Dietitians try to instill good food habits early

Last week, I was invited to the January meeting of the Twin City Dietetic Association -- formerly the Winston-Salem Dietetic Association. I went hoping to find out what they are concerned about these days.

The answer is kids.

Two members briefed the group on their efforts to educate children about nutrition to promote healthier choices.

Cindy Silver, the corporate nutritionist for Lowes Foods, reviewed a presentation about Lowes' Be A Smart Shopper program that she had given in October at the annual meeting of the American Dietetic Association in Chicago.

Lowes started the program in 1997. Be A Smart Shopper consists of supermarket tours that focus on nutrition for children ages 4 to 12. Last year, Lowes gave 1,200 tours to about 25,000 children.

On the field trips, youngsters get a guided tour of a Lowes supermarket. Along the way, guides introduce them to such topics as the U.S. department of Agriculture's food pyramid, whole grains, and the importance of fruits and vegetables. The tours also have an interactive element that includes sampling of some healthful foods.

The tours are free, and Lowes has partnered with Kellogg's to help reimburse groups for bus expenses.

How's it working out?

Now Lowes is trying to assess whether these tours are working. Beginning last year, with the help of Wake Forest University, Lowes started surveying children, teachers and parents to figure out if the youngsters are absorbing some of this information to help them make healthy choices.

Lowes gave surveys of just a few simple questions to children before the tours and then about two weeks later.

Last year's study of about 200 children in kindergarten through second grade gave some encouraging results.

The children were asked to name three vegetables or name one whole grain. In all cases, their correct responses increased after the tours. Silver was also pleased to learn from parents that 77 percent of the children talked about the tour when they got home.

Also interesting were responses when children were asked to name two foods that they would like to buy. Answers involving grains, fruit and vegetables increased. More important, answers involving sweets and fats decreased.

Lowes is now doing a second, larger survey of about 500 children that includes a control group.

For more information about the Lowes tours, check out the Be A Smart Shopper section of www.lowesfoods.com.

Barb Andresen, the president of Twin City Dietetic Association and a nutritionist with a private practice, shared her experiences with middle-school students.

Andresen was contracted by the School Health Alliance of Forsyth County. This nonprofit group involves doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals. They go into schools to provide vaccinations and other services.

Andresen's role has involved teaching nutrition to students at Mineral Springs Middle School.

She has been teaching a five-week program of one class a week. During this time, she tries to teach the students basic nutrition, the meaning of obesity and problems it can cause, and how they can start to make changes.

Andresen said that sometimes the biggest challenge is getting the parents on board. "If I ask kids to try a certain vegetable, they'll say, ‘My mom won't buy that,'" she said. "Many of these kids feel powerless to make changes."

In discussions at the end of the meeting, there was a lot of head-shaking related to the large task of educating children about nutrition.

Dietitians are concerned when a middle-school student can't identify a grain. They are concerned when obese children accept the onset of diabetes as a rite of passage, something that they will get just as their parents and grandparents did before them. They are even more concerned when an obese child, armed with a little education, tries to prompt parents to make healthier choices at home only to be told that they don't know what they are talking about.

"We could talk for hours and hours about all this, because it's such a monumental problem," Andresen said.

But the good news is that dietitians are out there, making a start.

■ Michael Hastings, the Journal's Food editor, can be contacted by phone at 727-7394, e-mail at mhastings@wsjournal.com, or mail at c/o Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. His most recent columns can be read on our Web site at www.journalnow.com.