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Is birthday cake really the next thing to go?

Perhaps not in all cases, but as awareness around wellness continues to grow, schools are doing more to instill good eating habits in children.

For example, the New Haven Register reports that in Guilford, CT, “some of the changes in place regard birthday celebrations and increased physical activity. Rather than celebrating with cupcakes, a birthday student might teach his or her classmates their favorite game or receive a book purchased through the Parent Teacher Organization as a gift.”

And “while these changes weren’t immediately embraced,” the Chair of the Wellness Committee said parents “now see it as a ‘comforting measure' to know that their child isn’t being fed anything they didn’t purchase or that wasn’t purchased from the school cafeteria.”

Other ways to get wellness into the schedule: “Students might play a brief game when switching subjects in which students take turns suggesting an exercise to do as part of a countdown games — 10 sit ups, 9 push–ups, and so on.”

“The incorporation of exercise in the classroom is a common theme across districts such as West Haven Public Schools and New Haven Public Schools. West Haven Public Schools Supervisor of Health Services Donna Kosiorowski said there are activities in which students are physically active while practicing math.”

Starting young seems to be the way to go on the road to overall wellness.