Schweinfurt middle school nurse spearheads nutrition awareness

By Mr. Charles K Stadtlander (IMCOM)February 4, 2011

Schweinfurt middle school nurse spearheads nutrition awareness
Sixth and seventh grade students enjoy a healthy lunch at Schweinfurt Middle School. Due to the hard work of Heather Salyars, the school nurse and nutritionist, the cafeteria now offers a healthier menu. Soda and sweet snacks have gone, replaced by f... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

SCHWEINFURT, Germany-When Heather Salyars arrived in Schweinfurt in 2009 as the middle school's nurse and nutritionist, she immediately noticed an urgent problem: the food that students were eating every day was largely composed of sugar, fat and empty calories. One of her first goals here was to enact change in what's known as the school district's wellness policy, which dictates what is sold in the cafeteria and sets guidelines for healthy attitudes and knowledge in the student population.

"You get one body," said Salyars. "Kids should understand that they need to start taking care of it now."

Within a few short months, Salyars helped to front the school lunch committee, a group aimed at curbing the unhealthy offerings in the cafeteria and educating students. "I wanted to empower the students with the knowledge to make better choices."

Sandy Erb, a wellness counselor for Women, Infants and Children, was part of the change-making group. "Everyone on the committee was dedicated to getting the menus changed," said Erb. "Some kids do not receive healthy food or food messages at home. At least they can receive them at school."

This initial committee gave way to a Bavaria-wide wellness committee that convened in Oct. 2010, drawing personnel from several of Germany's Dept. of Defense Dependents Schools, or DoDDS. Salyars sat on this board as well, which she said was a dynamic group committed to bettering students' health.

Shaking off the ambiguity of the old guidelines, the forward-thinking team of nutritionists, medical professionals and fitness experts came up with a Bavarian-wide wellness policy that defines mealtime schedules, nutritional education, food marketing, physical activity mandates, school oversight and communication with parents.

The only resistance along the way came from the food supplier to the schools, who has a vested interest in students' daily purchase of high-markup ala carte items like slices of pizza, cookies and bottles of PowerAde. Salyars said the tough part of the push for the wellness policy was convincing the vendor that the profitable items don't have to be unhealthy.

"It's all about choices," she said. "You don't have to sell soda and sugary drinks. You can have bottles of water, chocolate milk and 100 percent juice. You can have a cookie; just don't have a lot of them. You don't have to take away all the fun."

Salyars received support from the Schweinfurt command. Garrison Commander Lt. Col. Everett Spain and his deputy Glenn Wait supported Salyars' quest from the start. "This has been a community-wide initiative," she said.

Fully enacted over the holiday school break, the new lunches have taken off among students. Low-fat cheese and whole wheat items appear alongside fresh vegetables. Spinach tortilla wraps and parfaits of fruit and yogurt are becoming sought-after items among the students.

"There needs to be more healthy stuff here," said Emma Jacobs, a seventh-grader. "Especially in winter when we don't get to go outside and be active."

Ms. Salyars educates the children during lunchtime, discussing the importance of calorie awareness and aiming for low amounts of fat and sugar. The knowledge seems to be sticking.

"Look how many calories are in this milk," said Kenny Agbonkhese, a sixth-grader. Kenny said he started looking at food labels for nutrition information after he learned about it at school, and now instructs his parents when they take him shopping at the Commissary. "I look for how many calories, nutrients and vitamins are in the food," he said.

Daniel Jones, director of Child, Youth & School Services here echoes the sentiment of removing sports drinks from children's diets. "The kids need to understand that these drinks are made for professional athletes." The biggest growing concern for him is when his students drink caffeine-packed energy drinks, something nobody needs, in his opinion, least of all children whose bodies and metabolism are still developing.

Daniel Jones, Sandy Erb and Heather Salyars all agree that the key to children's nutrition education lies in what habits they develop at home. Jones can discourage children from drinking PowerAde, but he can't stop parents from sending their kids to basketball practice with a bottle of it. And Salyars can fight to make sure her students eat a healthy lunch, but she doesn't control their breakfast and dinner.

She hopes the information she's giving them will impart lifestyle changes. "I want them to go home with this information. Teach their mom and dad, tell their brothers and sisters. Tell them about good choices. It's all about choices."

Related Links:

DoDDS Bavaria

USAG Schweinfurt