Marching for healthy meals

Eating healthy is on the menu for Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute students.

More than 800 students and teachers walked around the high school on Wednesday to promote healthy living and eating habits. The 15-minute event, hosted by the school’s Food for Thought committee, had students strolling along the hallways with music playing and fresh fruit distributed.

Jayne Roberts, a science and math teacher at the high school, said they wanted to promote better eating habits for students and planned to change the cafeteria menu to have a wider selection of fruits and vegetables.

"In Thunder Bay, there is a need for promoting a healthy lifestyle, we don’t see that enough," Roberts said. "Kids love poutine, it tastes great, but it’s hard to make those smart choices. I think (changing children’s eating habits) is going to happen over a long period of time. I don’t think it’s a quick fix."

Every Wednesday, the school will offer a free salad bar and free fruit smoothies on Fridays, she said.

The school is doing all it can to provide a healthy choice, even going as far as removing the deep fryers from the cafeteria by next September. Teachers can only do what they can within the school and it’s up to the students to make healthy choices if they walk to the nearby Metro grocery store, she said.

"Once, (the students) are out of the school, we don’t have that much influence," she said. "My philosophy is while they are here, as a teacher, I talk about the importance about being healthy and how good it feels to be healthy."

Grade 10 student Mat Lesnick, 16, said he’s taken steps to be healthier and to make smarter eating choices. Often in the cafeteria, he chooses foods that are good for him such as a sub or salad.

He also stays active by swimming and biking, two of his favourite activities, he said.
"If you eat deep fried food all your life it’s not going to be easy to switch over to healthier choices," Mat said. "I see a lot of kids eat the deep fried foods from the café. It really depends on if you are active or not. The really actives get their salads and then you get the people who get their poutine or burgers every day."

Fruit is the best food to start with when trying to eat healthier, he said.