Classrooms: Indoors and Out
In the San Francisco Bay Area school community, as is true in communities throughout California and the nation, childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate. Currently, one in five children in California is obese and the number of overweight children increased 6% between 2001 and 2004. There are many causes of childhood obesity, most notably a lack of exercise and poor diets that are high in sugar and fat.
NBCC addresses this issue by incorporating health and nutrition education into our daily classroom activities, play ground projects, parent education evenings, and through our on-site community gardens. The Garden of Eatin’s key program elements include daily nutritious school meals, regular health and nutrition training for Early Childhood Education (ECE) staff, daily organized physical education, and daily gardening and classroom cooking activities for children.
All children who attend NBCC participate in the Garden of Eatin’ Childhood Obesity Prevention program funded in part by a contract with the California Nutrition Network. Children learn about health and nutrition through an integrated, academic and environmental curriculum. The goal of this project is for the children and their families to make better, more informed nutritional choices, embrace their role as caretakers of our natural resources, and excel academically while strengthening their life skills in a hands-on outdoor learning environment. The natural link between gardening and nutrition is fully integrated into NBCC’s Health and Nutrition program.
In addition to learning about healthy eating, children will also learn about planting, composting, recycling and harvesting. The gardens, developed by David Haskell, NBCC’s Garden of Eatin’ Project Coordinator, are planted and cared for by volunteers which include NBCC parents, and local master gardeners from the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, local service organizations, Marin Permaculture Group, Life Support Mission Group, and Sustainable San Rafael.
