Background: The purpose of this study was to describe the extent to which vending offerings in 106 schools in the St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota metropolitan area, met criteria for types of beverages, fat, and calories based on selected criteria offered by the Institute of Medicine. Methods: Schools where youth participants were attending for the…

Purpose: Easy access to fast-food restaurants in the immediate environment of a high school is such that a high proportion of students do not remain in school for lunch. Hence, the probability that they will eat a healthy meal is reduced. The aim of this study is to identify the behavioral determinants of "staying in school to eat lunch" among…

This report provides updated results from one of the most comprehensive studies of health-related policies and practices in U.S. public middle and high schools to date, which was released in August 2011. The major findings and trends presented in this report describe issues relevant to childhood obesity for four school years, from 2006-07 to…

Objectives: This teaching idea enables students to (1) access and analyze fast food nutrition facts information (Calorie, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sugar, and sodium content); (2) decipher unhealthy and healthier food choices from fast food restaurant menus for better meal and diet planning to reduce obesity and minimize…

Thousands of schools have tried the Mix It Up at Lunch Day program since it started 10 years ago in 2001. Teaching Tolerance continues to get glowing reviews from around the country. Teachers and administrators are understandably eager to make their Mix Day better--to reach more students. Here are 10 proven ways to give Mix an extra stir.

When Jim Chadwell, the former principal of Northwest High School in Texas, renovated his media center four years ago, he had two things in mind: Starbucks and Barnes & Noble. According to Media Specialist Naomi Bates, Chadwell wanted a place where students could read, do research, and work on classroom assignments, but also socialize. That is…

At present, school administrators do not have necessary information to create a school environment where teenage girls unhappy with their bodies can experience success at school. This research surrounds three research questions: (1) How do adolescent girls' definitions of their bodies relate to their perception of their high school's climate? (2)…

At the Gates Chili High School near Rochester, New York, the cafeteria and kitchen are getting an overdue overhaul. Deep fryers and the fat-soaked foods that come dripping out of them are no longer welcome in the kitchens and dining halls of a growing number of the nation's schools and universities. Likewise, heavily marketed sugary soft drinks…

This study involved the extension and adaptation of systematic instructional procedures suggested by Light and Binger (1998) to increase the social-pragmatic language skills of five high school students with moderate cognitive disabilities. Within a single-subject multiple probe research design, we also assessed intervention effects on two skills…

Like many high school English teachers, I often had a difficult time getting my students to write. I knew the key to getting them to write was to find activities that interested them. What do most students love? They love going out to eat! They love not just the food, but the whole experience of "going out." Cozzy's Restaurant was this teacher's…

Background: Across the nation, schools have become actively involved in developing obesity prevention strategies both in classrooms and in cafeterias. We sought to determine the type of foods being offered during lunch in the cafeteria of 3 public high schools in 1 county and if this reflects the purchasing patterns of students. By labeling foods…

The new cafeteria at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota is part restaurant, part study hall, part lounge area and part health-food store. From the beginning, the superintendent and food service leaders planned the facility to ensure that balanced diets with quickly prepared, but healthy, foods are offered to students to help them…

In this article, the author describes the one 50-minute lunch period for all students, teachers, and staff members at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. The one lunch period, which began in 2000, allows students to eat in certain areas of the school, including classrooms, hallways, and resource areas. Teachers use the lunch…

Institutionalized eating in crowded conditions made lunchtime a dreaded time at Yukon High School, Yukon, Okla. When a bond issue came up for a vote, the school principal expressed her visions for a new dining atmosphere, formulated during her travels to Europe, to the superintendent. The bond passed. The challenge was to create separate eating…

This article reports on a project that challenges students to socialize with students from a variety of groups. In the observance of "Mix It Up at Lunch Day," students sit somewhere new, with someone new, in the cafeterias. More than 3,000 schools accepted the challenge as a way to bridge social boundaries in their schools.