CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP CALENDAR

Decreasing Your Consumption of Saturated Fat

Are people aware of how much saturated fat they are eating? Possibly not. There are many foods which contain high enough amounts of saturated fat to be considered unhealthy. Certainly, a decrease in the consumption of foods containing the highest proportion of saturated fat - butter, red meat, and full-fat milk - will produce a healthier diet.

A word of caution; be aware of all the other foods that you might not expect to be high in saturated fat. These foods include cakes, muffins, cookies, donuts, and frozen TV dinners.

There are many good web sites with information on dietary fat as well as general nutrition information. Here are three of the best sites (organized by agency/institution):

• Government
• Company
• University

Questions to Ask, or Thoughts to Share?

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Nutrition Resources

Nutrition Navigator: Tufts University The Tufts University Nutrition Navigator is designed to help you sort through the large volume of nutrition information on the Internet and find accurate, useful nutrition information you can trust. " Includes links to selected and rated sites relating to nutrition. Headings include Nutrition for women, special dietary needs, educator section. Nutrition on the Web - For Teens! Comprehensive site that covers topics related to nutrition. Includes an interactive section. Myths about food, and facts about exercise are included. Obesity Research Information Centre ORIC is a service from the Information Department of the Association for the Study of Obesity, and has produced a series of factsheets on various aspects of obesity. Healthy Eating at Foodwatch Comprehensive food and nutrition; an Australian site. Includes a glossary (Nutrition A-Z), healthy eating quiz, and healthy weight information. Healthy Eating This site contains food and nutrition information, including questionnaires and fact sheets. There are good sections on genetically modified foods, responsible alcohol consumption, how to calculate your BMI, and weight maintenance. This site promotes healthy eating and life styles. Child Nutrition and Health Information and fun activities to help teach children about healthy eating and exercise habits. From the American Dietetics Association.

Fitness Should be Fun!

Getting Fit Should Be Fun! A change we need to make in physical education is the view that getting kids in shape necessitates lap running and mind-numbing calisthenics. Forcing fitness on people of any age never really works - they just quit when participation becomes optional! More effective, is to encourage youth to try activities that are fun, physically active, and leave participants wanting more. These "physically educated" students then become adults who are skillful, physically fit, and lead healthy, active lifestyles. We risk turning kids off of physical education when we always start lessons off with running or exercises. It's time for a change. What do you think? Post your comments on the PE Forum

The Importance of Advocacy: Promote your Program! Advocating quality daily physical education programs is extremely important. The greatest chance to affect the health and fitness of future generations will be made possible by successfully advocating for funds that will be used to improve the nation's physical education programs. If fully funded the Physical Education for Progress Act (PEP Act) will provide the support we need. New PE programs will be created, new and existing PE programs will be studied for effectiveness, and teacher training programs will be improved. In addition, school PE will be recognized as a major potential force for improving public health. We recently heard that the initial $5 million in funds has just been released. It is now up to us to think creatively and apply for these monies. Although we have heard that these grants will likely be limited to only about 15 school districts, just the process of planning a grant would be a positive step forward. Consider bringing together physical educators in your district to create a vision for the kind of physical education program you would like to see. And don't write off your chances of receiving one of these grants. If you don't bother applying...well you know the rest! If we are successful with the programs created by these first grants there is every likelihood that you can be a recipient of future funds. Don't delay. Create a plan today. This is a wonderful opportunity to elevate school physical education to a place of importance in terms of the country's educational priorities. It is very clear that the successful promotion of physical fitness and health - an objective exclusive to physical education - will make a difference to the quality of life and well-being of future generations. Please care enough and take the time to write. Please. Darren Dale Health and Fitness Section Editor

Health & Wellness

Health Windows Kids This well-designed site is a guide for students to current and relevant health and wellness information on the Internet. Includes links related to the body systems, genetics, safety, and many other important health related topics. Community Learning Network At this site you will find "Health, Nutrition, and Personal Planning: Educational Resources." Includes teacher and student resources, and lesson plans.

Contribute YOUR Ideas

If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please email one of the following Section Editors:

Scott Roberts Andy Jenkins Darren Dale Ron Hager

NASPE Tells Parents and Elementary School Officials "Recess is a MUST" "Recess is a critical part of the school day!" responds the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) daily to the potential, and actual, elimination of recess by elementary school officials. Hoping to gain more academic time, school officials are curtailing recess and physical education in elementary schools. The availability of recess in many schools across the country is often based on preset allocations for teachers' free and planning times, as well as state requirements for student time in the classroom." "Parents need to know that the elimination of recess and physical education may be detrimental to their children's overall health and learning," said NASPE Executive Director Judith C. Young, Ph.D. "A six-hour or longer school day is too long for children to go without breaks and without opportunities for substantive physical activity. Time for recess during the day may enhance overall learning in the classroom," Dr. Young added. "In addition to providing opportunities for needed physical activity, unstructured time contributes to creativity, cooperation, and learning about social interaction. Children learn how to cooperate, compete constructively, assume leader/follower roles, and resolve conflicts by interacting in play. Play is an essential element of children's social development." Young pointed out that "adults do not focus on work or sit in meetings for more than two hours at a time without breaks. Children certainly need similar breaks in their routine." While recess is unstructured time, physical education is a planned instructional program with specific objectives. An essential part of the total curriculum, it is the role of quality physical education programs to increase the physical competence, health-related fitness, self-responsibility and enjoyment of physical activity for all students so that they can be physically active for a lifetime. "In fact, extended periods of inactivity are not appropriate for normal, healthy children or adults," Dr. Young said. "NASPE recently issued guidelines recommending that children ages 6 to 11 accumulate at least one hour, and up to several hours, of physical activity each day. This may occur appropriately in multiple periods of moderate to vigorous activity lasting 10 minutes or more." Children must be provided with appropriate physical activity options and taught how to make positive choices. If children do not establish physical activity habits when they are young, they are more likely to experience the negative impact of inactivity as adults. To have the necessary time for academics as well as recess, the NASPE Executive Director suggests consideration of a longer school day. Teachers are also coming up with new approaches to enhance student learning. In Sacramento, CA, NASPE's 1994 National Elementary Teacher of the Year, Debbie Vigil, introduces her students to new skills in physical education class once a week, and then works with classroom teachers to reinforce those skills during the other days of the week.

Miscellaneous

EatEthnic.com Interesting facts, quizzes, and information about food. "Everything about ethnic foods and ingredients, international holiday traditions, religious diets, regional customs, recipes, fun food facts, and cultural nutrition resources."