Holy Cross School Nutrition Event Proposal

Group Name: Kindergarten

Student Name Project Role Contribution to Proposal

Jade Hamann Spokesperson/ Reporter Needs Assessment;

Marketing Statement, Lesson
Plan, Activities Page
Riley Maloney Leader/Editor Needs Assessment;
Administrative Section,
Lesson Plan, Activities Page
Jenna Lemenager Recorder/Secretary Needs Assessment;
Administrative Section
(Meeting Minutes), Lesson
Plan, Activities Page
Needs Assessment, Lesson
Katherine Hinojosa Checker
Plan, Activities Page
Needs Assessment:

Nutritional Demands:
Proper nutrition and food behaviors in kindergarteners are significant when it
comes to developing healthy bodies, growth, and well being. Different lifestyles and
eating behaviors influence the nutrition a child receives over time. According to the
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the general dietary recommendations for those aged
two years and older should primarily rely on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat
and nonfat dairy products, beans, fish, and lean meats (1). For parents, this should be
paired with the USDA guidelines. The Recommended Daily Intake, according to the
USDA government website, states that ½ cup of fruit, ½ cup of veggies, 5 ounces of
grains with half being whole grains, 4 ounces of protein and 2 ½ cups of dairy is ideal for
a growing kindergartner (2).

Sample Recommended Intake for Children Ages 4-8 years (14)

Grains Protein Dairy Fruits Vegetables

Breakfast ½ cup of ½ cup of low-

½ cup, such
whole grain fat milk
as berries or
cereal
a sliced
banana

Lunch 1 oz of sliced 2-3 oz of cut

2 slices of 1-2 oz of low-
cheese veggies
whole grain sodium Deli
bread Meat

Dinner
½ cup of 2 ounces of ½ cup of ¼ cup of
pasta rice, or meat, fish, or nonfat or veggies, raw
potato chicken lowfat milk or roasted

Snacks 1 slice of 1 tsp of PB; ½ cup of fruit

½ cup of
bread; or 1 such a
nonfat or
serving of berries,
low-fat milk;
crackers melon,
1 string
(about 10) banana or
cheese; ¼
sliced apples
cup of
cottage
cheese

Another demand is the specific micronutrients that are necessary for children.
Micronutrients are only needed by the body in small amounts but play a role in the
production of enzymes, hormones, and help regulate growth activity, development, and
functioning of the immune and reproductive systems. (3) A deficiency of these can have
negative effects on the child with slowed growth rates, decreased bone mass and depleted
micronutrient reserves (1). Common micronutrients needed are zinc, vitamin A, iron, and
 folate. Rich sources of zinc are meat, eggs, dairy products, shellfish, nuts, and whole meal
grains (3). Sources of vitamin A can be found in liver, fruits, vegetables, whole milk and
in some fortified food products. To prevent an iron deficiency, children should consume
foods that are fortified, meat, and foods rich in vitamin C like fruits. Lastly, parents can
purchase breakfast cereals and bread that consists of added folate.

