11/24/2008
Small Changes…Big Impact:
Developing Healthy
Habits for a Lifetime
Kara Behlke
Fast Food
Feed Bags
Director Nutrition Education
New York Beef Industry Council
The Mess We Are In
Overfed yet Undernourished?
Americans are
overfed,
overweight…
 Iron deficiency is
most common causing
developmental problems and feelings of
fatigue
 38% of Americans don‟t get enough zinc,
which can impair mental capacity
including short-term memory, and the
immune system
 The list goes on…
…and UNDERNOURISHED
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11/24/2008
Average Consumption from Each Food Group
Compared to MyPyramid Daily Recommendations
Source: Pyramid Servings Intakes in the US 1999-2002. Community Nutrition Research Group, Beltsville Human Nutrition
Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, March 2005.
How to Change Eating Habits:
Back to the Basics
Who Can Help Make Change?
 Nutrient-dense Food:
– Those foods that provide
substantial amounts of vitamins
and minerals (micronutrients)
and relatively few calories
Who’s the Competition?
More American
children are
overweight than
ever before
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1963-70 1971-74 1976-80 1988-94
1999
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11/24/2008
Nutrition in the Classroom
Nutrition
Adolescent Nutrition
 Helping teens make
 Important to
What Can Food Do?
 Immediate Benefits:
– Increased attention span
– Higher test scores
– Improved daily attendance
– Better class participation
– Optimal brain functioning
– Better academic performance
– Better learning
– Better behavior in class
healthy choices
– Erratic eating habits
– Demanding schedules
– Rapid growth and development
Nutrition
encourage healthy habits
What Can Food Do?
 Long term
benefits:
– 90% reduction in coronary heart disease
– 90% reduction of type 2 diabetes
– 30% reduction in cancer
– And so on…
Family mealtimes help:
Providing children with a variety of
food experiences is a good way to help
children develop good eating habits
and interest in food
Family togetherness
Behavior issues
School success
Better nutrition
Weight concerns
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11/24/2008
Togetherness
 Unity
and sense of identity
 Safety and security
 Adult role models
 Memories for a lifetime
School Success
More family meals mean youth
are more likely to:
 Learn and practice important
language skills
 Learn new vocabulary
 Do well in school and score
well on achievement tests
 Report getting all A’s and B’s
Behavior Issues
More family meals mean teens
are less likely to:
 Become
depressed
 Use illegal drugs
 Abuse alcohol
 Smoke cigarettes
 Develop eating disorders
 Get pregnant
Better Nutrition
 Nutrient-rich foods for
strong
bodies and smart brains
 More fruits, veggies, lean
meats, and milk
 Fewer fried foods and soft
drinks
Weight Concerns
More family meals mean children and
teens are:
 More likely to have a healthy
weight
 Less likely to become or stay
overweight
 Less likely to develop an eating
disorder
How to Create Interest
in Wellness??
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11/24/2008
Use Technology Instead of Blaming It
The Basics
 Food label
 Can take
you from where you are to
where you want to be
 Portion size
 MyPyramid
– Training at PE4life academy
– Community/school leadership presentation
– Program assessment
– Customized in-service presentations
– Implement support coaching
– Equipment purchase facilitation
– Online support
 Food group basics
 What counts as
a serving
 Snacking
 Physical activity
www.pe4life.org
PE4life is delivering results!
 Increased health and
wellness levels
performance
 Decreased discipline problems
 Improved academic
PE4life Kids Are More Fit Than
Their Peers
FitnessGram scores were collected for 9th graders
throughout the state of California
www.pe4life.org
Fit Kids Perform Better Academically
Better Fitness Levels = Better Grades!
Kids who are more fit perform better in
Math and Reading
New Study shows Daily PE results in a
50% improvement in Reading
Math
High Math
Scores 80
Reading
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
60
40
20
0
Low Math
Scores
1
Lowest Fitness
2
3
4
5
6
Highest Fitness
1
2
Lowest Fitness
3
4
5
6
Highest Fitness
www.pe4life.org
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11/24/2008
The PE4life Way is Also Positively
Impacting Discipline/Attendance
Top 10 Food and Nutrition Trends
Eco-Friendly Foods
Local Motion
 Proactive Lifestyles
 Dining In
 Foodie Talk
 Bold Flavor
 Share Fare
 Sense Appeal
 Sensitivity Training
 Next Generation Beverages


www.pe4life.org
#1
Eco-Friendly Foods
 One quarter
of consumers
look for products that are
better for the environment
 29% look
for sustainable
packaging
Eco-Friendly Foods
 Procter & Gamble‟s
Pur Flavor Options
 Stongate Farmers
Free Range Eggs on
farms powered by wind

Food miles
– Ginger- 6,000 food miles from Hawaii
– Broccoli- 3,000 food miles from California
Have students estimate miles food traveled
#2
Local Motions
the most desired attribute, but
foods marketed as local, seasonal, handmade, and natural are increasing
Local Motion

Over two-thirds of adult consumers buy
organic products at least occasionally

Organic food and beverage sales grew 13% in
2007 and are expected to continue at doubledigit growth through 2010

In dollar terms, last year Americans spent $20
billion on organic foods (compared with
$13.83 billion in 2005) according to statistics
released by the Organic Trade Association

