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How to Build
aHealthy
Kid
In association with
BACK-TO-SCHOOL GUIDEBOOK
ADVERTISEMENT
OUR KIDS ARE BECOMING
UNHEALTHY AND SEDENTARY,
yet budget cuts and the pressure to
boost test results mean physical ed-
ucation and school teams have been
reduced or slashed altogether. So
how can we give our young people a
fi ghting chance at good health?
The National Dairy Council
(NDC) and the National Football
League faced this challenge when
they created Fuel Up to Play 60, an
innovative school wellness program
already in play in more than 60,000
elementary, middle and high schools
in the U.S. “The NFL and its teams are
committed to helping young people
recognize the importance of good
nutrition and physical activity,” says
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“Fuel Up to Play 60 is a great
program that helps students un-
derstand and enjoy the elements
of a healthy lifestyle.”
The program—in collaboration
with the USDA, all 32 NFL teams
and local Dairy Councils, and
supported by a number of health
and nutrition organizations—
encourages students to collaborate
with teachers and other school
staff on healthy eating and exercise
strategies. The goal: to help kids
“fuel up” with nutrient-rich foods
and “get up and play” for at least
60 minutes a day.
“Schools should be places
where students have endless
opportunities to make excellent
choices, from the food they eat to
the physical activity in which they
engage,” says Department of Edu-
cation Secretary Arne Duncan.
Adult program advisors who
are passionate about wellness are
key to putting the program in place,
keeping it on track and inspiring
students. Getting your school’s
nutrition and physical education
teams on board will enhance your
chances of success.
This booklet offers compelling
evidence, based on both research
and success stories, that programs
like Fuel Up to Play 60 really work.
You can join the movement online
at www.FuelUptoPlay60.com.
BACK TO SCHOOL—
AND BETTER HEALTH
©2010 National Dairy Council®. Fuel Up is a service mark of National Dairy Council. ©2010 NFL Properties LLC. Team names/logos/indicia are trademarks of the teams indicated. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. NFL PLAYERS is a trademark of National Football League Players Incorporated.
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HEALTHY KIDS
BACK TO SCHOOL
The Childhood- Obesity Crisis 4
A former surgeon general speaks out by david satcher
Lunchroom Makeover 8
How to encourage healthy eatingby claudia kalb
A Chef Hits the Cafeteria 12
An interview with Kathy Gunstby claudia kalb
Recess Revolution 18
Putting the fi zz back in phys edby johannah cornblatt
Secrets From the NFL 26
Two football stars on staying fi t by nayeli rodriguez
What Do Kids Really Eat? 28
Too often, not what they should by ian yarett
5 95C M Y K
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02
BAC K TO S C H O O L2
The Washington Post Company KATHARINE GRAHAM, 1917–2001
DONALD E. GRAHAM, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Offi cer
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Ann L. McDaniel CHAIRMAN: Richard M. Smith
EDITOR: Jon Meacham EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Lally Weymouth
GUIDEBOOK EDITOR
Debra Rosenberg
CONTRIBUTORS
Johannah Cornblatt, Claudia Kalb, Nayeli Rodriguez, David Satcher, Ian Yarett
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Andrew James Capelli
DEPUTY DESIGN DIRECTOR
Sara McKay
DESIGN
Kristen Ren
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COPY EDITORS
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MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Tom AscheimCHIEF ADVERTISING OFFICER
Alyson RacerU.S. PUBLISHER AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
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cover and inside
illustrations
by zsuzsanna ilijin
© 2010 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. 395 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014.
CALL FOR COLLABORATION:AN OPEN LETTER TO AMERICA’S EDUCATORS
Nearly one-third of American children and adolescents, approximately
25 million kids, are now overweight or obese. If current trends continue,
our children may have shorter life expectancies than we do.