Nutritional Concerns:
In kindergarten, children begin to develop autonomy in their life, particularly in
their food choices. This contributes to food refusal among picky eaters as children begin
to develop their autonomy. To solve this problem, parents need to set standards with their
children to ensure a balanced diet full of nutrient-rich foods. However, parents should not
be too concerned, as food habits and tastes will change with time.
Children are also developing their autonomy through overeating, leading to an
increased rate of obesity. When left to their own choices in the lunch line, kindergarteners
often choose the sweet, salty and high-fat foods (4). A parental way to solve this is by
packing the child’s lunch or talking with the child about the healthier options on the
menu. This will benefit the child in the long run since children who are overweight are at
a higher risk of being overweight as adults (5). This can lead to significant health
problems such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and psychosocial problems (5).
Another concern is that when kids choose sugary food, it puts them at higher risk for
developing cavities (6). These sugars and other fermentable carbohydrates aid with the
development of cavities, especially if the child is having these snacks at before bed (6).
Another dietary change some children might make is becoming vegetarian, as
they start to realize that meat comes from animals (7). This causes three problems in their
diets: lack of protein, iron deficiency, and B12 deficiency. To solve the lack of protein
sources, parents should use alternative sources of protein such as rice, beans, eggs, and
peanut butter. B12 deficiency should be solved by supplementation, however, parents
should be careful that the dosages they give are for children, not adults. Some parents
supplement to maximize the vitamins that their children receive with nutrients like
calcium, iron, or vitamins A, B, C, or D (8).
Iron deficiency can lead to anemia in children, which can impair cognitive
development and decrease performances at school (9). Studies have shown
supplementation does increase their iron stores, but there is a lack of data to connect high
ferritin to cognitive development (9). However, promoting iron-rich food such as
legumes, spinach, and red meat will help improve the performance of children at school.
Food allergies are becoming commonplace in the U.S. with the top 8 including
milk, eggs, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish. Other common food
intolerances include dairy, caffeine, sugar alcohols, and food colorings. As reported by
Registered Dietitian Deb Indorato on Kids With Food Allergies, children with food
sensitivities are at risk for hindered growth patterns because they are missing key aspects
of their diets (10). By substituting alternative food choices for children with allergies or
food intolerances specific to their lifestyle, they are able to grow at a normal rate and
keep their body processes functioning efficiently.
Food and Nutrition Habits:
According to the International Journal of Pediatric Physiology, children within the
early childhood age range of 4-8 years had a heightened preference for sugary foods if
they were heavily predisposed to them within the first year of life. Contrastingly, the
same group had a higher preference for saltier foods if they were predisposed to savory
foods within the first year of life (11). This data demonstrates that it is hard to pinpoint
the exact preferences of an entire population of Kindergarteners, as food and nutrition
habits will vary from child to child based on demographic and socioeconomic
background. In general, the study stated that the three most preferred entrees for
kindergartners to have at lunch were: “Pizza; Plain Hamburger; Taco”.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children between the ages of
4-8 need 1,200-1,400 calories if they’re sedentary, 1,400-1,600 if they’re moderately
active, and 1,600-2,000 if they’re active [less for females and more for males]. (12)
Energy intakes vary based upon activity level and possible growth spurts during a child’s
life. Energy intakes should not be rigid in nature. During the Preschool to Second grade
age range, kids should be eating the same foods as the rest of the family, with an
emphasis on those with nutritional value. This includes fresh vegetables and fruits, nonfat
or low-fat dairy products (milk, yogurt, cheeses), lean meats (chicken, turkey, fish, lean
hamburger), and whole grain cereals and bread. At the same time, parents should limit
junk food in their child's diet, and limit sugary beverages.
Administrative Section:

Holy Cross School Nutrition - Kindergarteners

Meeting Minutes #1
January 23rd, 2019 @ 8:00pm

Call to Order
Roll Call:
Jenna conducted a roll call.
The following persons were present: Jade, Katherine, Jenna, and Riley
Approval of Meeting Minutes from Last Meeting: no meeting minutes
Open Issues
● Assigning Group Roles - resolved
○ Leader/Editor - Riley Maloney
○ Recorder/Secretary - Jenna Lemenager
○ Checker - Katherine Hinojosa
○ Spokesperson/Reporter - Jade Hamann
● Dividing the Workload - resolved
○ Needs Assessment
■ Nutritional Demands - Katherine
■ Nutritional Concerns - Jade & Jenna
■ Food & Nutrition Habits - Riley
○ Description Statements
■ Collaboration between Jade & Jenna
○ Lesson Planning
■ Collaboration between entire group
● Discussion of Lesson Theme - open
○ Topic: Nutrition and Hydration for Sports
○ “Wet Your Appetite” - possibly, but kids may not understand
○ “Water is Your Best Friend” - last resort New
Business:
● Potential Activities - open
○ http://www.childfun.com/themes/food/nutrition/
○ Email/Ask Mrs. Karduck if we will be teaching 2 groups or 1 group
● Overall Goal - resolved
○ Educating early childhood students with proper hydration techniques and nutrition
information.
● Uniform - open
 ○ Black dress pants & TBD shirt
Adjournment
Jade adjourned the meeting at 8:45pm

Minutes Submitted by Jenna Lemenager

Minutes Approved by Jade Hamann
 Holy Cross School Nutrition - Kindergarteners
Meeting Minutes #2
February 3rd, 2019 @ 2:30pm

Call to Order
Roll Call:
Jenna conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: Jenna, Jade, Riley &
Katherine
Approval of Meeting Minutes from Last Meeting: Riley approved them Open
Issues
● Discussion of Lesson Theme: resolved
○ Fueling for Fun
■ Hydration + Sports
● Potential Activities: resolved
○ Activity #1: Guessing Game
■ Kids will learn how to make better food choices with increased nutrition
knowledge and understanding.
■ Students will go from one side of the room to the other to decide if a food is
“healthy” or “not healthy”.
○ Activity #2: Smoothies
■ We will be making smoothies using Riley’s Nutribullet.
■ Kids will be tasting them to learn how good healthy food can taste as well
as the importance of water in foods.
● Uniform: resolved
○ Black dress pants & cream top/sweater
● Lesson Plan: resolved
○ Developed learning objectives for Activities #1 & #2 together
○ Changed hydration activity (tracing themselves & guessing body water content) to
healthy foods guessing the game
○ Developed task list New
Business:
● Budget: open (price changes)
○ Reviewed as a group
○ Jade will cost out items & collect money
● Discussion & Evaluation: resolved
○ Ask questions to the class & have them answer by the majority with their heads
down & hands raised
● Teaching Instructions: resolved
 ○ Created a list of what needs to be done, activity order, & how much time each
section will take
○ Assigned day-of duties
Adjournment
Jenna adjourned the meeting at 3:45 pm

