Eat to Learn - Spinach Why Your Kid's Brain Needs Spinach

Welcome to the Eat to Learn series! This is information pulled together for part of the Eat to Learn campaign the Healthy Lifestyles committee is bringing to my kids' elementary school. This program was put together to utilize grand funds from National PTA.  Sherwood Elementary did not receive a grant award.  We were able to implement the program with parent donations and food donations from HEB.

• Morning Announcements - Fun food facts to connect food available on the school lunch line to growing a big brain and creating energy for student success.
  
• Eat to Learn at Lunch : Parent Demonstration - sharing the foods facts with parents during monthly parent meeting, making healthy lunch suggestions.
• Eat to Learn taste off: Bringing the fresh produce available on the lunch line into the classroom and having kids compete in teams for the most produce tasted.
  
• Eat to Learn Game Night : interactive food education game Playnormous, kids and parents play together at an all campus evening event.
• Move to Learn Turkey Trot: Kids connect elevated heart rate with improved memory retention by checking their heart rate while trotting laps.
• Before and After Lunch Bag/Tray Assessments - Kids will assess their own lunch against green, yellow, red foods measures; once at the beginning of the program, and once at the end.
• Label and Ingredient Reading 101 - Parents and students will stop by a table at the Health Fair and learn how to read an ingredient list.  Participants will discover some of the tricky ways food manufacturers deceive consumers into thinking a product is healthy or has real ingredients.

student tasting cucumber at Taste Off

We don't need funding for me to write morning announcements, that show is going on regardless. I figured since I'm going to be pulling the information together, Kid Appeal readers would like to learn how each food impacts brain function for kiddos. Stay tuned as I dig into produce and find out how it helps us all learn.

I know I've said this a thousand times, but the most effective way I've gotten kids to eat up foods they are initially averse to is by connecting it to something that matters to them. Most young school age kids are eager to learn, so connecting nourishing food to a big huge smart brain, is um, well, a no brainer.

First up?

student coming back for more spinach at Taste Off

Spinach
Sadly, the kids only have access to "steamed" spinach on the lunch line once every 5 weeks (unless it's in some of the salad blends that are offered daily, I've never seen the PK, K or 1st Grade kids pick those). They do get steamed "greens" one other week, and the nutrients in most greens are similar. I've never eaten at school when steamed spinach/greens are served, but I doubt they are good eats. Maybe I'm wrong.

Here's why you want your kid's brain to be nourished by spinach:

• B Vitamins bring oxygen to the brain, protects neurons from toxins.
• Antioxidants prevent brain cell death, more brain cells = more brain power.
• Improves memory by making the brain breath.
• High iron amounts contribute to energy production
• Folic Acid – reverses memory loss and makes you happy. (the study citing this actually says it alleviates depression, but since young kids don't have a grasp of what "depression" is, I oversimplified by saying spinach makes you happy.)

Morning Announcement

Spinach makes memorizing math facts a breeze,
B vitamins bring oxygen to the brain helping it breath.
Antioxidants prevent brain cell death by the hour,
more brain cells = more spelling power.
Folic acid has the brain instruct your face to smile
while you put facts and figures in a huge brain file.
The iron in spinach will fuel you with energy,
run, swing, climb, slide and be done with lethargy.
Eat the spinach sitting there on your lunch tray
you’ll grow a big brain the Sherwood way.

Spinach Recipe Roundup
Green Mac N Cheese
Pasta with Spinach, Mushrooms, Chevre
Green Slime Dip
Green Milkshake
Spinach Basil Pesto

Kid Appeal Tip Don't forget to circle back to prior spinach tastings for the most effect. Even if your child just nibbles a bite spinach, next time they do something brainy connect the dots. When he reads a new word correctly or completes math homework without errors remark "I'm glad you tasted that spinach, it sure did help your brain remember your math facts."

Is this the kind of nutrition education program you'd like to see at your elementary school?