The Alice L. Walton Foundation recently gave a $1.28 million grant to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). The grant money will be used to implement school nutrition enrichment programs in Northwest Arkansas.
The UAMS’ Office of Community Health & Research has previously implemented a pilot program which will serve as the groundwork for this project. The pilot program worked through the UAMS Healthy Food System to assist the K-12 Springdale School District in their creation and implementation of meal programs. They focused on making nutritional shifts across the school district that would reduce sodium.
“We have been very successful in reducing the amount of sodium in school lunches and providing healthier food choices for students,” Pearl McElfish, Ph.D., vice chancellor for the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus, said in a statement. “Thanks to this additional funding, we can expand our efforts and help more schools build sustainable and healthier nutrition programs with a focus on reducing sugar and saturated fat and increasing fruits and vegetables.”
The partnerships between the school districts and UAMS will be individualized in terms of strategy and service. Working alongside the districts’ child nutrition directors, the UAMS Healthy Food System team will be able to set in place goals and timelines for each individual district, specific to its needs.
“The goal is to make the changes as simple and impactful as possible. We don’t want the schools to have the added burden when making these changes to improve the health of students,” McElfish said.
UAMS will begin working with Bentonville and Springdale this year, with the plans of adding two additional school districts each following year.
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