Andover High School promotes nutrition education through initiatives set forth by their 健康政策; the goal of which is to set students up with life-long healthy habits by providing a nutritious food environment, and incorporating nutrition education into the health curriculum.

In an effort to further the nutrition education provided within the school system, Andover Public Schools has partnered with the  Framingham State Coordinated Program in Dietetics to provide health classrooms with lessons created, and directed by student dietitians.

One such lesson was led by student dietitian, Tim Boykov, on April 8^th; a class of 9^th graders was taught about hidden sugars in their drinks, how to quantify added sugar, and alternative drink choices. Students were able to practice their new skills by converting the grams of added sugar on the nutrition label of popular drinks into teaspoons. Students were surprised to learn how much sugar was hidden in drinks that some of them consume on a daily basis, along with how many calories are associated with those few extra teaspoons of sugar. Students also learned the recommended upper limit of sugar consumption per day according to the American Heart Association.

Additional nutrition education resources from the John Stalker Institute, similar to those used in Tim’s lessons, can be found here.

Submitted by: Tim Boykov, FSU Graduate student in the  Framingham State Coordinated Program in Dietetics.