NCAA Week

This week at SUNY Cortland has been dedicated to recognize the NCAA Division III Athletic programs and their tremendous success. Here at Cortland our athletic programs run a lot different compared to most typical Division III schools. As we all know, the coaches run and work their athletic teams just has often and hard as a typical Division I school would. Our facilities and beautiful stadium is nicer then a majority of Division I schools in the nation. For a Division III school we have the most support and commitment from our professors and faculty compared to many other Division I schools. At my lacrosse games I see numerous professors coming to cheer on the students they have in class time after time. We also have numerous staff members here at Cortland who are always willing to go that extra mile, which is why SUNY Cortland Athletic's are always at the highest level compared to other schools. We do not always take the time to acknowledge and thank those faculty members who have made our program as successful as it is. Today at the Women's Softball game, the athletes of SUNY Cortland recognized several names of those people who are constantly putting the efforts and commitment into making our program a success. We wanted to thank all the professors, Dan who announces at every home game, Pardge who helps keep us looking sharp for game days, President Bitterbaum for being in attendance at every home game, and several other people for their consistent help towards making Cortland the best school to be at, play for, and represent. Being a part of this appreciation day has been rewarding and a great experience.

Activity for the Day

Today has been a crazy physically active day for myself. Starting off with lacrosse practice we ran two and a half miles within the first few minutes. Coach had us sprint a 400, 800, 1200, 800, and another 400 just for warm ups. Her motive behind this craziness was to retouch upon all the hard work and running we completed through out season. Since our next game is not until Sunday, she felt the need to run us into the grounds a little more then the usual. After the warm up we completed our shuttles to warm up our sticks and then moved on to a full field high intensity drill that works on our transition in the game. We continued to run the length of the field over and over and over again after completing the three man weave, a 3v3 fast paced drill practicing moving the ball up the field, and a half field clearing drill for our goalies to work on their saves and clears. We then moved on to working on the draws, which are a key component to the game of lacrosse. Coach also had us working on our offensive stall if we are ever up in a game by two goals or more, that way the defense can practice putting pressure on the ball and the attack can get comfortable with the pressure being put on them in the last few crucial moments of the game. Generally lacrosse players run up to 5.2 miles per day; in today's case if you told me 10 miles I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. Perhaps I am exaggerated a little, however; we did get a great work out in! Though to our surprise that was not the end of the day. We then lifted together as a team for 45 minutes and cranked in a great strength and core exercise into our routine. We are hoping to come out of this week faster, stronger, and more physically fit, that way we can knock out our opponents with our speed and strength. We will see how the results prove to be on Saturday's Senior Day matchup against New Paltz.

Healthy Choices

The holidays are always a fun time spent with families, friends, and a lot of food. Generally the holidays bring together all the loved ones together to celebrate the good times over a grand meal and delicious desserts. Today numerous people celebrated Easter as well as life in general on this beautiful sunny day. Easter is known for the large amounts of candy, treats, and food in store for children of all ages, even the adults! Eggs were hidden in the back yards filled with jelly beans, M&M's, reeses, snickers, and chocolate eggs all over the world today. The amount of candy that was produced to celebrate this holiday must have been massive. One of the world's biggest problems today, especially in the United States is the rate of obesity amongst the population. Day's like today prove why people in the United States are so overweight due to the amount of candy and junk food they intake whether it is on a holiday or on a daily basis. Rather then fill your children's easter baskets with giant chocolate bunnies, giant gummy bears, marshmallow peeps, and bags of jelly beans, why not try something different, something more healthy? There are several options that parents can use to fill their children's easter baskets such as granola bars, fruit snacks, and toys intend of giving into their sugar intake. To help lower the huge obesity problems we have in this country we should be promoting healthier snack items rather then indulging in a giants snickers bar. Simple steps such as filling easter baskets with healthier snacks will make a tremendous different on a child's life.

Diet and Cognition

Diet can influence cognition and behavior in numerous ways. Diet issues including not enough food and insufficient intake of specific nutrients are just a few to name that effect brain cognition and behavior. An insufficient supply of foods has been found to influence brain neurochemistry and the development of the nervous system. The brain needs nourishments to continue to function and to maintain its strengths. Unfortunately there are some children and families that do not receive a sufficient food supply daily, causing them to be more likely to be prone to health issues, psychosocial behavior, and academic learning.  According to the Third Nutrition Examination Survey, in the United State there is a little over four precent of people in the population who suffer from insufficient food problems. Another issue that is common amongst cognition and behavior is insufficient nutrients. The amount of calories one intakes is not always the cause and effect of learning and behavior. Malnutrition is a huge part of the insufficient nutrients problems and can lead towards changes in brain neural-receptor functions as well as functions that are closely related to emotional responses to stressful events. Infants have been tested and proven that a deficiency in the intake of particular nutrients such as iron, zinc, and long chain fatty acids have been associated with lower performance on cognitive tests. I can be a prime example for this test as well, because I know that when I do not eat a proper meal or if I start to eat fast food and junk food, my entire body feels off set and I am much more lethargic then usual. In class I will not be able to stay awake the entire time and I will have trouble paying attention if I am malnourished or lacking sufficient supplies of nutrients. 