Schools present a key battleground in the fi ght for a healthier generation,
and it will take a unifi ed effort to effect lasting change.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an active
member of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign to end
childhood obesity within a generation, and recognizes and applauds
efforts across the private and public sectors to give our children a healthier
future. One such effort, Fuel Up to Play 60, is creating healthy, sustainable
changes in more than 60,000 schools nationwide. Fuel Up to Play 60 is an
in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by the National
Dairy Council (NDC) and the NFL, in collaboration with the USDA. The program
is grounded in decades of nutrition and physical activity experience and
research, and encourages kids to consume nutrient-rich foods, like low-fat
and fat-free dairy foods, fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and achieve
at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
Fuel Up to Play 60 was designed to be customizable so youth and
schools can determine which tools and resources will best meet their
own wellness goals. NFL’s commitment to youth health and fi tness and
their admired players, social-marketing components, motivating rewards
and funding opportunities for schools are all part of the program’s appeal
and what makes it unique among school-based programs.
Fuel Up to Play 60 offers bold leadership for child health and wellness
through the support of many organizations, including Action for Healthy
Kids, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy
of Pediatrics, the American Dietetic Association/Foundation, the National
Medical Association, the National Hispanic Medical Association and the
School Nutrition Association.
Efforts like Fuel Up to Play 60 cannot affect widespread change alone;
it will take a combined effort from educators, businesses, health and nutrition
professionals, government, educators and communities across the country.
We support Fuel Up to Play 60, and we ask for your help in raising awareness
of this issue and ensuring that all our children receive adequate nutrition and
physical activity.
Let’s fi ght for healthier kids. Join the Fuel Up to Play 60 solution.
Visit www.FuelUptoPlay60.com to get involved.
Tom VilsackSecretaryUnited States Department of Agriculture
ADVERTISEMENT
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even in this age of google and
iPads, there are some problems that
technology cannot solve. One clear
example is the growing epidemic of
obesity in America, particularly among
our children. The problem is rooted
in our modern lifestyle—yes, perhaps
some of our cutting-edge technology
has even made it worse by creating a
generation of couch potatoes. Child-
hood obesity is now contributing to
the increase in ailments like diabetes
and heart disease . Finding a solution
must be a national imperative. Thank-
fully, fi rst lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s
Move campaign may fi nally be giving
the problem the attention it deserves.
Childhood obesity isn’t a new issue,
but it is a worsening one. When the
surgeon general’s Call to Action to
Prevent and Decrease Overweight
and Obesity was released in 2001,
being overweight and obese had al-
ready reached epidemic proportions CO
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BAC K TO S C H O O L4
by david satcher
An epidemic of obesity threatens our children’s future. What we can do about it.
A Call to Action
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in this country. That report noted
that, in 1999, some 61 percent of adults
were overweight or obese, and 13
percent of children and adolescents
were overweight. There were nearly
twice as many overweight children
and almost three times as many
overweight adolescents as there had
been in 1980. A 2007–08 National
Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey revealed that an estimated 17
percent of children and adolescents
ages 2 to 19 were obese. Among pre-
school children 2 to 5 years of age,
obesity increased from 5 to 10.4 per-
cent between 1980 and 2008. It rose
from 6.5 to 19.6 percent among 6- to
11-year-olds. And among adolescents
12 to 19, obesity more than tripled,
increasing from 5 to 18.1 percent dur-
ing the same period.
Obesity in children is of particular
concern: obese children and adoles-
cents are more likely to be at risk for
health problems once
faced only by adults,
like cardiovascular
problems and type
2 diabetes. The inci-
dence of type 2 dia-
betes is increasing
among children and
adolescents; most of them, according
to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, are between 10 and
19 years old, obese, have a strong fam-
ily history for type 2 diabetes, and
have insulin resistance. Even chil-
dren who don’t develop grown-up
illnesses right away are at risk: these
5N E WSW E E K . C O M
kids are also far more likely to become
obese adults, who will eventually face
a whole array of other health issues.
