Angela and Lauren

Angela and Lauren

(view Lauren's questions below)

Angela, age 11, from Fort Collins, Colorado, attends a public school called O'Dea Core Knowledge Elementary School where she competes as a gymnast. In her free time she likes to hike.

CFK: Do you think your school could benefit by being asked to come up with its own wellness policy? Why?

A: Yes, that way they could ask the students, and they could benefit from the students' opinions. We have different opinions so that would let them know what we want for our health.

CFK: How can schools engage students more to get their ideas about getting the students to eat well and exercise more?

A: I definitely think that they should have the students play many sports. So that students who are not already involved in sports will become involved. Having PE class more the twice a week. Also, to engage us, no lectures and more hands on activities when learning about eating well such as a cooking class. That way we actually listen.

CFK: What kinds of meals are healthy and tasty? What kinds of meals are healthy, but gross tasting?

A: Fresh fruit tastes good such as melons, grapes, apples, oranges. But kids these days are picky about veggies, so if you wanted healthier veggies I would go towards carrots, broccoli, salads and stereotypical fresh veggies then they might eat more.

CFK: How can schools make lessons about reading nutritional labels and recommended calorie intake interesting?

A: Make it into a game, for instance you could infer it in math with percentages of fat or something.

CFK: During the school day, your school already regulates what you can wear, what you can learn, where you can go, etc. How much can the schools regulate what you eat? Is it effective to ban unhealthy food options? Why or why not?

A: I think not putting junk food in the schools is a good idea, because most of the parents probably don't even know they are eating junk at school. That is probably where most of the kids get their food fixes.

CFK: Do you think your school has a responsibility to you and your classmates to ensure that you eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, and learn about leading a healthy life? Why?

A: Teachers are role models to a lot of the kids so if they do have a responsibility to teach healthy lifestyles. Our 6th grade teachers teach human growth and development, diseases, and have running club after school.

CFK: What have the Girl Scouts taught you about those topics?

A: They put a lot of time into showing us the right way to eat and run exercise programs. I have earned healthy living badges, sports badges, and nutrition badges. A few years ago I participated in Girls on the Move program with Scouts. We wore step counters and tracked how many steps we took daily. It made us try to increase our activity. Also, at summer camp with Girl Scouts we go on hikes, horseback riding, ropes course, rock climbing, canoeing, white water rafting. There is no TV at camp. It is a good thing because then everyone is more active. I think if the schools want us to learn they should encourage girls and boys into Scouts and not charge Scouts to use the building.

Lauren, age 16, from Ansonia, Connecticut, is a sophomore at Sacred Heart Academy, a parochial school. Lauren is said to be active both at her school and with her Girl Scout troop. The leadership from Senior Troop 347 says that she "really embodies healthy living."

CFK: Do you think your school could benefit by being asked to come up with its own wellness policy? Why?

L: Health-wise, my school would definitely benefit from coming up with a wellness policy, because then the choices for food that the students would make would be all healthy which, in turn, encourages more healthy eating outside of school. Having a wellness policy would not benefit my school by the fact that these unhealthy food they are selling, really bring in a lot of money, so in order to have the healthy foods, they would most likely rise the prices of the foods significantly to bring in the same amount of money.

CFK: How can schools engage students more to get their ideas about getting the students to eat well and exercise more?

L: Well, a good idea for elementary schools might be to have the health teachers give them a lesson about healthy foods and the food pyramid, and with that information the kids could come up with healthy food plans and exercise plans for a contest to win prizes. From experience, I know that lots of elementary school kids love contests and winning prizes. For high school students and even middle school students, the schools may want to start a club or an organization that talks about health issues as a broad topic, and then as a club activity, the students could come up with a plan for their school to have healthier foods and exercises.

CFK: What kinds of meals are healthy and tasty? What kinds of meals are healthy, but gross tasting?

L: Ha! Ha! Well that varies from one person to the next, but I would definitely say that fruits are quite tasty. They are sugary, flavorful, and come in all different colors, which is quite attractive. Vegetables are tasty as well, especially if they are cooked and given some seasoning, for example Mrs. Dash. As for gross tasting healthy foods, I personally cannot come up with any, but I've been researching and for a lot of younger children to teenagers, what turns them off to food is the color, especially brown. Also, friends are a big influence.

