Ottumwa schools act to stop childhood obesity
(OTTUMWA) Childhood obesity has become an alarming issue recently. According to the American Obesity Association, the percentage of children and adolescents who are overweight and obese is higher now than ever before.
In fact, school officials have conducted studies about obesity in Ottumwa Community Schools. Results show that 25 to 30 percent of the children are overweight or obese. School officials say that's higher than the national average.
We wanted to know what Ottumwa Community Schools are doing to keep kids away from this unhealthy trend.
Lunch time is often a child's favorite time of the school day, but a glance at the menu with meals such as nachos and cheese can have parents wondering how healthy the lunch program really is.
The Ottumwa district follows federal and state guidelines to produce its lunch program.
Each day the schools have to serve two ounces of meat or meat alternatives, two servings of bread and 3/4ths of a cup of fruits or vegetables. Milk also has to be provided.
The school system has taken big steps the past couple of years to kick unhealthy habits in kids.
"We have been making changes to our school lunch program menus for the last couple of years. If you look at the menu we have now, compared to what we were serving a couple years ago, you're going to see a lot more fresh fruit on our menu, which is a change. You're going to see a lot fewer desserts," Program Director with Ottumwa Schools, Kim Hellige, said.
The school only offers dessert a few times a month now, and what about that nachos and cheese meal?
"Even if a daily menu might look like it's a little heavy, if it's balanced out over the course of the week, we do meet the federal guidelines," Hellige said.
After all of this talk of nutrition, we visited Horace Mann Elementary because we wanted to know what was on the menu.
"These are pizza dippers, and we have lettuce salad, peaches and pudding," Student, Kate McGinity, said.
The Latham girls, however, decided to bring their own cold lunch.
"I just decided not to have hot lunch because I looked at it, and it had a lot of grease," Student, Daylin Latham, said.
The girls get their healthy habits at home where their parents feed them a lot of organic foods. We were interested to see if their mom thought the school lunch program was a healthy one.
"Yea, I think it's better than in has been in the past. Of course I'd like to see more fresh fruits and vegetables, but they do offer fruits and vegetables," Mother, Stacie Latham, said.
Parents are big role models for growing children.
"Your kids usually pick up, I think on what you model, and so if your household is modeling good behavior, it only makes sense that your children are going to follow suit," Hellige said.
--Jill Kasparie, Reporting.
Childhood Obesity Fight