Organic does not mean local
 Fresh is
 Consumer beliefs: fresher, fewer
pesticides, higher quality
 More than
three-quarters of consumers
buying local products
Have students find local foods in the grocery store, compare
organic prices, have a freshness taste test, grant to grow garden
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11/24/2008
#3
Proactive Lifestyles
Proactive Lifestyles
 Shoppers‟ desire to
reduce the risk of
developing health conditions has a lot of
influence on food purchasing decisions
 Functional Foods are
becoming more
condition oriented
– Folgers Simply Smooth Coffee
– Dannon‟s Activa and Dannon DanActive
– Digestive Health from Green Giant
– Campbell‟s Reduced Sodium soup
 More than
1/3 of Americans are now
basing their food purchases upon advice
from their doctors
 Two-thirds of adults bought fortified
foods last year
Enhance your label reading unit by reading a food label
and applying that to a health condition eg. CVD and sodium
#4
Dining In
Dining In
 Sandwiches are
the number one in-home
dinner main dish
 77% of
shoppers ate dinner „in‟ at least 5
days last year

 Economic pressures
Refrigerated side dishes are the 7th
fastest growing food/beverage item in
the past year with sales increasing 29%
 While home is
hot for dinner, consumers
are turning to restaurants more
frequently during the day
 3 out of
4 people said that the food that
they ate at home was healthier
#5
Foodie Talk

Word-of-mouth has
become a key factor in
the success of new food
products

Celebrity chefs are
encouraging more
adventuresome cooking

Celebrity chefs are just
as famous as some movie
stars
The perfect opportunity for family mealtimes. Family
Mealtime Challenge. Kid friendly recipe cards.
Foodie Talk

New, trendy foods hitting grocery stores
– Acaí, black currant, elderberry, goji berries,
mangosteen and pomegranate
– Chili peppers have been increasing on non-ethnic
menus
– Bold-flavored cheeses including Asiago, feta and
Roquefort will be the 2008 trend in the cheese
department
Have students find new, exotic or ethnic foods and write a
report about this interesting food. Partner with FACS, FCCLA,
etc for a cooking contest to be judged by your class.
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11/24/2008
#6 Bold Flavor
 Sense of smell
Bold Flavors
and taste

– 80 million baby boomers
 Evolving palates
– Millenials
 Hotter, spicier, bolder flavors
– Blue cheese, habanero, wasabi, chimichurri,
Thai flavors
Bold Flavors:
– Citrus fruits are no longer lemon and orange, but
are blood orange, Meyer lemon, and Key lime
– Chili, curry, garlic and spicy are top flavors for
condiments and sauces
– Truffle, honey and bourbon are also seeing some
interest
– Cheese remains popular, but not American. Even
cheeseburgers are now made with bleu cheese,
goat cheese and Asiago
Have students find bold flavor products. Create your
own Fear Factor episode with new flavors and foods.
#7 Share Fare
 Increasing trend toward small
plates and
shared meals
 Tapas-style foods
 Mini-desserts
 Tightened economy
 Sharing adds greater value
 Light meals,
Share Fare
after-school socializing, and
other influences make mini-meals a hot
opportunity
 Mini-meals
are the biggest trend in the
restaurant world
– Taco Bell promotes the "Fourth Meal"
--the one between dinner and breakfast
Perfect addition to lesson on portion sizes. Have
kids identify portion distortion. Show Supersize Me.
#8 Sense Appeal
Sense Appeal
 There‟s a
new trend toward flavor, texture,
crispness, and crunch
– Right after fresh, crunch is the most frequent
menu marketing claim
 Texture, Crispiness and Crunch
– Stouffers Lean Cuisine -crispy, thin crust Brick
Oven Style Pizza
– Panera -Fuji Apple Salad with apple chips and
pecans, all for the extra crunch
– Granola bars have even gone crunchy
Jelly Bean experiment, Umami presentation, sensory
evaluation activities
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11/24/2008
#9
Sensitivity Training
 One in
five adults say they have a food
sensitivity
 28% of
parents report their child is
afflicted
 Estimates of
the prevalence of food
allergies range from approximately 6%
to 8% of children and 2% of adults
Sensitivity Training
 Allergy friendly food
products
– GF products expected to grow
from $870 million to $1.7 billion
 28% of
consumers tried to avoid
dairy in 2007
 More restaurants offering
alternatives
Sensitivity Training
 Allergy friendly food
products
– GF products expected to grow
from $870 million to $1.7 billion
 28% of
consumers tried to avoid
dairy in 2007
 More restaurants offering
alternatives
#10
Next Generation Beverages
 Drinks set the pace in
U.S. sales and
innovation
 Beverages represents 6 out of 10 overall
gainers in the US food market
 Energy drinks ranks the highest
– Growth at annual rate of 55% since 2006
– 290 million gallons in 2007; 3.8 quarts
– Letter to FDA
Label reading to find products for specific diseases.
Students write about disease state and products available.
Next Generation Beverages
 Functional „No calorie‟
Soft Drinks
– Beefed up with vitamins and minerals and
positioned as „better for you‟ choices
 Diet Coke Plus
– No-calorie drink fortified with vitamins and
minerals such as B12 and zinc
 Vitamin Water
– Each one of their 15 varieties offers a unique
blend of nutrients
Next Generation Beverages
 Bottled Water
Backlash
– The $10B bottled water industry has enjoyed
aggressive growth in past decade
 Impact on
environment
– 96% of plastic water bottles end up in trash
– Cost cities $70 million a year in cleanup costs
 Cost
– You could spend $1400 annually on bottled
water or spend about $.49 a year for tap water
Have students calculate yearly cost and determine impact
on environment. Conduct a water taste test.
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11/24/2008
Use Your Resources Wisely
 Resources:
– www.nybeef.org
– www.beefnutrition.org
– www.teachfree.org
– www.beefitswhatsfordinner.org
– www.beeffrompasturetoplate.org
Use Your Resources Wisely
Be a Thought Leader
Healthy Eating Can Taste Great!
“Eating well is one
of life‟s greatest
pleasures.”
–Julia Child
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11/24/2008
Thank You!
Kara Behlke
Director of Nutrition Education
New York Beef Industry Council
[email protected]
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