Empowering Healthy Kids Blog

Keokuk Schools in Iowa boosts PE support:

The Keokuk schools landed a nearly $350,000 grant to beef up the weight room, provide aerobic fitness equipment and promote a more active lifestyle for students from kindergarten through high school.

The weight and aerobic equipment will not only help physical education students achieve better fitness. High school athletes will have more equipment for training.

The new equipment will be ordered in July. The high school will receive about $74,000 worth of weight lifting equipment such as free weights and non-aerobic machines. Delivery and installation will cost $7,100.

Aerobic equipment, such as treadmills, stairmasters, elliptical cross trainers and stationary bicycles and other machines also will be installed, worth about $63,000.

A major component of the grant is professional development for teachers relating to the new equipment along with funds for curriculum development.

The Carol M. White Physical Education Program Grant also includes equipment to monitor cardio-vascular fitness, new lap top computers and PDAs (personal digital assistants) for P.E. teachers to collect data.

Keokuk Middle School and the elementary students are not left out.

Nearly $17,900 in new equipment is planned, including digital pedometers, body fat analyzers, digital scales, resistance tubes and exercise balls.

The middle school also will get aerobic fitness equipment such as stationary bicycles and stairmasters.

All K-12 physical education teachers will be involved in the grant using the new equipment and in training. Playground supervision staff also will receive training in after-school workshops. The focus will be to increase activities at K-5 recess.

I like this initiative as it actually does empower and enable students to use the fitness equipment. Good to also see a portion devoted to training teachers too.

NSW Government launches a pre-school programme:

Munch and Move is a fun, games-based program for NSW preschools.  It supports the healthy development of young children by promoting physical activity, healthy eating and reduced small screen time (TV, DVD, computers).

• Children will have the opportunity to engage in skills-based active play and learn about healthy choices through a range of learning experiences.
• Parent focused support materials, including fact sheets will provide simple tips and ideas for practising healthy, active behaviours at home .

The program is a joint initiative of the NSW Department of Health, the NSW Department of Community Services and The University of Sydney.

A mind-body link found in Ontario:

When a quarter-million Ontario school children were prepping for last week’s province-wide tests in the “3 Rs,” they may have overlooked a surprising study tool.

The workout.

New Ontario research shows schools that push fitness and nutrition have watched their standardized scores rise by as much as 50 per cent over two years in Grade 3 reading and 39 per cent in Grade 3 math – outscoring other schools in similar neighbourhoods by about eight points across all three subjects.

A landmark study of 33 Ontario schools that are part of a health drive called Living Schools – where students exercise each day, play extra sports and are discouraged from eating junk food – saw overall scores climb by 18 per cent over two years in reading, writing and math, compared to about 4 per cent for similar schools not in the provincially funded program.

Principals also said there were fewer fights and better attendance.

From The Age:

A NATIONAL campaign to combat obesity by using sports equipment to reward children who exercise for an hour a day will be discussed this week at a meeting of education ministers.

Under the plan, which is being introduced in the ACT this year, all schools would be invited to participate in a 10-week competition, with equipment given to children who successfully meet the challenge.

The exercise need not happen in one session and could be accumulated during the day by walking or riding to school, participating in physical education at school and sport after school and on weekends

I wonder though - wouldn’t children who want sport equipment are already motivated to play sports in the first place? In any case, as long as the competition is voluntary, this seems like a good idea.

I stumbled upon a new initiative by New Zealand’s Ministry of Education called Fuelled 4 School:

Fuelled 4 School is about helping students be at their best all day, every day. We’re part of Mission-On, a campaign aimed at getting young New Zealanders to eat better and be more active.

This website is here to provide you with advice and support in making lifestyle choices that will help you achieve your goals – both in and out of school.

I like the design and it’s features such as txt updates and a link to their Bebo group.

It’s great to see schools come up with innovative solutions to legislation. Last fall, Florida passed a bill to mandate that students from Kindergarten to Grade 5 required to do 150 minutes of exercise per week. As TampaBay.com reports, some schools are resorting to measuring their 150 minutes in 5 minute or even less exercise blocks. Here are some examples:

• When the law went into effect last fall, some — including Hillsborough — began counting 5-minute exercise breaks and short walks around campus as exercise.
• For five minutes, the kids practice clapping, flying, jumping, marching, lunging and high-fiving. Then the activity break ends.
• Choosing to stick to a plan that has allowed elementary kids to receive daily PE instruction for the past 30 years. The catch: They group several classes together and rely on PE assistants for supervision.

