [BRFSS]). • The PAN is active but lacks resources. • PSS is enthusiastic about having a coordinator to facilitate their ideas. • The study has no access to the body mass indices (BMIs) of students at PSS.

Root Cause:

1. Lack of Resources • Fruits/vegetables (F/V) are expensive and have a short shelf life. • Access to F/V is limited within walking distance, and there is no public transportation. • The poverty level in Laconia is high. • There is a lack of funds for extracurricular activities. 2. Environment • Limited F/V are available to students. • School days are already full, and there is little room in the curriculum to add topic areas. 3. Lack of Knowledge • Students lack knowledge about the benefits of F/V. • Teachers lack knowledge about the resources available to support their teaching. • Parents lack knowledge about the benefits of F/V and available resources. 4. Incentives/Motivation • Food is used as a reward. • It is considered "not cool" to eat healthy foods. • Prepackaged foods are more convenient. • Teachers are overworked.

Planning and Execution Details

Attachment	Size
LRPPH StoryBoard 10 26 12 (2).doc	588 KB

Results

Measurable QI Outcomes:

• Percent of second grade students who bring fruits or vegetables to school for snack—measured monthly and reported quarterly. • Pre–post test results (November 2008 through January 2009) of second graders revealed increased knowledge in identification and nutritional benefits of fruits and vegetables. • School obtained grant to provide fruits and vegetables to all students at snack time.

Other QI Outcomes:

• Schoolwide practice promotes healthy eating/active living. • Physical education teacher adopts 5-2-1-0. • Schoolwide practice discourages unhealthy snacks brought by students to school. • School uses Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) Kids Club (CKC) to incorporate movement breaks into classrooms.

Lessons Learned, Observations and Insights:

The participation of the principal in the activities (Principal’s Tie Award) was a great catalyst for the process in spreading interest in our activities beyond the second grade classroom. Challenges included: • A change in staff during the project—the Project Coordinator changed after the start of the project. • The aim statement—for example, they struggled with whether to measure how many students ate healthy foods, how many students brought healthy foods to school for snacks, and even how to define healthy foods. • Engaging school staff in our QI meetings because they do not have flexibility with their time during school hours (especially teachers). • Asking teachers, who already have a full plate, to gather data to support QI efforts—providing a tracking sheet that made it easy to gather the data helped with this.

Future Plans:

At the end of the initiative, we established the following plans: • Revisit aim statement: Fifth grade to “pilot” F/V at snack time and second grade to sustain and increase F/V consumption at snack time. • Spring 2009, schoolwide challenge: The class to bring most fruits and vegetables for snack in a week’s time wins the Principal’s Tie Award. • All three elementary schools in district are participating in free F/V for snack in September 2009. • PSS discourages junk food on premises. • Broaden intervention “1” of 5-2-1-0: Increase physical activity and continue to improve healthy eating behaviors; purchase CKC Kit (evidence-based practice [EBP]) for PSS (PTA provides portion of cost); all fourth grade teachers (three classes) and PE teacher agree to participate in CKC facilitation training. Since this initiative ended, the following activities and efforts have occurred: • School district applied for and received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide free F/V for snack time. • Teachers utilized pre-existing class block to implement CKC activities in February 2010. • Promoted schoolwide access to CKC Kit—K–5. • Utilized HEAL-funded coordinator to broaden initiatives to other schools within region. • Participated in promoting successfully enacted legislation requiring BMI testing in schools. • Continued to work toward school district-wide policy changes that promote HEAL.

Pleasant Street School 5-2-1-0: Fruits and Vegetables for School Snack Time

Summary

Background and Aim

Planning and Execution Details

Results

Training and Preparation

Information about the Community

Information about the Health Department

QI Staff Information

Accreditation Details

Collaborations

Contact Information of the Submitter

QI Spotlight

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Pleasant Street School 5-2-1-0: Fruits and Vegetables for School Snack Time

Summary

Background and Aim

Planning and Execution Details

Results

Training and Preparation

Information about the Community

Information about the Health Department

QI Staff Information

Accreditation Details

Collaborations

Contact Information of the Submitter

QI Spotlight