Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP)
This program is a multi-component project aimed at improving children’s health through 4 components. The program primarily aims to improve nutritional knowledge among both children and their parents (“Shaping Healthy Choices Program,” n.d.). The SHCP concept appeared in 2008, after which the program was developed in California, USA, and tested in schools in the region in 2014. The main target age group is children ten years old, and the program has proven to be effective for them (Scherr et al., 2017). Web.
Team Nutriathlon
This program is an innovative Internet-based school feeding intervention project. The initiative’s primary goal is to develop strategies for adopting healthy eating habits to combat obesity (Chamberland et al., 2017). This goal is realized by promoting the consumption of fruits and vegetables along with various dairy products. The randomized controlled trials were carried out between 2011 and 2013 in Quebec, Canada, leading to a fully informed concept in 2017. The leading target age group is the seventh and eighth grade of school. Web.
The Nutriamigos® Program
This program aims to increase education about eating habits among elementary school students. A feature of the approach is providing information through various games, multimedia activities, and cartoons. The implementation and testing of this initiative began in 2013 and lasted 12 months in both public and private schools in Brazil (Franciscato et al., 2019). The target audience is schoolchildren from 6 to 10 years old. The test results were so effective that the approach was approved by the Departments of Education in 20 Brazilian regions and adopted in 3,240 public schools. Web.
Food a Fact of Life
Is a curriculum created through a collaboration between two companies. The British Nutrition Foundation and Jamie Oliver Food Foundation have cooperated to develop an extensive database providing nutritional knowledge to schoolchildren (Eid, 2018). This resource also offers an opportunity to train teachers and specialists, as well as to implement the approach in the whole school (“Food a Fact of Life,” n.d.). Another distinguishing feature is the broad coverage of age groups – from 3 to 16 years old, divided into five subsections. Web.
National School Lunch Program
This program, used in the United States, is a government-backed project that provides meals to educational institutions. The main goal is to maintain nutritional balance in the student menu, along with providing meals at low cost or free of charge (“National School Lunch Program,” n.d.). Although this program was established back in 1946 by President Truman, the development and application of this initiative within COVID-19 are curious. As part of the lockdown and disincentive measures, catering has become difficult. However, schools could find a way out within the existing program by proposing the so-called pandemic electronic benefits transfer (P-EBT) initiative (Kinsey et al., 2020). This program allows parents to receive monetary reimbursement in the event of temporary loss of access to the provided food and the opportunity to enrich the child’s diet independently. A bonus is that this initiative applies to children of all ages. Web.
Programs introduced by the British government
Do not have a specific name. However, their essence is similar to similar programs in the United States, except for an expanded number of methods. Currently, this program is still working and is up-to-date, at the same time consisting of three components (“Providing school meals,” 2021). First, schools must provide free meals to the youngest students and those who would typically be entitled to free meals. Besides, water should also be provided free of charge to everyone, without any restrictions. Finally, there is the possibility of obtaining special food vouchers, either from supported supermarkets or through the Department of Education’s national voucher scheme. There is no age limit for these programs, and the only condition is for the child to fall into the necessary category. Web.
References
Chamberland, K., Sanchez, M., Panahi, S., Provencher, V., Gagnon, J., & Drapeau, V. (2017). The impact of an innovative web-based school nutrition intervention to increase fruits and vegetables and milk and alternatives in adolescents: a clustered randomized trial.International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 14(1), 1-11. Web.
Eid, N. M. (2018). Child nutrition programs in kindergarten schools implemented by the governmental sector and global nutrition consulting companies: A systematic review.Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science Journal, 6(3), 656-663. Web.
Food a Fact of Life (n.d.). Web.
Franciscato, S. J., Janson, G., Machado, R., Lauris, J. R. P., Andrade, S. M. J. D., & Fisberg, M. (2019). Impact of the nutrition education Program Nutriamigos® on levels of awareness on healthy eating habits in school-aged children.Journal of Human Growth and Development, 29(3), 390-402. Web.
Kinsey, E.W., Hecht, A.A., Dunn, C.G., Levi, R., Read, M.A., Smith, C., Niesen, P., Seligman, H.K., & Hager, E.R. (2020). School closures during COVID-19: Opportunities for innovation in meal service.American Journal of Public Health, 110(11), 1635-1643. Web.
National School Lunch Program (n.d.). USDA Food and Nutrition Service. Web.
Providing school meals during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak(2021). GOV.UK. Web.
Sarlio-Lähteenkorva, S., & Manninen, M. (2010). School meals and nutrition education in Finland.Nutrition Bulletin, 35(2), 172–174. Web.
Scherr, R.E., Linnell, J.D., Dharmar, M., Beccarelli, L.M., Bergman, J.J., Briggs, M., Brian, K.M., Feenstra, G., Hillhouse, J.C., Keen, C.L., & Ontai, L.L. (2017). A multicomponent, school-based intervention, the shaping healthy choices program, improves nutrition-related outcomes. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 49(5), 368-379. Web.
Shaping Healthy Choices Program(n.d.). Center for Nutrition in Schools. Web.