Healthy habits start in the nurses office.
When students at LFHS are not feeling their best, they end up at the nurse’s office. For our school nurse Ms. Jo Anne Kulda these visits are not about giving out ice packs or Pepto Bismol but a chance to teach healthier, positive habits.
“In promoting student health and nutrition, my goal is to inform students [how] to make healthy choices when they come in here,” Ms. Kulda said. “Usually they come because there’s a problem, and I’ll give them advice to correct it… The goal is to get them thinking about what they should do.”
Most of the time, the problems she sees are food related. Students often come in with stomach aches, indigestion, or an overall feeling of low energy.
“Your food really does impact how you feel,” Ms. Kulda said. “If you ate only junk food and didn’t put anything healthy into your body, that’s why you’ve got indigestion.”
At certain times, students face more serious issues, such as diabetes and food allergies. Ms.Kulda helps those certain students manage their health carefully: she watches their carb intake or makes sure they avoid food ingredients that can harm them. While there aren’t any formal programs, such as human education classes or government programs with teachers or cafeteria staff, Ms. Kulda says conversing can help get any message across. The message is straightforward: those small, healthy decisions add up. Each choice, from drinking some water to eating more balanced, pays off.
This idea connects to bigger events like secretary of health and human services Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again–theMAHA movement– which focuses on making schools and communities healthier. That includes everything from improving school cafeteria food to promoting physical activity and spreading awareness about the importance of sleep.
At LFHS, the first steps start with teaching kids to learn how much their dietary choices matter.
“Healthy habits now set you up for the future,” said Ms. Kulda. “I just want students to start thinking about that.”
