Healthier Foods When Combined with Nutrition Education are Accepted by Elementary School Children, Study Says

24/08/06 The Agatston Research Foundation's Healthier Options for Public Schoolchildren (HOPS) Study found that the 4,000 elementary school children enrolled in the Osceola School District (OSD) accepted the healthier options made available in school breakfasts and lunches, when healthier offerings were made in combination with creative nutrition education. The total fat and saturated fat were reduced in the meals served while the amount of total dietary fiber was increased, for both breakfasts and lunches served in the school cafeterias.

"Our purpose, was to introduce students to healthier food choices through the schools' existing food distribution systems, and to find mechanisms for the school districts to serve healthier foods within their budget constraints," says preventive cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD founder of the Agatston Research Foundation and a principal investigator for the HOPS Study. "I'm encouraged by our experience so far, and the students' acceptance of the fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, as well as their involvement in the school gardens. They worked hard, planting, watering and maintaining the gardens, and finally eating what they grew. This also stimulated their learning about the nutrition in the foods HOPS introduced each month. I'm optimistic that this approach is something that may be replicated at other schools," says Agatston.

The HOPS pilot study that tests the feasibility of how holistic nutrition and healthy lifestyle management programs might work in the elementary school setting, began in a set of six schools in the Osceola School District in the fall of 2004. Of the six schools, in the Osceola School District (OSD), four were intervention schools where the HOPS programmatic and dietary interventions were implemented, and two participated as control schools, meaning they continued with typical education and district dietary offerings. All six schools participated in twice-yearly data collection, including height and weight, which were used to calculate age and gender-specific body mass index (BMI) measurements, and many other parameters that will ultimately document the impact of healthier eating.

HOPS tests the feasibility of including nutritious ingredients and whole foods, acquired through existing public school food distribution systems, for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks in the elementary school setting. "This is the critical part of this feasibility study: bringing higher fiber, less added- sugar, nutrient-dense foods - the good for you stuff - into school cafeterias. Making this happen is more of a challenge than you would expect. In some cases you cannot even get whole wheat bread into school cafeterias," says Danielle Hollar, PhD, HOPS principal investigator.

Rather than simply providing healthier food options, HOPS instituted exciting curricula that taught the children, their parents, teachers, and other school staff about nutrition and healthy lifestyle management. This included an emphasis on increasing physical activity.

Additionally, HOPS provided an avenue to create fruit and vegetable gardens in each of the elementary schools, with the goal of teaching children how the nutritious fruits and vegetables that are served in their school cafeterias, their homes, and in restaurants, are grown, cultivated, and harvested.

In 2004, Dr. Agatston founded The Agatston Research Foundation for the purpose of conducting and funding original research on diet, cardiac and disease prevention. His goal is to educate and empower both his patients and the public about healthy lifestyle choices and disease prevention, encouraging the practice of such prevention in America and throughout the world. In creating The Agatston Research Foundation, Dr. Agatston is fulfilling a personal dream as he continues to "change the way America eats." The Agatston Research Foundation is dedicated to improving the heart health and wellness of the nation through research, education and prevention.

Dr. Agatston is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He lectures extensively on prevention both nationally and internationally. He has served on committees of the American Society of Echocardiography, the American College of Cardiology, and the Society of Atherosclerosis Imaging, where he is a founding member of the board of directors. He was recently elected to serve on the board of directors of The American Dietetic Association Foundation. In addition to his work with his wife, Sari, on the South Beach Diet and The Agatston Research Foundation, Dr. Agatston maintains a cardiology practice in Miami Beach, where they reside. The Agatstons have two sons, currently attending college.