Here are two schools’ methods of meeting the targets:

A typical 30-minute PE session at Cross Bayou Elementary School

Walking from the classroom to the PE field: 3 minutes

Stretching/warming up: 5 minutes

Running a quarter mile: 4 minutes

Instructional time*: 15 minutes

Walking back to the classroom: 3 minutes

*This includes the teacher’s explanation of the activity and the activity itself, which could be passing a basketball, shooting hoops or kicking a soccer ball.

Dale Mabry Elementary: How one school fits in 150 minutes of PE for fourth-graders each week

PE class: 60 minutes

Teacher-directed PE: 60 minutes

Movement in classroom: 20 minutes

Health education: 10 minutes

Meal diaries, nutritional Web sites, activities about 5 minutes

My own opinion is that while this may not be was legislators had in mind, focussing more attention on physcial activity is good. But more importantly the 150 minute targets allow schools the freedom (but not necessarily the resources nor expertise in some cases) to pursue innovative and creative solutions for their students. It would be an interesting research study to see the outcomes of this legislature and the various methods that schools employ actually makes a difference on children’s health.

San Marcos students now have to pass high school fitness tests under a new California law:

The new law, which goes into effect with this year’s freshmen class, is geared toward students who have room for improvement on the statewide physical fitness test —- the so-called Fitnessgram.

The test is designed to measure categories such as muscle strength, endurance, flexibility and aerobic capacity, the body’s ability to generate energy with the use of oxygen.

Results of the test are reported each year in grades five, seven and nine, and are based on students’ performance in six tasks: curl-ups, trunk lifts, push-ups or pull-ups, shoulder stretches, body composition and a 1-mile run.

While students are required to take two years of physical education to graduate high school, the new law requires students who do not pass at least five of the six tasks on the test in ninth grade to continue to enroll in physical education until they pass. Physical education is not required after the sophomore year, but students can still take it as an elective.

New fitness programme launched in Paris, Texas:

The class has brought a proclamation before the Lamar County Commissioners and the Paris City Council seeking their support in raising awareness among Paris Independent School District students in grades 1-5 so they are motivated to exercise and make healthier food choices.

Both county and city officials Monday endorsed Project G.E.T. F.I.T. with a project statement of “Getting Energized Today, Feel Incredible Tomorrow.”

…

The first goal of the Socrates class was to research childhood nutrition, exercise, weight problems and to encourage physical activity.

The second goal was to invite guest speakers to inform and show correct exercising techniques.

Then came the goal to plan, organize and develop the exercise DVD and CD.

Good luck. It looks like a promising endeavour, particularly the exercise DVD and CD (I love when the use of technology is used as a tool to help kids get active - then again, I’m biased :))

Many schools are now devoting more time towards P.E. and as a natural consequence, A.E. (Academic Education) may suffer. Linda Fantel, deputy editorial-page editor of DeMoinesRegister.com, wants parents, not schools, to take more responsibility for physical activity:

Families, not schools, overfeed kids. The governor should pound his bully pulpit harder for moms and dads to set the right example with diet and exercise rather than shift responsibility for kids’ fitness largely to schools.

She does raise a good point.  Our parents survey did show that they did want to schools to take a more active role in combating child obesity. What is the role of schools? Are they there primarily for academic pursuits or are they there to produce well-rounded, balanced children who value both physical wellbeing and academic talent? Perhaps over time we will see schools evolve towards the latter.

A while back I wrote about the idea of schools purchasing Wii’s to help kids get active at schools. Now this from Chelsea Intermediate School:

When the school year began, Don Prorok and the other gym teachers at Chelsea Intermediate School wrote a grant proposing to buy the Nintendo Wii systems to implement into the physical education curriculum. The interactive video game forces players out of their seats and makes them use their arms and legs, which allows for a cardio workout.

Prorok said that convincing administration wasn’t difficult at all.

“They loved it and they were right on board with it,” he said. “Our administration really supports us in what we do.”

The school bought seven systems with 28 controllers, also purchasing Wii Sports game that comes with tennis, bowling, boxing, baseball and golf. The whole school can use the systems, but the gym classes have priority.

Fellow gym teacher Kay Elam said that they were all excited about the game because it brings technology into the classroom and helps develop positive attributes in the children.

(Hat Tip: Ripten)