CATCH Healthy Eating Program Introduced at Seth Boyden

I knew something was up last night when my kindergarten-age daughter told me she needed to dress in green like a vegetable for school today. 

Her verdant attire was a part of the kickoff for the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (or CATCH) program that was introduced to parents and students at Seth Boyden Demonstration School this morning at two special assemblies. 

The CATCH program, which was introduced at Jefferson School in September 2007, has been able to expand now to a second district school due to a Physical Education for Progress grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

This morning's Seth Boyden assemblies (one assembly for grades 3-5 and one for K-2) were informative, fun and loud—eating your vegetables and getting exercise never looked so entertaining as students clapped, shouted and danced a funky cha-cha in between bursts of information about eating healthy and getting physically fit. 

The assembly's roster of speakers was a who's who of the South Orange/Maplewood School District. Director of Communications Judy Levy was on hand, as was Pat Johnson, the district food director, with her staffers Josephine Valentine and Mary Hinton. Judy LoBianco, the district's Supervisor of Health, PE and Nursing, addressed the students in a high energy fashion: LoBianco is responsible for securing the grant from the Department of Education to fund the CATCH program. Marv Alexander, the administrator of the grant, was also in attendance.

CATCH is a nationwide program developed at the University of Texas, said Carol Caldara of Flaghouse in Hasbrouck Heights. Flaghouse provides publishing and distribution support for the CATCH program. Caldara is Flaghouse's CATCH national rep/nutrionist. She reported that 8,000 schools nationwide have implemented the CATCH program including 370 afterschool programs in New Jersey mostly administered through local YMCAs (the South Mountain Y has been participating for the last 2 years).

However, said Caldara, the South Orange/Maplewood School District is the main school site in New Jersey, with Jefferson and now Seth Boyden implementing the program through curriculum as well as lunchroom selection. (In a separate story, Patch will feature the Seth Boyden CATCH cookbook created by 2nd grade and multi-age classes.)

Judy Levy explained that the program is interdisciplinary. Children will be reading and writing about healthy choices and also incorporating the study into math, art, heritage, you name it. 

Principal Mark Quiles told the assembled students that the program is not prohibitive. Rather, it's all about choices: "It's not like we shouldn't eat fun foods. We just need to eat the right portions." Quiles then reiterated the CATCH program's "catch" words: GO, SLOW and WHOA. Explained school nurse Nancy Weinstein, "You eat more GO than SLOW and you eat more SLOW than WHOA. There is no NO food! It's about decision making."

GO foods are the super healthy choices that are low in fat, high in protein, have unprocessed sugars and/or are high in fiber. SLOW foods have some fats, sugars and less fiber. WHOA foods? We're talking your regular ice cream, chocolate croissant, bacon and fried hamburgers.

It would be silly to educate children on healthy eating and then send them to a cafeteria full of bad choices. So the school lunch concession is involved in the program as well. Johnson told Patch that she, as food director of the district, has "made a promise and commitment to Seth Boyden to help you eat healthy and bring more fruits and vegetables to Seth Boyden." This will include featuring fruits or vegetables of the month.

Johnson pointed out that the district has already been recognized by the State of New Jersey as having one of the healthiest food service programs. Johnson also explained that, due to costs, there are limits to the fresh veggies and fruits she can supply. Nonetheless, the district continues to strive to help students make healthy choices and is working with the Department of Agriculture on a Farm to School program.

However, the district will not force students to take fruits with their lunches. "Years ago, we'd put an apple on each tray and the maintenance guy would throw them all out. Now it's about choosing." Johnson noted that the children will eat the food if they choose it. She reported that the consumption of fruits and vegetables in the Jefferson cafeteria has risen 74% since the implementation of the CATCH program there 2 years ago.

So why don't all schools in the district have this program? It's a matter of cost. An initial grant allowed the district to pilot the program at Jefferson. As a K-3 school, Jefferson's smaller size made it an ideal location for a start-up. Now, the PEP grant has allowed expansion for Seth Boyden. 

Amy Higer, whose daughter is in kindergarten and whose son is in fourth grade at Seth Boyden, was on hand to learn about the program. Higer said the program is already having an impact, "My daughter came home and told me about GO, WHOA and SLOW and I'd been talking about this her whole life!" (Higer was also discussing the possibility of a "wellness" night program for parents with LoBianco.)

Levy backed up Higer's experience, saying that sometimes children listen to a different source than their parents: "If all their friends are doing it, then they will eat fruits and vegetables!"

Maybe that's why my son insisted on having fresh, diced fruit for breakfast this morning.