Resource: http://www.childrensdisabilities.info/allergies/dietlearningbehavior1.html

Nutrition Education Programs and Related Initiatives

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and the Team Nutrition Initiative are programs that focus on promoting the value of nutrition and education amongst students, teachers, and the community. The EFNEP and Team Nutrition Initiative support and promote eating healthy and they both work to ensure that the food resources within a household or organization are being utilized correctly and to their full potential. The EFNEP and Team Nutrition Initiative both play a tremendous role trying to shape the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of children and adolescents throughout the communities. They both aim their efforts towards the children, adolescents, families, as well as teachers, school foodservice's, and members of the community who claim guardianship over children. Both organizations want to make sure that they are shaping every member of the community and teaching them the values of food and the environment in which children and adolescents live and learn in.

There are some people who claim that they cannot eat healthy and live a nutritious lifestyle because they do not have enough money to afford the products. The EFNEP steps up at this point and provides individuals and families with a low income education and training sessions to assist and improve their nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The EFNEP effectively steers families with a low income in the right direction towards a healthy nutritious lifestyle through their designed skill-based and interactive activities that teach them the value of nutrition. In 1995, the USDA launched a program known as Team Nutrition to restore child nutrition programs and to assist schools within the community that are promoting the nutritional healthy of children through their education curriculum. Team Nutrition creates available training and technical assistance for school foodservice's that are in need of lessons and information to provide their children with healthy food choices.

Resource: 
"Position of the American Dietetic Association: Child and Adolescent Nutrition Assistance Programs" , Nutrition Education Programs and Related Initiatives. Journal of American Dietetic Association

National School Lunch Program

The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program that runs through over 101,000 public and non-profit private schools as well as residential child care services. In 2010, the NSLP provided more than 31 million children with a nutritionally balanced low-cost or free lunch at school each day.  The schools that decide to take part in the NSLP receive cash subsidies as well as USDA foods front eh U.S. Department of Agriculture to create healthier meals to serve the children. In order to meet the requirements, those schools participating must serve lunches that meet the Federal standards and they also must offer free or reduced priced lunches to those students who are eligible of obtaining them. The nutritional requirements for school lunches must meet the applicable recommendations stated by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. There recommendations state that no more than 30 percent of an individual's calories can should come from fat and less than 10 percent of the calories should come saturated fat. The regulations also state school lunches must provide the students with one third of the recommended Dietary Allowances which includes protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and specific calories. The school food authorities are allowed to prepare and provide the students with whatever meals they wish as long as the follow and complete the standards and regulations. If we could get more schools to hop on the band wagon and participate in this healthy school lunch program obesity rates would tremendously decrease and academic performance in schools would increase and sky rocket towards success.

Resource: http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/AboutLunch/NSLPFactSheet.pdf

The Healthy Schools Program

What would you rather? 

All across the country there is a huge concern regarding student performance and health. "The Healthy Schools Program" implemented a program to be incorporated throughout public and private schools in America. This program is being used to promote healthier choices and to create an overall healthier school environment for the students. The purpose of The Healthy Schools Program is too exam schools policies, meal plans, health education, and school programs and make them more effective. There already have been several schools in the country that have banned fast food, french fries, and chemically processed foods from their cafeteria menu's. Instead of the unhealthy foods that are known to cause laziness, behavior problems, and poor performance levels amongst students, schools are trying to incorporate a new food program to promote the healthier choices students can turn too. School's are starting to serve whole-grain breads, fruits, vegetables, salads, and lean proteins because these natural and un-processed foods have proven to provide students with more energy, the ability to stay more focused and less lethargic. This Healthier Schools Program began in 1997 and since then, the "Healthy Schools" across the country have reported a significant amount of lower incidences of high school dropouts, expulsions, drug use, weapons and fighting, amongst their students. They have also reported a significant increase in student performance indicating their overall grades have improved tremendously.  This program is a work in progress and they are trying to spread their research and wisdom to every school district. We know from consistent research that the food students intake daily has a tremendous effect on students overall performance and behavior, therefore every school in the country should be buying into The Healthy Schools Program. To improve this problem we need the support and dedication to spread this philosophy across the country rapidly and promote the importance of healthier choices in schools. This will help us to create a better country, healthier children, and make smarter decisions for our futures. 

Resource: http://www.publicschoolreview.com/articles/28