Schools that foster physical and intellectual development: Changing the school's dining environment

Physical intelligence development

Throughout my discussion of smart eating, body imagery, and physical activity, I've mentioned methods to help you and your children overcome the influence of television and media, fast food, advertising, and labor-saving devices. These are precisely what interfere with the normal development of bodily intelligence. Each of us needs to act according to our own unique plans, and how wonderful it would be if our journey didn't seem to require a struggle at every step! The purpose of this chapter is to offer suggestions so that the environment you live in is conducive to the development of bodily intelligence.

If you're pessimistic about the possibility of cultural change, consider the shift in our attitudes towards smoking. Thirty years ago, Marlboro cigarettes were a symbol of masculinity, and smoking was a sign of sophistication and elegance for non-cowboys. But who would have thought that, due to the negative effects of secondhand smoke, people would avoid smokers, and smoking in most public places would become illegal? In just a few decades, smoking has transformed from a symbol of elegance into evidence of vulgarity.

This change was not accidental. Starting with a 1964 report by the U.S. Public Health Service, which identified the health risks of smoking, public education was implemented, and legislation made smoking more expensive and difficult, leading to a decline in the number of smokers. Consider also car seat belts. Until the 1960s, cars were largely unequipped with seat belts, and even when they were, they were rarely used. After a $25 million advertising campaign, legal mandates, and frequent media coverage of their life-saving significance, seat belt use increased to 79%.

In 2003, the U.S. Public Health Service launched a campaign to control the prevalence of childhood obesity. It's too early to say whether that campaign was successful, but it's never too early to start our own. You can't change the entire American culture this week, but you can encourage small, localized changes, and you can support national policies. These things will help make it easier for your children and future generations to develop both physically and intellectually. Perhaps the best place to start cultural change is in community schools.

Schools with physical intelligence

Unfortunately, most schools are not helping to combat the childhood obesity epidemic. Food companies are highly motivated to include young people in their sales targets because children aged 4-12 have $3 billion in disposable income and can influence parental spending to an additional $60 billion. Despite your best efforts to promote physical and intellectual development at home, when children go to school, they face every means to extract those dollars from them. Food companies market their products in schools in various ways, including television commercials for junk food, using candy brands as examples in textbooks, placing high-calorie sodas in vending machines, and selling fast food in school cafeterias.

For example, one channel is a for-profit television network that broadcasts in 12,000 schools and has 8 million teenage viewers. 60% of the commercials advertised are for fast food, candy, soda, and snacks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 98% of American high school students may buy fast food, soda, candy, and other fattening foods on campus. A survey of 200 schools in 20 states found that 75% of drinks and 85% of snacks sold from school vending machines had virtually no nutritional value. Of the 9,723 vending machines surveyed, only 26 offered fruits or vegetables. The CDC estimates that approximately 20% of schools nationwide sell brand-name fast food in their cafeterias.

Many schools are willing to invite fast food, soda, and snack businesses to set up shop in their cafeterias. The reason is simple: these businesses help schools pay some of their bills. One channel provides schools with free video equipment for their computer-based learning programs. Candy retailers frequently sponsor school field trips, extracurricular clubs, and sports teams. More than 5,000 school cafeterias have fast food outlets. School districts accept usage fees from vending machine and fast food companies in exchange for allowing them to sell their products in their cafeterias.

For example, in 1998, the Colorado Springs School District earned millions of dollars simply by allowing Coca-Cola to be sold in schools. Fearing they wouldn't meet sales targets, one administrator wrote to the principal requesting permission to use mobile vending machines so students could buy the product at any time of day. Clearly, schools receive money, video equipment, and other incentives from food promoters; are these benefits worth the potential costs?

Schools can help children develop physical and intellectual abilities. Banggor, a psychologist at the University of Wales, points out that less than 4% of 4-6 year old British children eat the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. They creatively produced a video program called "Food Playboy," in which four slightly older cartoon children known as "Food Playboys" fight against "garbage thugs" who intend to destroy all the fruits and vegetables on Earth so that humans cannot obtain their "vitality" food.

In addition to showing a six-episode series in class, the project included rewards for students: washi tape, pens, and erasers featuring the "Food Playboy" character, given to those who ate the prescribed foods and wrote letters supporting "Food Playboy." Although the project lasted only six years, fruit and vegetable consumption doubled four months after it ended, proving the benefits. One student noted that the increase in fruit and vegetable consumption was accompanied by a decrease in consumption of chocolate, French fries, and other common snacks. The researchers suggest that their project encouraged students to try the prescribed foods; after repeated exposure, they developed a liking for them, at which point the TV shows and rewards became less necessary.