On May 25th, day two of the annual Healthy Kids, Healthy Programs Summit, the day began with a welcome message from Mitchell D. Chester, EdD, Commissioner of Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The morning keynote given by Juliana Cohen, ScM, ScD, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Nutrition at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discussed Successful School Meals: Strategies to increase Selection and Consumption. During this presentation Dr. Juliana Cohen discussed some of her published research in which a significant increase in fruit and vegetable selection and consumption in schools that had chefs long term (seven months) was found. She concluded by pointing out that many of the benefits highlighted in her research are only seen after students have had time to acclimate to the new food choices available and when they are given adequate time to consume their meals.
Breakout sessions continued into day two of the summit in the areas of Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child, Procurement, and Building Human Capital. Conference participants applied learned concepts to their districts by creating an action plan for how to succeed in implementing new ideas or changes to their programs.
After lunch Robert Leshin, MPA, Acting Director of the Office for Food and Nutrition Programs, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, presented News You Can Use in which he discussed the year in review including MA trends in the National School Lunch Program.
Visit the 2016 Healthy Kids, Healthy Programs webpage for presentation files from the summit. To view more photos from the conference, visit our Pinterest page The JOHN STALKER INSTITUTE (JSI) Rocks.
