by Krystal Paco

Guam - Students looking for healthier alternatives for lunch can look forward to salad bars at school cafeterias. Okkodo High School pilots the new program to combat childhood obesity on Guam.

Friday's lunch: mixed brown and white rice, whole wheat bread, baked codfish with tartar sauce, peaches, milk, and now salad from a salad bar. As part of a pilot project to promote healthier lifestyles, the Department of Education's Food Services Division, under the federally funded National School Lunch Program, launched DOE's first salad bar at the Home of the Bulldogs on Monday.

Nutrition state program officer Jesse Rosario said, "The Food and Nutrition Services Department at DOE has been working on lots of projects to not only encourage students to eat but also to eat more healthy and nutritious foods. This is just one of the projects we're working on and the students actually requested this last year when we did a survey. We asked students what they want on the menu, they said more fruits and vegetables. We said hey why not do a salad bar, kids love it."

Only one day after its launch and 100 more students were reported to have eaten lunch at the cafeteria. According to nutrition program coordinator Deanndra Chargualaf, the number of cafeteria-goers continues to rise, noting, "Well, the participation according to the principal we piloted this Monday and since then participation has gone up, so the lines are getting a lot longer."

According to Rosario, the addition of a salad bar has changed the way students view the cafeteria because students now have the power of choice. "With the salad bar we wanted the students to feel like they weren't going to a cafeteria to eat," she explained. "We wanted them to feel like they're going to a regular restaurant, Ruby Tuesday or something that has a salad bar. Where they can choose whatever they wanted and eat healthy."

"The main objective is to get students to eat the foods - more nutritious foods so having a small salad bar did big things for the school," she said.

Ultimately, Rosario has bigger plans for DOE students, saying, "The long-term effect is hopefully to decrease the childhood obesity rates on Guam. We have some information from the nurses is that obesity rates are pretty high on the island, so putting healthy foods like the salad bar and wheat bread and whole grains and fruits and vegetables. Hopefully over the years that gets kids to get a lot more healthier and decreases obesity."

The National School Lunch Program is looking to expand its salad bar to include produce from local farmers in the future.