Healthier School Meals: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Provides Tips for Healthier Child Meals During Minority Health Month

Whether they buy it or bring it, the U.S. Office of Minority Health along with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and its Florida Blue centers want to help more minority children make healthier choices for school lunches, and they are offering great information on a wealth of resources to make that happen.

Jacksonville, FL, April 26, 2011 -- Whether they buy it or bring it, the U.S. Office of Minority Health along with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and its Florida Blue centers want to help more minority children make healthier choices for school lunches, and they are offering great information on a wealth of resources to make that happen. It’s all part of their recognition of Minority Health Month in April.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, in keeping with its own In Pursuit of Health mission, is helping spread the word throughout Florida about this important issue and the excellent resources available to both schools and individuals to make healthier choices available. For more information and helpful links, visit www.floridablue.com, and while you’re there, learn more about health, wellness and the growing number of Florida Blue Centers where anyone can walk in and learn more about healthier living. Or go to the Office of Minority Health web site: http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/.

Why School Food Matters
What’s the link between minority health and school food? According to the U.S. Department of Education, 41 percent of 4th graders in 2005 were eligible for free or reduced-priced lunches, but only 24 percent of White 4th graders were eligible, while 70 percent of Black and 73 percent of Hispanic students qualified. Since then, the recession has caused participation in school lunch programs to rise. Numbers from 2008 indicate that in Florida, more than half of Florida’s school districts had half or more students getting free or reduced price lunches.

For all kids from minority populations, whether they buy school food or bring it, healthy eating remains important. The "adult conditions" that we now see in children such as diabetes, extreme weight gain, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels are traced back to food consumption and lack of physical activity. Minority children are also particularly hard hit by obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes.

What You Can Do to Help

Do your local schools include salad bars in their lunch program? If not, check out this site for information on resources to help make that happen: http://www.thelunchbox.org/

Want more Florida-grown fruits and vegetables on your school lunch menu? Here’s a site for more information on initiatives designed to do just that:
http://www.florida-agriculture.com/foodprograms/national_lunch_program.htm

Need some fresh ideas for packing your own healthy lunch? Here’s one good place to look: http://www.laptoplunches.com/healthy-lunches-bored.php
These are just a few examples of the many organizations offering resources and ideas to make lunch healthier for minorities and kids of all ages, from all races and ethnicities. But don’t be a couch potato -- let Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and Florida Blue inspire you to get moving, find out more and set a course to better health.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida: In Pursuit of Health

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is a leader in Florida’s health industry, dedicated to providing progressive health solutions to support all Floridians in their pursuit of health.  Through wellness education, personal interaction and guidance, community involvement and a variety of cost-conscious health coverage options, we strive to promote health and well-being throughout the state of Florida.  Our Florida Blue centers provide an interactive environment where consumers can purchase health insurance, have face-to-face consultations, take advantage of basic health screenings and wellness lectures, and learn about various health care options fit for any budget. Learn more at www.floridablue.com.

Since 1944, the company has worked to meet the diverse needs of all those it serves by offering an array of choices. BCBSF is a not-for-profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., BCBSF is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information concerning BCBSF, please see its Web site at www.bcbsfl.com.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is a leader in Florida’s health industry, dedicated to providing progressive health solutions to support all Floridians in their pursuit of health.

Contact:
Michelle Catin
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc.
4800 Deerwood Campus Pkwy
Jacksonville, FL 32246-6498
800-477-3736
michelle.catin@rbbpr.com
http://www.floridablue.com

This release was published on openPR.