School fights obesity
Students, teachers at Bellview Middlemake healthier eating, fitness top goal
Angela Fail
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com
As students fill their lunch trays today, cafeteria employees throughout the nation will cross their fingers for the veggies.
Today marks the start of National School Lunch Week, a chance for teachers and administrators to re-evaluate one simple, educational truth:
Healthy bodies produce healthy minds.
In Escambia County, three schools already are working to prove this.
Bellview Middle, Weis Elementary and Pensacola High were selected as three of 48 Florida schools to pilot the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Healthy School Program. The program began in Escambia County this school year.
The alliance formed last year to combat the youth obesity epidemic. The program is a joint initiative between the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association.
Childhood obesity rates jumped to all-time national highs in 2000, according to the most recent report by American Obesity Association. Obesity plagues at least 15 percent of U.S. children and adolescents, leading to Type 2 diabetes, among other health concerns.
Locally, diabetes sits atop a growing list of health problems. A July study by the Partnership for a Healthy Community revealed the mortality rate of diabetic residents in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties nearly doubles the state average.
That's a bleak reality for the youngest of residents, said Victoria Gibowski, Bellview Middle School principal.
"This is the first generation that may not outlive their parents," Gibowski said.
Pilot schools focus on three areas: nutrition, physical activity and staff wellness.
At Bellview, a schoolwide overhaul targeted the waistlines and well-being of every student and staff member.
No more pizza and french fries for lunch. Cafeteria employees allow only one junk food at a time. If a child chooses pizza, he or she is getting a salad to go with it.
"The world did not come crashing down," said Gary Lincoln, school counselor. "They aren't going to go hungry."
Seventh-grader Stefani Taylor, 12, said the squash salad wasn't half bad.
"Some things look kind of gross," she said. "But they taste good."
A $25,000 conveyer oven brings more taste to the table, baking traditionally deep-fried finger foods like chicken nuggets and potato skins.
Staff members started a breakfast campaign two weeks ago, offering whole grains and fruits -- and an admitted doughnut or two -- to start the school day.
Within a week, school nurse Lori Shanahan treated half as many children for stomach pains and headaches.
By Friday, the clinic's overall traffic average -- 100 students a day -- came down to 60, Shanahan said. She's convinced breakfast worked the magic.
Danielle Fulton, 13, is sold, too.
If she didn't eat breakfast at school, Danielle either wouldn't eat or would stop by McDonald's.
"The school food is better," she said. "It keeps me up. I usually fall asleep during class."
A revised fitness program also pumps up energy levels. Band and chorus no longer save students from the locker room. At least 75 percent of the 1,200 students take P.E. every day (225 minutes a week), Gibowski said. Exemptions come for academic remediation only.
Fitness instructor Rayeko McCartan evaluates each student on a fitness report card. As classes learn new sports, run the half-mile track and stretch, McCartan tracks progress in cardiovascular health and flexibility.
In the classroom, teachers give students stretching breaks. Sounds trivial, but Shanahan said every active minute counts.
"Any time you can get helps," she said. "Five minutes at the beginning of class, whatever. It's the simplest thing you can do to improve overall health."
A slew of new after-school activities prevents the time-sucking doom of X-box addiction.
Students learn African dances, make movies, take photographs.
"It's better than them sitting there, working their thumbs," McCartan said.
If students start to feel lazy, they have a staff of role models to re-energize them.
Teachers and faculty members underwent health department assessments. Ask them about healthy habits, and they'll spit out facts about body fat percentages and the merits of the updated food pyramid.
The teachers' lounge vending machines were stripped of calorie-laden snacks.
Staff members measured the inner perimeter of the school to make a "track" for those who couldn't handle the humidity during outdoor exercise.
"We want them to either quit a bad habit or start a new one," Lincoln said.
Eighth-grader Roger Dykes, 14, noticed the changes in his teachers.
"They're cracking down on everything," he said. "We can't get all the good stuff anymore. But we know they're looking out for us, for our health."
Childhood Obesity fight in Florida