Nutrition - Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity
Pennsylvania schools have a terrific opportunity to confront one of our nation’s biggest public health problems: childhood obesity. One in three American kids is overweight, and national health experts (such as the current and former U.S. Surgeon General) agree that the associated health problems are threatening to make this generation of children the first in our history whose lifespan will not exceed that of their parents.
So why should schools, already overburdened with government mandates and high-stakes testing, be charged with addressing the problem? And why should we, as adults, care about this issue, even if we don’t have children?
If our schools don’t join as partners in the solution, we’re doomed to failure. Our children consume and expend many of their calories in school. In addition, their attitudes, preferences and behaviors are shaped by their school experiences. Schools are where the children are, so they must be part of the solution. And since schools are the center of many of our communities, it is critical that even those of us who don’t have students in school voice their support for healthier environments. What starts in the school can spread to the rest of the community, and vice versa.
Recently, the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine reported that if the nation is to fix its obesity problem, schools, governments, communities, corporations and parents must all work together to promote healthier lifestyles. The report called for a nationwide campaign similar to the successful anti-tobacco offensive.
Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity (PANA) is helping schools and communities find ways to address the problem by creating healthier environments that promote better eating and more physical activity. Our Keystone Healthy Zones school campaign offers free guidance, resources, materials and funding opportunities to the state’s public and private schools. This year 1,130 schools signed on, pledging to help create and support healthier environments. That’s up from 915 schools that signed on in the program’s first year, in 2004.
Some of the schools are in the beginning stages, putting together school health councils and figuring out where first to make simple changes such as limiting the hours that vending machines are available to students. Others have made elaborate plans for change, integrating nutrition education into their curriculum, revamping their physical education programs, offering creative before- and after-school fitness programs for students and staff, and revising nutrition policies to offer healthier food - not only in the cafeteria but also in vending machines and at school activities.
Schools have a lot to gain from making changes to encourage better eating and more physical activity. Several new studies, including one from the national Action for Healthy Kids, conclude that kids who eat healthfully and get regular physical activity tend to perform better academically - in the classroom as well as on standardized tests. In addition, the report says that schools are losing millions each year in health- care costs, absenteeism and lower productivity as a direct result of the numerous students - and staff - who are overweight or obese, and the health problems that result.
It is often said that obesity is a personal issue, but when it comes to creating environments that support healthy changes, our schools have a responsibility to get on board. PANA, which was created by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is here to help and partner. Log onto http://www.panaonline.org and click on “Community Champion Center” to see how you can get involved - and help us create a healthier state - for our children and ourselves.