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TRIAD BACKING YOUTH TO LEAD CHARGE AGAINST OBESITY
By Justin Biegel and Jordan Spritzer
Of the many stabs at curbing obesity in the Triad community, none have worked quite as well as getting students to turn their parents onto a heathy diet.
Obesity can lead to other potentially deadly health issues such as cancer, heart problems and diabetes. According to the State Center for Health Statistics, cancer and heart disease where the top two causes of death in Alamance and Guilford Counties in 2013. Diabetes was tied for eight and seventh respectively in Alamance and Guilford Counties.
The obesity rate in Alamance and Guilford Counties was 17 percent in 2013. The diabetes rate in Alamance County was 12 percent in 2013, slightly higher than Guilford’s rate of nine percent.
- Brandon Norman, market manager of Mobile Oasis
“You know how they say you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, it’s kind of the same with the palate,” said Brandon Norman, market manager of Guilford County’s Mobile Oasis farmers market. “Once you’ve hit a certain age, the palate is kind of accustomed to the types of food that it eats, so we’re seeing it’s easier to break into these households with the kids.”
Norman said the kid’s brains are like “sponges,” making it very easy to explain different ways healthy foods can be used in a variety of ways. While at the farmers market, employees will explain – for example – how kale, can be made into a smoothie, boiled, or made into kale chips. Kids are also able to taste the different kinds of food available.
“They’re taking these ideas and recipes home and just telling their parents, ‘hey this is what I learned at the Mobile Oasis,’” Norman said. “We’re seeing that their parents tend to come out the week after their children come out because the kids are so excited that we have food samples.”
Extending Classroom Learning
West Burlington’s Hillcrest Elementary has taken its own steps to address obesity with the Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Program (FFVP). Crystal Summers, school nurse at Hillcrest, heads the USDA-funded program. The school applies for the grant each March, and it allows students to be exposed to fresh and healthy foods otherwise unavailable to them.
- Crystal Summers, school nurse at Hillcrest Elementary
“We’re trying to educate our children, so they can go come and educate the parents to help with healthy lifestyle choices,” Summers said.
Summers said many students are sent to school with snacks low in nutritional value as many come from lower-income families. Summers added the FFVP is beneficial because it’s another opportunity for students to be exposed to healthier food options.
“They have to have an apple on their [lunch] tray, but that doesn’t mean the teacher has to say, ‘You have to eat this,’” Summers said. “We’re trying to educate students to make good choices.”
Hillcrest is the only school in the Alamance-Burlington School System (ABSS) receiving the FFVP grant. Summers credits the community-driven nature of the surrounding community.
“We have a lot of community support,” she said. “When it comes to teaching our children, we look at teaching the community, as well. So, I think that has a lot to do with it, because some of the other rural schools aren’t necessarily community-based.”
ABSS is creating a new trend of healthy eating for its students in a bid to buck unhealthy eating habits in the community. All schools in the system follow USDA guidelines, which limits calories, sodium and fats. Students are also required to be served a three-quarters of a cup of vegetables and half a cup of fruit with each lunch.
The food pyramid has been replaced by MyPlate, which has been highly supported by first lady Michelle Obama. Pamela Bailey, child nutrition supervisor at ABSS, said the new format is particularly useful because students can see what they should be eating while waiting in the line at the cafeteria.
Feeding Students
“We have menu boards that show [students] their menu, and it also gives them nutritional facts about those foods,” said Pamela Bailey, child nutrition supervisor at ABSS.
Bailey said whole grains have been the toughest healthy sell, but students are becoming more and more comfortable with the new options as students become accustomed to its unique taste.
With many students coming from poorer families in food insecure communities, ABSS provides free universal breakfasts at 14 of its 35 schools. Household income is used to determine which students are eligible for free meals. ABSS also provides free and reduced price lunches and breakfasts at all of its schools for students who qualify.
Out of the 426,158 lunches served from the begging of the school year through the end of September in ABSS schools, 334,935 lunches were free and 19,547 were reduced price.
Of the 186,036 breakfasts served, 169,197 were free and 6,152 were reduced price.
Last year, ABSS schools started the Smart Snacks program, which is designed to promote the same healthy choices students make when eating breakfast and lunch at schools. The program places nutritional standards on items sold a la carte in schools, in school stores and in vending machines.
Bailey said in many cases students will bring candy, cookies, or another snack that lack any nutritional value. The snack program promotes the practice that healthy eating is not something that should only be applied for meals.
Items such as chocolate, donuts and soda have been replaced by peanuts, low-fat chips, granola bars and no-calorie flavored water. Bailey added the snacks are baked and aren’t nearly as high in sugar as the old snacks that were sold.
Identifying Community Needs
- Ann Meletzke, executive director of Healthy Alamance
Ann Meletzke, executive director of Healthy Alamance, said Alamance County is prioritizing “social determinants of health” – such as food deserts and food insecurity – for the first time.
“Food deserts lead to chronic diseases like obesity, heart failure or diabetes,” Meletzke said. “Those are preventable in many instances, but also expensive to treat. That’s why communities should be interested in whether or not they have food deserts so that they can do something about it.”
Healthy Alamance is a nonprofit, Meletzke explained. It’s a partnership between Cone Health, a non-profit network of healthcare providers, and the Alamance County Public Health Department, so Meletzke acts as the liaison for the community and the privately-owned Cone Health.
“I get to do a lot of work around advocacy – or public health issues – and really get to promote hospital initiatives and population health,” she said.
Meletzke said her duties are guided by a community assessment, which examines health issues throughout the county – not just food insecurity. For 2015, access to care, education and the economy were identified as top priorities. Meletzke’s she said it’s not always the quick fix that solves the problem.
“You can plant a grocery store in a food desert, but that doesn’t mean people are going to make healthier choices,” Meletzke said. “Most of their long term patterns of eating and shopping have been established.”
Replacing old habits
Svetlana Nepocatych, assistant professor of exercise science at Elon University, said it’s easy for food insecure families to get in the habit of eating fast food when parents are working long hours and transportation is not always a given. Nepocatych said while those foods are high in calories and rich in energy, there are plenty of tradeoffs.
- Svetlana Nepocatych, professor of exercise science at Elon University
“With having the fast food – the energy dense food – it’s very low in nutrient values [and] very high intake of saturated fats,” she said.
Nepocatych added that food is a very personal and cultural aspect of peoples’ lives, making it difficult to stray from what’s comfortable.
Meletzke said not all tendencies are cultural, though. Some may be of the environmental variety.
“We pass on our habits to each other,” Meletzke said. “If you’re residing in a food desert that’s been in existence for a while, those patterns are well established not only within the family unit, but in the neighborhood, as well.”
Meletzke said instilling change begins by starting small with events like farmer’s markets. Education is also key to putting the change into context, she said.
“That develops some relationships either with the educators, or with the farmers providing them with produce,” she said. “That means they begin to attach their new [knowledge] about food to people and actual relationships.”