Researching What Students Are Eating

This participatory action research identifies what a voluntary sample of students from Kestrel Heights Elementary School ate over the course of 24 hours. Primary data was collected and The MyPlate (https://choosemyplate.gov) was used to categorize the foods reported by the students. The research question: What are the students in Kestrel Heights Elementary School 5th grade health (group/class A) eating? A Population of five 5th grade students (N=5) at Kestrel Heights Elementary in Durham, North Carolina volunteered to be the focus of the research study. The population (N=5) was provided a research instrument which was used to record everything they consumed for 24 hours. The data was collected and interpreted to determine how many servings of healthy and unhealthy foods participants consumed. Participation in this study was voluntary. Population (N=5) began participating in this research on April 1st, 2016. It is fair to conclude from this study that students may not be eating as healthy as they should. How can schools and health programs contribute to better student nutrition?