Minutes Submitted by Jenna Lemenager

Minutes Approved by Riley Maloney
Proposed Budget:

Item Quantity Total Cost for Item

Frozen strawberries 8 cups $5.00

Fresh bananas 4 banana $0.96

Dixie cups 20 $1.00

Milk 2 pints $1.11

Ice 4 cups
Provided by Jenna
Lemenager

Nutribullet 1 blender Provided by Riley Maloney

Gloves 1 pack $1.42

Lesson Plan:

Title: Fueling For Fun

Time: 30 minutes for each section of the class (2 sections)

Overview: Nutrition and Hydration for Sports

Goal: To educate students about proper hydration

Learning Objectives

● Performance Objective #1: To educate and familiarize kindergarteners with foods

that are beneficial to fuel them during exercise and physical activity

○ How will this be met?

■ This goal will be met through guessing game activity on our

powerpoint, smoothie making, and tasting activity.

○ How does this relate to the target audience?

■ Kindergartners tend to lean toward craving sweet foods such as

candy, so offering them a sweet fruit smoothie will satisfy them,

while also meeting their nutrition needs and teaching them about

the lesson.

● Performance Objective #2: To educate and familiarize kindergarteners with foods

that are good sources of water, and the additional benefits they possess (i.e

berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, pineapple, etc).

○ How will this be met?

■ This goal will be met through activities, smoothie making, and

tasting activity.

○ How does this relate to the target audience?

 ■ Kindergartners are at the age where hands-on activities and

demonstrations engage them far more than lecturing. Additionally,

sufficient water intake is a vital element in a kindergartner’s

growth and development, so they should be familiar with proper

hydration.

Task List

1. Set up the computer with the slides - Jenna

2. Turn on the projector - Jade

3. Put smoothie ingredients in Nutribullet - Riley

4. Set out cups (10) for group #1 - Katherine

5. Put handout on each desk - Jade

Teaching Instructions

1. Introductions (5 minutes)

a. Name, presentation topic (Fueling for Fun), & what we’re going to be

talking about

2. Guessing Game (10 minutes)

a. 5-6 slides of pictures of food with explanations relating to why this is

better for sports (30 seconds per explanation)

3. Smoothie Break (10 minutes)

1 Talk about why the ingredients in the smoothies are beneficial for

them

2 Ask children about what foods they think have water, and how much

of our bodies are made of water

4. Wrap up & Set up for the next group (5 min)

 Discussion and Evaluation:

To test that we have fulfilled our learning objectives, we will have the students

answer some trivia questions by raising their hands. To avoid the influence of

other students we will have the kids put their heads down. There will be 6

questions total, 3 from each learning objective. If the group answers 80% of the

questions correctly overall, we will know that we have successfully completed

our learning objectives.

Activity Form Page:

Activity #1: Guessing Game

A. Purpose: Helps students learn to make better choices about their foods

B. Materials Needed: Projector, Google Slides

C. Source of materials: Classroom projector

Activity #2: Smoothie Snacks

A. Purpose: Familiarize kindergarteners with foods that are good sources of water

B. Materials Needed: Smoothie ingredients, dixie cups

• Recipe: Strawberry Banana Smoothie

• 2 cups frozen strawberries

• 1 fresh banana
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup ice

C. Source of Materials: Group members, see budget

 Tips for Raising Active Healthy & Fit Kids
Children need to be active for 60 minutes on most days of the week to maintain good
health and fitness. Activity can be accumulated throughout the day. Even blocks of
time as short as 15 minutes or more can count towards kids’ daily activity goal.