CFK: How can schools make lessons about reading nutritional labels and recommended calorie intake interesting?

L: One time in middle school, my health teacher found two people who go around schools and talk about reading food labels and looking at the ingredients of what you buy. To make this interesting, they took two popular peanut butters, JIF and Skippy and showed what made those peanuts butters. What it turned out to be was pretty gross, and made me personally buy organic peanut butter, which I now like a lot better. Although it was a simple demonstration, it had all the kids captivated and grossed out. I remember coming out of the assembly and everyone around me just kept saying they never knew how gross manufactured peanut butter was. So I definitely think demonstrations such as that would help out, I know it did for me!

CFK: Do you think your school has a responsibility to you and your classmates to ensure that you eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, and learn about leading a healthy life? Why?

L: I think my school has somewhat of a responsibility to ensure my health, because I do "live" there for around 7 hours a day, which is more than half of my day. During that half, we learn a whole lot, but we hardly get any exercise, except for the stairs in between classes. For my school, it is required to take two half year gym classes, one in freshman year and one either in junior or senior year. Those gym classes are actually helpful because we go on the track or we can work out in the weight room, which gives girls an opportunity to experience and make a work out plan for when they either join a gym or work out at home. We also discuss healthy eating and what is right for "you." The only problem with this is our schools food plan which includes scrumptious cookies and treats at break (the 15 minute period in between first and second periods). Not to say that our food is all unhealthy, we do have the healthy side of the cafe, which includes sandwiches, yogurt, fruit, salads, and milk, which usually gets sold out easily. Our school could use a little work on the health issue, but it does try and it is successful because, well the health foods go quicker than the unhealthy foods, so that might say something.

CFK: What have the Girl Scouts taught you about those topics?

L: All the way from Daisies, there have always been one or more patches dealing with health and fitness. I remember learning about the food pyramid and trying fun healthy snacks for completing one of the patches either in Daisies or Brownies. Nowadays, there are UFO's (Utterly Fun Opportunities), some in which girls are offered health classes, and health days. I usually don't take the classes dealing with healthy ways of eating, because usually I am more interested in the physical aspect, like Yoga, Kickboxing, and Tai Chi classes.

CFK: During the school day, your school already regulates what you can wear, what you can learn, where you can go, etc. How much can the schools regulate what you eat? Is it effective to ban unhealthy food options? Why or why not?

L: If schools decide to go with the health and wellness plan, then they should give a lot of choices for health foods and meals, because if they limit the health foods to only a few choices, it becomes less appealing to the kids buying. Again it will be effective health-wise to ban unhealthy foods, but money-wise, it will be a big struggle.

CFK: Do you think kids who have fewer financial resources have more barriers to accessing healthy foods and physical activities? Is it always a matter of choice that children lead unhealthy lifestyles? Why or why not?

L: I think that kids who have fewer financial resources really don't have more barriers to healthy food access because for one, fruit and vegetables are very inexpensive. The unhealthy snacks are the ones with the more expensive prices. As for the physical aspect, if kids really need to exercise, they can go to a park play baseball, or even just running around with their friends. I do think it is a choice that children lead unhealthy lifestyles, but on the other hand, if they are younger children, they are just starting to learn about healthy foods, so whatever their parents buy is what they are to eat, and if those foods being bought are unhealthy, then the kids will be eating unhealthy foods. As kids get older, and learn more about unhealthy foods, they can then start making choices and start to help correct and make the food choices in their household better for everyone.

CFK: Do you think your school would lose money by not selling popular low nutritious items like soda, candy, and fried foods? Is a ban worth it, if kids can just go out and buy junk food when they leave school?

L: Oh yes! As I said before, my school benefits from the girls in my school who buy all the soda and junk food, but also they benefit from the healthy foods they provide as well. I think a ban would be worth the sacrifice of money, because although money makes the world go around, it really isn't important to the inner-self of a person. That inner-self includes health, wellness, and balance. Our society wants everyone to become and find their "true selves" but that is very hard when there is money influencing most of our decisions. A ban of unhealthy snacks would be another step to help better our society and influencing the right choices.