Elementary Schools’ New Approaches To Combat Obesity

In response to the obesity epidemic, many U.S. schools are increasing nutrition education, revamping physical education programs and offering healthier lunch menu options. Every two years, elementary students in California’s Chula Vista school district step on a scale and have their weights and heights measured. Meanwhile, a technician at a remote location collects the data and calculates students’ body mass indexes (BMI). According to Education News, this practice is referred to as “surveillance activity,” and schools across the nation are following suit because of growing concerns over childhood obesity, which can lead to more serious health issues like diabetes and heart conditions. Of the 25,000 students who were weighed and measured in 2010, it was determined that 40 percent of them qualified as being “obese or overweight.”

Some schools that monitor students’ weights, like the ones in the Chula Vista school district, have been garnering success with the weigh-ins, but the practice has been met with criticism. Parents refer to the post-screening letters that are sent to their home as “fat letters,” and the news that a child is “obese” can be distressing to both parents and students. Still, when 9-year-olds are taking medication for high cholesterol, this type of knowledge is imperative. In addition to BMI screenings, many schools are looking to their physical education programs in an effort to get kids moving more.

For example, Andover, Massachusetts’ schools have been promoting a program called Get Youth Moving, LLC. Physical education enrichment programs are offered before and after school, as well as during breaks and summer. Get Youth Moving offers an array of athletic offerings including ice skating, floor hockey and lacrosse. Summer camps have themes like “Animal Planet” and “Super Heroes,” which are bound to draw in even the most reluctant kids.

In addition to providing more enticing physical education programs, many schools are looking at their lunch menus and nutrition education programs. Dayle Hayes, educator and nutritionist, has dedicated her life work to helping schools provide healthier lunch menus in an effort to combat obesity and poor nutrition. Her blog, “School Meals That Rock,” chronicles these efforts. She provides links to useful resources and highlights successful school efforts through programs like “Farm to School,” which encourages schools to get produce from local farmers. Missoula County Public Schools even celebrate National Kale Day and offer their students crunchy kale chips and raw kale salad, and they put kale in popular foods like pizza.

How important is it to combat obesity early on? Absolutely imperative, according to an article by The New York Times. A recent New England Journal of Medicine study cites that of over 7,000 tracked, a third of children considered “overweight” in kindergarten were “obese” by the time they entered eighth grade. While the other two-thirds either lost weight or did not later qualify as “obese,” those who were “obese” by the age of 11 often stayed that way through adulthood.

The study recommends that children be targeted prior to kindergarten, as early interventions seem to make the greatest difference in combating obesity. Obese kindergartners are actually four to five times more likely to be obese in middle school than their normal weight peers. If that trend can be reduced early, young children often only need to work on losing a few pounds while the situation is very different for overweight adults. According to Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, Emory University’s Global Health Institute director, “What is striking is the relative decrease in incidence after that initial blast. It is almost as if: If you can make it to kindergarten without the weight, your chances are immensely better.”

Still, hope is not lost when students start school, and elementary schools are definitely taking the initiative to battle obesity head on.

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