Here are some FUN ways for kids to stay active & fit!
Have fun! Show children how much fun it is to be active
Run like a gorilla.
Walk like a spider.
Hop like a bunny.
Stretch like a cat.
Have family contests: who can jump rope the longest?
Wheel barrel races
Potato sack races
Use parties as an opportunity to promote activity:
Ice skating party
Bowling party
Touch football party
Get up early with your children to walk the dog
Do jumping jacks together after dinner
Take a family walk after dinner
Go on a family bike ride through the neighborhood
Create sidewalk art with chalk and play hopscotch
Fly a kite on a grassy field or beach
Enjoy a playground at a school or a park
Play Duck, Duck, Goose or London Bridge
Sledding
Bowling
Tag
Hiking
Visit a swimming park
Batting cages
Miniature golf

Visit www.ChefSolus.com for Free online nutrition games, healthy interactive tools, fun activities, and tips!
Copyright © Nourish Interactive, All Rights Reserved
 Tips for Raising Active Healthy & Fit Kids

Chef Solus’ Favorite Tips to Help Kids and Families Stay Active!

Involve the whole family

• Talk about physical activity as a fun lifelong way to take care of your body and balance
your food and energy, rather than viewing it as a chore
• Celebrate accomplishments with fun activities instead of food or extra TV time

Establish a routine
• Start small, gradually adding new activities to your routine
• Set aside time each day for physical activity

Let your child pick and choose

• Organized sports are great but there are many other activities children can do to be active
that are not competitive. Let them select or choose as a family
• Take a nature hike to collect leaves and rocks that your child can use to make a collage.
• If your child likes to climb, head for the nearest neighborhood jungle gym
• Let each child take a turn choosing the activity of the day or week
• If your child likes to read, walk or bike to the neighborhood library for a book
• turn on your child's favorite music and dance in the living room

Limit screen time to no more than 1-2 hours per day

• Ask them to decide how they would like to use their 1-2 hours of “screen time”
• Avoid putting a television in your children's bedrooms
• Keep the computer in a family area.
• Limit other sedentary activities, such as text messaging or chatting on the phone

List 5 ways your family stays active

1. ________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________________

Visit www.chefsolus.com the Free family resource for nutrition and fitness information, fun
online learning tools, interactive games, activities and more!

Visit www.ChefSolus.com for Free online nutrition games, healthy interactive tools, fun activities, and tips!
Copyright © Nourish Interactive, All Rights Reserved
Marketing Description Statement:

Children, especially kindergarteners, are very active in their daily life. To keep children

full of energy during these activities, it's important for them to eat nutritious food and

drink lots of water. During our lesson, we will be teaching the class about how important

the right foods are and how much water you will need during physical activity. There will

be coloring, smoothies, and a whole lot of fun!

References:

1. Stallings V, Yaktine A. Nutrition Standards For Foods In Schools. Washington, D.C.:

National Academies Press; 2007:29-45.

2. United States Department of Agriculture. “Dietary Reference Intakes” Obtained from

<https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/dietary-reference-intakes >

3. Ekweagwu E, Agwu AE, Madukwe E. The role of micronutrients in child health: a

review of the literature. African Journal ofBiotechnology. 2008;7(21):3804-3810. doi:

10.5897/AJB08.388.

4. Childhood Nutrition. HealthyChildren.org.

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Childhood-Nutrit

ion.aspx. Published March 3, 2016. Accessed January 31, 2019.

5. Sahoo K, Sahoo B, Choudhury AK, Sofi NY, Kumar R, Bhadoria AS. Childhood obesity:

causes and consequences. J Family Med Prim Care. 2015;4(2):187-92.

6. Colak H, Dülgergil CT, Dalli M, Hamidi MM. Early childhood caries update: A review

of causes, diagnoses, and treatments. J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2013;4(1):29-38.

7. Dietary Reference Intakes: Macronutrients.

http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRI-T

ables/8_Macronutrient%20Summary.pdf. Published 2005. Accessed February 3, 2019.

8. Vitamin Supplements and Children. Healthy Children website.

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/nutrition/Pages/Vitami

n-Supplements-and-Children.aspx. Updated November 3, 2011. Accessed February 3,

2019.
9. Thompson J, Biggs B-A, Pasricha S-R. Effects of Daily Iron Supplementation in 2- to

5-Year-Old Children: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Pediatrics.

 2013;131(4):739-753. doi:10.1542/peds.2012-2256

10. Indorato D. Replacing Lost Nutrients Due to Food Allergies. Kidswithfoodallergies.org.

https://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/page/replacing-lost-nutrients.aspx. Published

2013. Accessed February 3, 2019.

11. Nehmet D, Perez H, Reges O. “Physical activity and nutrition knowledge and preferences

in kindergarten children”. International Journal of Pediatric Physiology.

2015;5(12):839-48. Doi: 11.1493/2015

12. Jackman R, Thatcher P, Newman C. “Nutrition Needs: Early Childhood”. American

Academy of Pediatrics, Itasca, Illinois. 2014;224(5)