Healthy Eating

Hi, my name is Ben Dickens and I’m here today to make you are aware of the appalling state of food on offer at Salendine Nook High. We all send our Children to school believing that they will be there to learn and work towards attaining good grades. We also expect them to get a healthy and well balanced meal at lunch but to my amazement, this isn’t the case.

During a recent visit to the school through my job I was perplexed at how awful the food at the school is. Unbelievably our children are offered crisps, chocolate, cakes and fizzy pop at break times. At lunch times the food gets shockingly worse, our children are once again offered cakes and fizzy pop in addition to chips, burgers and pizzas.

This is a total disgrace and it should not be allowed to happen to our children. The school has a responsibility to look after our children and I don’t believe that offering this complete rubbish as food is responsible. In fact it’s an outrage so I urge you to join me in my fight against the school and force them to change their menu. The only way it can happen is if we all join together and campaign to get the school to change.

I feel change starts in the classroom, and educating our children in school would be the first step towards achieving our goal of healthier school meals. The school would also need to train the current staff or find better skilled staff to be able to prepare the meals. Doing this would mean we have a better chance of succeeding on our fight to reform school meals.

I really can’t stress how important healthy eating is at school, not only does it teach the children good habits and get them used to healthy foods but it can also boost energy and concentration levels. In a recent survey conducted by The School food trust claims that if a child eats a hot, well balanced and nutritious meal at lunch time it can boost concentration levels for afternoon classes. So not only is eating healthy good for our children’s physical health it can also have a positive effect on their school work.

Recently you may have heard about Jamie Oliver’s healthy eating campaign and the positive effect it had on the children at Kidbrooke School. Before Jamie Oliver was involved at the school the exam results of year eleven students was at the lowly level pass rate of 74% after the school food was overhauled the pass rate is now at 90% and rising year by year. This is the effect that eating healthily at school can have on our children’s exam results and their overall wellbeing.

We all want the best for our children so why shouldn’t we campaign for the school to change? Questions needs to be asked of the school as to why they aren’t offering wide range of healthy foods. Is it just convenient for them to cook fast food without a thought for our children’s future health? Are the school cooks skilled enough to prepare good food? Does the school actually care what they feed our children? Only the school know so we must demand answers and we must plead for change.

We must do all we can to force the school to change, starting by directly contacting them and questioning their policies on the food in school. We must also contact local councillors and government officials to see if they can help change the food. Doing this may also spark a more widespread change which can only be good for the future of all our children. Hopefully if we persist with this campaign the school will eventually realise that the food needs to be healthier.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to change the food. After all we all attempt to give our children a healthy diet at home so why should the school ruin that by feeding them disgusting greasy food? We don’t want them growing up on such a bad diet so we must act now and stop the school from ruining our children’s diets. So join me in this campaign so we can ensure a healthy experience at school for all of our children. Thank you very much for listening, on your way out of the venue please take an information pack with some further information for you to read. You can also follow us on twitter for updates on our fight.

Sushi Kin Sdn. Bhd. pioneers a new age of Japanese cuisine in Malaysia in 1995 which has quickly gained its popularity among the customers both locally and internationally. To date, there are more than 60 outlets in the nation which happens to be the largest chain of food restaurants using a speedy service concept called ‘revolving sushi’ or ‘kaiten sushi’.

Its ultimate goal of business is to promote a healthy lifestyle within the community by offering food quality with wide variety of choices at affordable prices in a comfortable ambiance. Sushi Kin Sdn. Bhd is one of a subsidiary of the Texchem Group of Companies. The essential purpose of the proposal is to identify how Sushi King influences consumers’ eating habits by presenting its concept of great variety of food choices and quality towards achieving healthy eating.

Because obesity has become an increasingly serious problem globally, there has been a recent increase in research studying how to communicate healthy eating habits, and the role of various socializing agents such as parents, government publicity, teachers and peer groups (Chan et al. , 2009). More ever, the current health trend in Malaysia is at critical stage whereby obesity is at high risk among the public.

