The Cupcake Police

From the BCCT.

Don't get me wrong. The aim here is healthier students and I'm all for that. It's just that you can't MAKE kids healthy by becoming the celebrations police. It takes a personal commitment and personal responsibility.

Parents: Wake up and be a parent. Monitor what the kids eat and stop OVERbuying the stuff they shouldn't be eating.

Students: Drop the Wii controller and get outside. Find a sport. PLAY. Have fun.

District distributes wellness pamphlet
Foods with sugar are supposed to be limited for classroom celebrations.
By JOAN HELLYER
STAFF WRITER

Joan Hellyer can be reached at 215-949-4048 or jhellyer@phillyBurbs.com.

What rewards can a Bristol Township teacher use to celebrate a student’s success in the classroom? What can Bristol Township parents send in with their kids for a classroom party? What are the nutritional guidelines for Bristol Township schools to abide by during fundraising activities? Answers to those and other questions are spelled out in an informational booklet that’s being distributed this week to district students, teachers and administrators, spokeswoman Eileen Kelliher said. It includes healthy-choice guidelines that are part of a wellness policy approved several years ago by the school board, she said.

A recent survey by the district’s Healthy Kids initiative suggests that while the policy was previously adhered to, efforts to maintain the wellness mandate have waned, Kelliher said.

The district began implementing the Healthy Kids project earlier this year in an effort to reduce an obesity rate of roughly 30 percent among district elementary school students, according to project officials.

Given the results of the wellness survey, District Health Coordinator Avis Anderson teamed up with Pam Duffy, the Healthy Kids coordinator, to produce the informational packet, Kelliher said.

In it, Anderson and Duffy explain the wellness policy is based on nutritional standards. For instance, it limits the amount of foods that contain sugar to two or three items during classroom parties. The offered items also need to include fresh fruits, vegetables, water, 100 percent fruit juice or milk, according to the booklet.

Anderson and Duffy provide numerous healthy alternatives to sweet treats as rewards or during celebrations and to help raise money for district schools.

For classroom rewards, they suggest giving toys or trinkets like rubber balls or finger puppets. Instead of selling cakes and candies during fundraisers, they suggest selling magazine subscriptions.

Nominal expenses to produce the blue-covered information booklets were covered with money from a $300,000 Tufts University grant the district is using to fund its Healthy Kids initiative, Kelliher said.