GRAND JURY SAYS SCHOOLS NEED TO DO MORE TO CURB CHILDHOOD OBESITY
06/14/06 12:50 PDT
Although most Santa Clara County school districts have taken steps to address the problem of childhood obesity by offering more healthy food choices and encouraging physical activity, more needs to be done to stop children and adolescents from growing increasingly overweight, says a new report by the 2005-06 Santa Clara County civil grand jury.
By studying the county's 32 school districts as well as 17 libraries, the grand jury set out to examine what efforts were taken to promote weight control and exercise and how those efforts lined up with state and federal nutritional and physical activity mandates.
The grand jury determined that nearly all school districts are mindful about moving toward promoting healthier nutrition, but fall short in implementation as well as in producing actual results.
For example, the grand jury reported that while healthier choices are available, students who do not participate in a rigid meal plan are allowed to pick preferred items among a wide selection that includes unhealthy foods and drinks, such as hamburgers, fried potatoes, cookies, potato chips, doughnuts and sodas. Furthermore, vending machines, which are prevalent at high schools but not elementary and middle schools, more often than not offer high-calorie snacks and drinks, like soda, candy bars and fried chips. The grand jury concludes that many students end up picking the unhealthy choices when available.
To fix this, the grand jury report suggests that all foods offered at public schools as well as libraries should be low in fats, low in calories and of nutritional value.
Furthermore, the report recommends that schools dedicate more time toward educating students about the relationship between food, physical activity, weight and health. Educators, for example, should introduce the concepts of percentile growth charts, used for children and teenagers to evaluate weight, and of Body Mass Index, a mathematic formula that calculates one's adjusted body weight where a score of 25 or above equals overweight, at age-appropriate grades, the report states.
To further cap the worrisome trend of childhood obesity and inactivity -- an estimated 22 to 31 percent of children in the county are overweight while some 30 to 41 percent are reportedly physically unfit -- the report recommends that children and teenagers spend more time exercising and less time sitting in front of a television or computer.
A 2004 California Healthy Kids Study found that 33 percent of county students sit idly and watch a screen for at least three hours on a regular school day. The same survey found that about 60 percent of county students performed some kind of strenuous activity more than three days per week.
The civil grand jury noted that while some schools have introduced innovative ways to engage students in exercise, such as partnering with a local YMCA to offer cost-reduced student memberships and staging guess-the-calorie-intake-of-a-particular-food-and-then-run-it-off games, they should take further steps to fit in regular physical activity, even if it means longer school days.
State law requires elementary and middle schools to provide 200 minutes of Physical Education (PE) every 10 days. The civil grand jury recommends that county school districts at least double this number for grades one through eight. Moreover, state law requires high school districts to offer 400 minutes of PE every 10 days for at least two years. The report suggests that the county districts extend the requirement to all of the high school years.
While the civil grand jury points out some absurdities in implementing healthy standards, for instance that the U.S. Department of Agriculture offers schools subsidized high-fat meat and dairy products but few equally inexpensive wholesome alternatives, it also notes that recently passed legislation strives to improve students' eating and exercise habits.
Congress, for example, is planning to introduce a bill that would amend the National School Lunch Act to include high nutritional standards for all food sold on campuses. A state bill, meanwhile, signed into law in September 2005, will place limits on fat and sugar content as well as portion sizes for any foods served on campus when it goes into effect July 1, 2007. And while not targeted toward students specifically, on a local level, the San Jose City Council recently passed an ordinance that will require library vending machine operators to offer healthier options, starting July 1.
Nationwide, an estimated nine million or 16 percent of children are considered to be overweight or obese today. The California Department of Health and Services has estimated that excess weight, obesity and sedentary lifestyles cost the state some $13 billion per year in medical expenses and $28 billion per year in total expenses, including medical care, workers' compensation and lost productivity.
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