- With Mayo Clinic nutritionists
Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
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Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Katherine Zeratsky and Jennifer Nelson
Jennifer K. Nelson, M.S., R.D., L.D., C.N.S.D.
Jennifer Nelson is your link to a better diet. As specialty editor of the nutrition and healthy eating guide, she plays a vital role in bringing you healthy recipes and meal planning."Nutrition is one way people have direct control over the quality of their lives," she says. "I hope to translate the science of nutrition into ways that people can select and prepare great-tasting foods that help maintain health and treat disease."
A St. Paul, Minn., native, she has been with Mayo Clinic since 1978, and is director of clinical dietetics and an associate professor of nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
She leads clinical nutrition efforts for a staff of more than 60 clinical dietitians and nine dietetic technicians and oversees nutrition services, staffing, strategic and financial planning, and quality improvement. Nelson was co-editor of the "Mayo Clinic Diet" and the James Beard Foundation Award-winning "The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook." She has been a contributing author to and reviewer of many other Mayo Clinic books, including "Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody," "The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" and "The Mayo Clinic/Williams Sonoma Cookbook." She contributes to the strategic direction of the Food & Nutrition Center, which includes creating recipes and menus, reviewing nutrition content of various articles, and providing expert answers to nutrition questions.
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
As a specialty editor of the nutrition and healthy eating guide, Katherine Zeratsky helps you sort through the facts and figures, the fads and the hype to learn more about nutrition and diet.A Marinette, Wis., native, she is certified in dietetics by the state of Minnesota and the American Dietetic Association. She has been with Mayo Clinic since 1999.
She's active in nutrition-related curriculum and course development in wellness nutrition at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and nutrition related to weight management and practical applications of nutrition-related lifestyle changes.
Other areas of interest include food and nutrition for all life stages, active lifestyles and the culinary arts.
She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, served a dietetic internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and worked as a registered dietitian and health risk counselor at ThedaCare of Appleton, Wis., before joining the Mayo Clinic staff.
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Nutrition-wise blog
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Feb. 19, 2010
Schools say no to sugary foods
By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
To boost student performance, some schools have declared themselves "sugar-free" — meaning they don't allow sugar-laden foods, such as cookies, candies, birthday treats or sweet drinks. Some of these schools report not only improved school performance but also a decrease in disciplinary actions. The evidence supporting these results is mixed, but who can argue with reducing the sugar in kids' diets?
Well, some parents dislike being told what they can and can't pack in their children's lunchboxes. And I'll admit that I have some mixed feelings on the issue too.
Childhood obesity is an enormous problem, but diet is only part of the solution. We need to teach kids and families how to make healthy lifestyle choices about diet — and about physical activity. Children need to understand how daily physical activity fits into a healthy lifestyle, but unfortunately recess and physical education classes are being squeezed out of many schools.
Meals offered at school (or brought from home) need to be healthy and well balanced. But I don't see the harm in allowing cupcakes on someone's birthday as part of the celebration. Kids need to know that all foods can fit into a healthy diet when moderation is practiced. They need practice making healthy choices.
Funding for schools is limited, which further complicates the issue. Some schools feel forced into contracts with commercial food and vending companies to reduce costs or bring money into the schools. Constant access to such foods and beverages can promote unhealthy choices.
Parents, teachers and school administrators: Where do you stand on this issue? Do you have firsthand experience with sugar-free schools? What results have you seen? What do your children think? How do we get around the funding obstacles?
9 comments posted
April 26, 2012 1:24 a.m.
You don't see the harm in allowing 20-30 cupcakes (or other birthday treats) in one classroom in a school year?? Do the math! Add the additional out-of-school birthday parties to that, all the school celebrations for holidays and other stuff (any excuse will do!!), and you've got your kid stuffing his/her mouth with sugar and fat almost every single day! It is APPALLING and for an MD to say you "don't see the harm" - I think that is completely negligent and ignorant on your part! Shame on you. I came here looking for some support. Amazing.
- Heidi
October 24, 2011 11:28 p.m.
The problem with cupcakes on birthdays is that with 25 kids in the class, that's a lot of cupcakes. Add that to special events, ie. Halloween, and teachers that give out candies, and you have a whole new diet. When my 6 year old finished grade one and I happened to take him to the dentist, the dentist asked - in horror- if I had changed his diet and added more sugars. I hadn't. School had. I wish I had a sugar-free school around here!
