After participating in a county-wide symposium today focusing on healthy schools, I am once again excited at the momentum behind the efforts to make health a priority in schools.
The priorities are clear. These are the same priorities in the school district where I work and in the neighboring school districts and in districts and schools across the county, state and nation.
Drum roll please...The top three top health priorities that need to be addressed in schools are:
1) More PE!
2) More Nutrition Education!
3) More education and support in Social and Emotional Health!
I love how my relatively new job as the Wellness Coordinator in a school district is so integrated and complimentary to the work that I have been doing for 10+ years in childhood obesity and weight control. We are clearly facing health issues affecting ALL children, not just those struggling with their weight.
For years I have heard from kids and parents about how hard it is to make healthy choices at school. Specifically, the number of treats offered throughout a school day has increased so much since we were children, that kids (and parents) tell me that they feel helpless and powerless to make the healthy choice, even when they want to.
The lack of PE in schools is another challenge. When I teach at the weight control program, we spend several weeks devoted to trying to increase the amount of time children are physically active but I have learned that there are so few opportunities to be physically active at school, that they again feel stuck. It is eye-opening to learn how few opportunities there are at most schools for kids to run around and be active during the school day.
Finally, I can't help but feel, and this is a personal opinion, that the increased number of social and emotional issues are partially connected to the lack of healthy food and physical activity available to our children. Of course there are many more complex factors that contribute to the increased needs in mental health, but when looking at some of the behavior problems that I see in our school district, I can't help but feel that many of them could be reduced if not solved, if we are able to offer more physical activity time and healthier food choices.
Back to the momentum. This is a very exciting time to be in public health and childhood obesity. There is a national effort to circle back and address some of our children's most basic health needs.
In closing remarks at the symposium today, we were all urged to take action and make change. Change starts with not accepting how things are and then taking risks to make that change. Today I saw students, teachers, community leaders, school administrators, and parents ready to be advocates for healthier schools. Let's use this momentum to educate and empower ALL of our kids (and parents!) to make healthy choices.
The priorities are clear. These are the same priorities in the school district where I work and in the neighboring school districts and in districts and schools across the county, state and nation.
Drum roll please...The top three top health priorities that need to be addressed in schools are:
1) More PE!
2) More Nutrition Education!
3) More education and support in Social and Emotional Health!
I love how my relatively new job as the Wellness Coordinator in a school district is so integrated and complimentary to the work that I have been doing for 10+ years in childhood obesity and weight control. We are clearly facing health issues affecting ALL children, not just those struggling with their weight.
For years I have heard from kids and parents about how hard it is to make healthy choices at school. Specifically, the number of treats offered throughout a school day has increased so much since we were children, that kids (and parents) tell me that they feel helpless and powerless to make the healthy choice, even when they want to.
The lack of PE in schools is another challenge. When I teach at the weight control program, we spend several weeks devoted to trying to increase the amount of time children are physically active but I have learned that there are so few opportunities to be physically active at school, that they again feel stuck. It is eye-opening to learn how few opportunities there are at most schools for kids to run around and be active during the school day.
Finally, I can't help but feel, and this is a personal opinion, that the increased number of social and emotional issues are partially connected to the lack of healthy food and physical activity available to our children. Of course there are many more complex factors that contribute to the increased needs in mental health, but when looking at some of the behavior problems that I see in our school district, I can't help but feel that many of them could be reduced if not solved, if we are able to offer more physical activity time and healthier food choices.
Back to the momentum. This is a very exciting time to be in public health and childhood obesity. There is a national effort to circle back and address some of our children's most basic health needs.
In closing remarks at the symposium today, we were all urged to take action and make change. Change starts with not accepting how things are and then taking risks to make that change. Today I saw students, teachers, community leaders, school administrators, and parents ready to be advocates for healthier schools. Let's use this momentum to educate and empower ALL of our kids (and parents!) to make healthy choices.
