A Temple University study, published in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics, found that schools that overhauled their nutrition policies saw a 50-per-cent reduction in new cases of overweight children in two years.
The growing rates of overweight and obese children have driven researchers to get outside of the health clinic and into the schools to study solutions, the study's lead researcher, Gary Foster, said in a statement. "We focused on school because children spend most of their lives there and eat at least one if not two meals there."
The study was conducted with 1,349 students in Philadelphia over a two-year period, looking at the results of 10 elementary schools that had adopted a revamped nutrition policy and five comparison schools. Under the revised policy, developed by the Food Trust, a non-profit organization, soda was replaced with water, fruit juice and low-fat milk; snacks were capped at 7 grams of total fat and 2 grams of saturated fat; and candy was eliminated.
Additionally, students received 50 hours of nutrition education a year and were rewarded with raffle tickets for prizes such as jump ropes and bicycles. The program also involved parent education.
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