By Mary Pemble-Swiderski Family Nutrition Educator

School begins the day after Labor Day, September 6, for all students attending Mackinac County schools. MSU Extension offers good nutrition, fitness, and food safety tips for parents and teachers to help children have a healthy school year.

Remember to eat breakfast. Studies prove that children who eat breakfast might be more alert and ready to concentrate. For those that do not like to eat first thing in the morning, take breakfast with you. Suggestions might be crackers and cheese, dry cereal, fresh fruit, leftover pizza, or a sandwich. Breakfast is also served at all schools in Mackinac County.

A healthy lunch helps children get through the rest of the day at school, and sports practice or other activities after school. Schools in Mackinac County provide lunch for students. Parents packing snacks and lunches for their children need to pack them safely. Pack lunch in a clean container; add hand washing wipes, and a freezer pack if the lunch or the snack contains foods that need to be refrigerated. Freezer packs can be a commercial gel pack, ice cubes, or water frozen in a leak proof plastic freezer container. Or freeze a juice box – it will keep the lunch cold and be thawed to drink at lunchtime.

Many of the schools have vending machines that contain sodas, sports drinks, sweet teas, and 10 percent fruit drinks. Healthier suggestions for stocking beverage machines would be: flavored and plain water, low fat milks, soy beverages, 100 percent juice, and sport drinks. Snack machines that sell chips, candy, cookies, cakes, and pies could have healthier choices such as: baked snacks, granola bar, nuts, trail mix, sports bars, and beef jerky.

Physical activity is important to the health of children. One-third of students do not receive the recommended amount of both moderate and vigorous physical activity during the week, according to the Michigan Department of Education. Daily participation in physical education class has dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 25 percent in 1999. Younger students are more likely to watch three or more hours of television on an average school day. Overweight and obesity are critical health issues in America and the trend among children is alarming. It is recommended that all children and adults get 60 minutes of vigorous exercise everyday. Quality daily physical education helps develop the knowledge, attitudes, skills, behaviors, and confidence needed to be physically active for life.

Remember, healthy kids make better students and better students make healthy communities.