- Leslie
September 26, 2011 9:46 p.m.
Bacteria LOVE sugar. That should say enough. But schools don't know thing one about nutrition. The best, most absorbable (by the human physiology) nutrition comes from plant sources, eaten raw. We have a culture of food junkies, which, in turn, creates oodles of other problems, including mental/emotional issues and disease (think : diabetes, heart disease, obesity . . . in children . . . at epidemic levels!) But keep on "treating" the children. Excellent.
- shmrd
November 21, 2010 4:38 p.m.
Our school offers 2 to thee times a week fruits and vegetables delivered to our classroom door to promote healthy choices and our lunch program offers healthy lunches as well!!!
- avril
May 25, 2010 2:31 p.m.
This whole mess is not logical! A child's nutritional needs should come first. Are sugary sodas nutritional? No! So they should go. Is there any nutritional value in beef? Yes. So it should stay. Is there any nutritional value in leaf lettuce? Not so much, so don't make it a staple of the school lunch program!. Many, many years ago, you started Nutrition 101 with a Chart of Nutritional Values of Foods. This is how you learned to figure out menus for the day. While I can't remember them all ( it's been 64 years ) I do know eggs were first at 98%, then milk at 97%, them beef at 95% followed by the other red meats - beans and peanut butter were around 54% - all other vegetables and fruits, under 50%. A school lunch program, as has been noted here, does not stand alone for just one child - it should contain the accepted amount of proteins, carbs and fats that should be in a meal. Everything went 'off the tracks' when the experts forgot that milk is a food that contains everything the kids need to grow - the 'horrible milk fat( as all dietitians know) is a natural fat, meaning it is a blend of 66% saturated, 30% monosaturated, and 4% polyunsaturated and only amounts to 3.15%, legal standard. This milkfat is a carrier of Vitamins A,D,E, and D(fat soluble) they help utilize other nutrients. Can't serve that in schools today! Take out that 3.15% natural fat and replace it with pills and processed fat! We get too soon old, too late smart!
- Grandma Velva
March 5, 2010 2:07 p.m.
I think its important to bring attention to the childhood obesity epidemic, but I am not sure if it is the school's responsibility to control what is in our kids' lunch boxes. I would love to see educational programs being implemented (teaching parents and children about quick and simple ways to incorporate healthy eating and exercise).
- Kasey
February 25, 2010 2:24 p.m.
The biggest problem I have with actions like these is the fact that not every child in that school has a weight issue or behavioral/learning problem. Even if that was so, then when did a school system earn the right to control what parents may or may not send in their child's lunch boxes. Just because their is an obesity problem growing does not mean every single child should have to live like they have a weight problem or on the verge of one. Now I'm all for healthy school provided lunches and if a schools want to limit the amount of sugar that is provided by them to students then that's fine. I'm even for not having all those birthday cake parties. However, I think a line is crossed when the school controls what food is packed into a child's lunch. If teachers, parents, or their children have weight problems or even behavioral/learning problems that they want to fix with dietary changes than that is something they need to do in their own personal lives for their own sake. Not force everyone else to go along with it. My child not eating a cupcake at lunch won't prevent their child from going and eating double the amount of sugar/calories in a cupcake when they go home.
- Meg
February 23, 2010 10:57 p.m.
The biggest question in my mind is whether these "sugar-free" schools allow artificial sweeteners, and whether this policy makes parents more likely to send artificially sweetened foods and beverages for their children. It seems to me that it would be far healthier to encourage moderation in sugar consumption than to simply replace all sugar with synthetic chemical sweeteners.
- Jennifer
February 23, 2010 5:57 p.m.
I'm not sure about "sugar-free" schools, but am all for the schools teaching healthy eating by example of what is served. The birthday type treats come under the "sometimes" foods - a HeadStart term (or at least where I learned it) Not only is childhood obesity a problem, but tooth decay is too. Let's get rid of soda - maybe "soda-free" schools, (including staff...) Fruit juices are not as healthy as the fruit - "eat your juice" and water need not be flavored with acidic juice (lemon, lime...) or sugars by any name - acids and sugars are hard on the teeth. Maybe schools could make it a "challenge" rather then a "rule". It could be a challenge month to be soda-free or try the sugar-free and see how the creativity flows rather then the defensiveness of being told what to do.
- Anne
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