Combating Childhood Obesity

This event was a workshop for educators in which three different speakers described different programs which have been created in order to combat childhood obesity. While I didn't walk into the event expecting much (of all the issues we have to face in the classroom, I must admit that childhood obesity wasn't on the top of my list of priorities), I ended up really enjoying the event, and walked away with a far better understanding of the issues at hand.

The first speaker was Dr. Maida Galvez, who works with the Children's Aid Society. She talked about the Go! Healthy Program, the Go! Chefs Program, and the Go! Kids program. Essentially, these programs involve a three-part strategy:
1) Provide education for students and parents
2) Improve what we feed children in our care (e.g., school lunches)
3) Change policies

While Dr. Galvez did briefly mention fitness programs for children, as well as ways in which her organization has advocated to change school breakfast/lunch policies, in her presentation, Dr. Galvez focused most on the second part of this strategy. She started by presenting and analyzing a typical elementary school breakfast/lunch menu, pointing the weaknesses and faults in the menu. She then went on to describe the foods and menus that she and her colleagues have developed. The menus featured such health strategies as eating more fruits and fibers, incorporating fewer sugars, and providing non-meat sources of protein. Next, Dr. Galvez talked about how none of this can happen without additional training and education for school cooks. To this end, she described several programs her organization has started implementing in a few schools, programs which have been met largely with success. Honestly, most of the food Dr. Galvez described sounded amazing, and I wondered whether it would really be possible to utilize these strategies in a typical public school cafeteria. No doubt the extra training, as well as the food made from scratch, would cost public schools additional funds they may not have to spare. Dr. Galvez addressed this issue only briefly, stating that the foods on her organization's menus are not much more expensive than the processed foods they currently serve, and that the benefits of giving children healthy meals far outweigh the burden of extra funds.

The second speaker was Dr. Michael Rosenbaum, who talked about two more experimental projects he has developed and implemented. Dr. Rosenbaum talked first about the complications of obesity, emphasizing that looking overweight should be the least of one's worries. Instead, he spoke of the dangers of later developing adult degenerative diseases such as heart diseases or diabetes as a result of poor diet and exercise habits during childhood. The two projects Dr. Rosenbaum mentioned specifically were The El Camino Project and the Reduce Obesity and Diabetes (ROAD) Program. Both of these projects were more experimental in nature, as he set them up like empirical studies (with control and treatment groups) and used to them to test and refine his theories. Both projects, unlike those of Cathy Nonas, focused more on exercise and fitness than on diet. One thing I found interesting especially about the ROAD Program is that he used this project to gather information on ethnic differences, and incorporated self-esteem scales into the program data. In terms of the ethnic differences, Dr. Rosenbaum found that people from different ethnic groups respond differently to various school exercise and diet strategies. For this reason, there is no one school exercise program that will fully benefit students from every ethnic group. At the end of his presentation, Dr. Rosenbaum mentioned that he is continuing research on this subject, working to learn more about these ethnic differences, as well as why they exist.

The final speaker was Cathy Nonas, who works with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Cathy spoke about the different strategies the NYC Department of Heath and Mental Hygiene is using to motivate people to improve their diet habits. These programs include the Healthy Bodegas Initiative, which offers benefits to bodegas that sell healthier food and snacks, the Health Buck, $2 food stamps that can only be spent at Green Markets, and Green Carts, food carts that offer benefits to vendors who will sell fresh fruit and vegetables in less-served neighborhoods. In addition to these, she mentioned the "Are You Pouring On the Pounds?" ads they created, as well as several other similar initiatives. Finally, she talked about the changes the Department is attempting to make in more general policies, such as changes in the health code at day care centers, school food standards, and the availability of competitive foods (e.g., vending machines) in public schools.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this event, as I walked away with information and ideas I hadn't considered before. I'm realizing now that although student health should be of utmost importance to school educators and administrators alike, these health issues are typically forgotten in lieu of other concerns, such as student test scores. However, a student's health greatly influences every aspect of his/her life, including his/her emotional well-being and academic performance. I now believe that these issues should be brought to the table and discussed more often, and that changes should be made so that students can form healthier diet and exercise habits.