As commented by our Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai in The New Straits Times that obesity is becoming the major health issue with the number of obese people almost tripling in the past 15 years from four per cent in 1996 to 14 per cent in 2010 (Simon, 2010). And since obesity is the gateway to other chronic disease such as heart disease, high blood pressure and kidney problems, the risk of more Malaysians developing these syndromes will become greater in future.

The reason behind this appearing phenomenon is majorly reflecting from less physical workouts and taking up unhealthy eating behaviours and lifestyle due to stress on both job and family commitments. Mueller (2007) advocated that consumers should also take increasing responsibilities by learning more about as well as making healthier food choices. Sushi King plays a significant role as a private food sector by doing its part to create a healthy lifestyle within the public through its food offering and education, marketing tools and strategies, surveys, social events and related activities. The Japanese, however, have been influenced by traditional concepts of healthy eating, resulting in their culturally unique beliefs (Akamatsu et al. , 2004).

Research Questions and Objectives

The objectives of this report proposal are:

• To acknowledge the importance of healthy eating
• To define the term ‘healthy eating’ at consumers’ perspective
• To examine efforts of Sushi King in creating healthy eating
• To draw conclusions and recommendations from the research studies

Methodology

Secondary and primary research will be carried out to acquire relevant data to assist in the findings and analysis. This study will employ qualitative research concentrating on pure interviews with two-designated questionnaires which included open-ended questions and Likert scale. Qualitative approach is chosen as this technique emphasizes on deep understanding on details and clarification on the concerning issue. The sample participate will include 50 consumers and 10 internal staffs for the implementation of the method adopted to examine the efforts of Sushi King in creating healthy eating. Once the data has been collected, it will be interpreted in statistical format using charts.

Resources

The author has contacted with Sushi King to collect the data with the questionnaires that going to distribute to the consumers and internal staffs. Sushi King has granted to use the information and data been collected. Each interview session will be kept within duration of 15 minutes to 20 minutes.

References

1. Akamatsu, R. Maeda, Y. , Hagihara, A. and Shirakawa, T. (2005) Interpretations and attitudes toward healthy eating among Japanese workers. Appetite, 44, pp. 123-129
2. Chan, K. , Prendergast, G. , GrOnhOj, A. and Bech-Larsen, T. (2009) Adolescents’ perceptions of healthy eating and communication about healthy eating. Health Education, 109(6) pp. 474-490
3. Mueller, B. (2007) Just where does corporate responsibility end and consumer responsibility begin? The case of marketing food to kids around the globe. International Journal of Advertising, 26(26) pp. 561-564
4. Simon, A. (2010). Obesity now a major health concern, says report. New Straits Time, 10 February, p. 13.

The importance of healthy eating and the knowledge that I am not eating properly has impacted the way I look at food, but it has not yet translated into my daily food intake. Because I prefer grains and dairy products, I tend to snack and base my meals on these foods and have not yet added the necessary fruits and vegetables into my diet.

According to the basics of the food pyramid (2007), I should be getting 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Because I do not like the texture or taste of these food products, I have not yet increased my intake. Even though I know that increasing these items in my diet will help improve not only my overall dietary requirements, but also improve my nutrient consumption, I have not been able to force myself to eat things that I do not like. Instead, I have chosen to begin taking a multi-vitamin supplement to make certain that I am meeting my nutritional needs.

One of the other drawbacks I had noticed in my diet was that I did not consume enough lean mean and beans on a regular basis. I am willing to eat more lean beef and chicken and have improved this some, my protein intakes are still lower than they should be on most days.  Using the pyramid tracker online (2007), I have discovered that my enjoyment of carbohydrates is leading to my exceeding the recommended calorie intake for me and have not been meeting my nutritional needs.

One of the things I was surprised by was that I was not getting sufficient fiber. I discovered this was because I was eating white breads and crackers and carbohydrates made from processed grains instead of whole grains. I have been able to rectify this somewhat by simply changing to whole wheat crackers and bread. I have also added peanut butter to my crackers as a mid-morning snack and added another glass of milk with my crackers to make certain that I am meeting my dietary dairy needs.

