Danielle Medina is a plant-based nutritionist, Food for Life instructor and founder of Fit N Play Mama Lifestyle Coaching Service.
As a Newark-based food science and nutrition educator, I recently had the privilege of presenting to a health class at Alexis I. du Pont High School in Wilmington about the power of a plant-based diet, including its cost-effectiveness at a time when grocery prices continue to rise and food costs in Delaware exceed the national average.
The students, from socioeconomically and culturally diverse backgrounds, were thoroughly engaged. They listened, asked thoughtful questions and tried and enjoyed the samples I prepared, including roasted sweet potatoes and black bean chili. We discussed how consumers can save money by building meals around plant-based staples, like oats, beans and frozen and canned vegetables. We also talked about simple swaps to make food healthier — like beans for beef in a burrito or vegetables for processed meat on a cheeseless pizza — and the health benefits of snacking on things such as apples and peanut butter instead of candy.
It’s imperative that students learn about the connections between diet and disease. A New England Journal of Medicine study projects that, by 2050, more than half of kids will be obese by the time they are 35. And chronic lifestyle-related diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, are showing up in kids and adolescents earlier and earlier.
In Delaware, 20.5% of kids aged 6-17 are obese, giving our state the onerous distinction of placing fifth highest in the nation. Obesity rates here are even higher for kids from low-income households and children of color.
The standard American diet has been found to increase the risk of ADHD by 37%. Research also shows that it is associated with lower math, reading and writing test scores.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared to students with lower grades, students with higher grades tend to eat breakfast every day and eat vegetables and fruit or fruit juice at least once a day. On the flip side, a Canadian study of 5,200 fifth graders showed that students with decreased overall diet quality were significantly more likely to perform poorly on assessments.
What we do know, through countless evidence-based studies, is that adapting a whole-food, plant-based diet is an excellent tool for setting up kids and teens for good health and disease prevention.
It’s been my experience, and data supports this, that, when students know how their nutrition affects so many other parts of their health, they’ll make an effort to improve it. It’s testament to the power of education.
At the end of the session at A.I. du Pont, we played “Nutrition Jeopardy” to test the students’ knowledge of what they learned and to work in groups to encourage participation.
I left feeling fulfilled about what I was able to impart on the teens. Though many may not be the grocery shoppers in their households, I hope they’ll talk to their parents about what they learned and take more ownership over their own food choices. Doing so not only has the potential to save their families’ grocery dollars but also change the trajectory of their health.
With high-stakes testing and a litany of academic standards to be concerned about, working time into the school curriculum for nutrition education may seem less important than reading, writing and math. But evidence shows that students who do well in school, along with those taught about nutrition, will become healthier adults. That’s a win-win that parents, educators and the community should be enthusiastic about getting behind.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