Because of this class, I am more aware of my food choices and have made a conscious effort to include more of the fruits into my diet. I had hoped at the beginning of the class that I would be able to modify my eating schedule and add fruits as a form of breakfast. I have not yet been able to do this. I am considering purchasing fruit juice to keep as a drink; Even if I only drink a few ounces of juice, this would be an improvement in that I don’t eat breakfast at all currently and I consume too few fruits.

As I do not like vegetables in general, I am also considering the possibility of juices like V8 which are fortified with vegetables. Though I dislike this flavor as well, it avoids the texture issue I have with eating vegetables and it means I can reach my recommended daily allowance of vegetables without having to actually eat them.

Furthermore, I have decided to keep baby carrots as a snack and attempt to eat them instead of crackers at some snack times in an effort to increase my vegetable consumption. I have also tried sliced apples with peanut butter as a snack to increase both my fruit consumption and my protein consumption. I have not particularly enjoyed these snack changes and have found that I fall easily back into my old eating patterns. Because I prefer grains and dairy, I have found that my fat and cholesterol intake are not terribly high, but neither is my nutrition (Tracker, 2007).

Switching to whole grains has improved my fiber intake and because many grains are fortified, I am making inroads toward meeting my nutritional needs. I am currently doing so via taking a multi-vitamin, but because of this class, I am aware that it is much healthier to get my vitamins through food instead of pills. As such, I am trying to modify my diet to eat more iron-rich foods including red meat and vegetables, but I find that eating vegetables is very difficult.

I have managed to force myself to begin eating smaller meals more frequently as a way to manage hunger and blood sugar levels, preventing binge eating and over-eating. I am hoping that these modifications to my diet will help to improve my overall energy levels and health.

I have also been trying to get more exercise on the weekends as a means of improving my overall health and controlling weight gain. Based on my analysis of my diet and activity levels at the beginning of the class, it is clear that I have been gaining weight regularly because I take in almost 700 calories per day more than is recommended for me. Furthermore,  my lifestyle is more sedentary than even I realized and that contributes to both my lack of energy and my weight gain.

Through the week I get some exercise via work, including a lot of walking, but on the weekends when I am largely devoted to my studies, my time is spent mostly working on a computer and studying. Neither of those activities use significant amounts of calories and help me to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Recently, to combat this I have begun taking a break every three to four hours from studying or other leisure activities on the weekend and going for a short walk. The 15 minutes walk helps reenergize me and clear my mind for the next bout of studying.

I am also hoping that as I continue to do this I will be able to significantly increase my energy levels so that I do not feel so drained when I come in from work at night. I sued to enjoying working out with weights and believe that I could enjoy this again if I could simply motivate myself to go. Usually, by the time I am finished with a day’s work, I am more interested in relaxing than worrying about my level. As I am not a morning person, the idea of getting to the gym before work in the morning is out of the question.

Instead, I have decided to try to add a relaxing stroll either on my lunch hour or after dinner in the evenings as a way of increasing my overall fitness. I believe that improving my base fitness levels will lead to more energy and more desire to continue to increase my level of activity. As it stands now, I rarely get anything more than light activity and then only in short bursts. I believe that based on the things we have learned, if I increase each of those activities each day, I will soon be to the point where I can add moderate activity at least a few days a week.

The most important things I have learned from this class is an eyes-open evaluation of my life. While I have not chosen yet to modify my lifestyle to what it needs to be, I am aware now of my failings and what steps will need to be taken to improve my lifestyle. I realize that my low energy levels are caused by my eating schedule and and that by improving what and when I eat, I can give myself more energy and be more active. I realize that every time I choose inaction over action I allow my body to become less fit and that fitness contributes to energy levels. I have found the resources, via the food pyramid and pyramid tracker on line to keep daily records and evaluate my progress. In short, this class has given me the tools necessary to live a healthy life and now I simply need to motivate myself to do it.

List of References

• http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=2&tax_subject=256&topic_id=1342, USDA Food & Nutrition Information Center, June 17, 2007.