Luckily, there is much we can do
to change this grim trend. We can
encourage healthy lifestyles and pre-
vention measures that will secure
a healthy future for America’s chil-
dren—getting them used to good,
nutritious foods and regular exer-
cise. While families, communities,
and policymakers all have a role in
working collaboratively to eliminate
obesity, I believe that schools—I like
to call them the “great equalizers”—
present the best opportunity. Schools
are inclusive—everybody goes to
school—and children spend 1,000
hours a year there. Schools provide an
opportunity to educate and infl uence
the habits of children from all kinds
of environments, aff ecting their lives
and the lives of their families, now and
in the future. Schools can also help
to target underlying
social problems that
infl uence unhealthy
behavior, including
poverty, safety, vio-
lence, and the ab -
sence of stores that
sell healthy food.
My own organi zation, Action for
Healthy Kids (AFHK), addresses the
epidemic of overweight, undernour-
ished, and sedentary youth by focus-
ing on improving nutrition and phys-
ical-activity policies and practices in
schools. A partnership of 60 organi-
zations and government agencies that
IN 2008 AN ESTIMATED 17 PERCENT OF
CHILDREN AGES 2 TO 19 WERE OBESE.
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supports the eff orts of teams—includ-
ing 14,000 volunteers—in all 50 states
and the District of Columbia, AFHK
was founded in 2002 in response to
the surgeon general’s Call to Action
the previous year, which identifi ed
the school environment as one of fi ve
key sites of change.
A 2004 AFHK report, “The Learn-
ing Connection: The Value of Improv-
ing Nutrition and Physical Activity
in Our Schools,” pointed out that
children who were physically active
and ate a nutritious breakfast per-
formed better in school. They con-
centrated better; performed better
on standardized exams in read-
ing and math; were better disci-
plined; and were much less likely to
be absent from school. In a 2008
report, “Progress or Promises: What’s
Working for and Against Healthy
Schools,” we found diff ering views
of schools’ eff orts to promote healthy
behavior.
The nutrition, health, and public-
health professionals surveyed cited
nutrition education as the most eff ec-
tive strategy to help youth make
better food selections. A majority
of school administrators, including
superintendents, board members,
principals, and school food- service
professionals, felt their schools were
already doing a good job of off ering
healthy, kid-friendly food options.
But some 82 percent of parents felt
schools needed to work harder in
these areas.
Nearly 80 percent of physical-
education teachers and parents felt
schools needed to provide more physi-
cal education. Yet about half of school
administrators indicated that schools
already provide enough quality daily
physical education for all students.
Fewer than one in four parents had
ever talked with their child’s teacher
or principal about improving nutri-
tion or physical activity at school, even
though most parents felt these were
signifi cant concerns.
A 2007 national survey conducted
by AFHK revealed that 18 percent of
parents thought schools were doing a
good job off ering nutritious, appeal-
ing foods, and only 20 percent thought
schools off ered enough physical activ-
ity. Nearly all (96 percent) thought that
parents play an important role in advo-
cating for better nutrition and more
physical education, yet only 24 percent
had ever contacted their child’s school
to request improvements.
One of three elementary schools did
not off er daily recess, and only 4 per-
cent off ered daily physical education.
Physical education actually declined
as students progressed through school.
And most local school wellness poli-
cies we examined did not include
goals for physical education or
physical- education-teacher training.
Though the overall picture seems
bleak, there are some bright spots in
BAC K TO S C H O O L6
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07
our eff orts to tackle childhood obe-
sity. One example is Fuel Up to
Play 60, a new youth program spon-
sored by the National Dairy Council
and the National Football League that
encourages kids to eat healthy by tak-
ing the right fuels—fruits and vegeta-
bles, water, low-fat milk, whole-grain
bread—into their bodies and to be
active for at least 60 minutes a day.
Action for Healthy Kids also devel-
oped, in partnership with the National
Football League, the first national
after-school program, ReCharge! En-
er gizing After-School, that fully inte-
grates nutrition and physical activity
through teamwork-based strategies
for youth in grades three to six. In
the last school year, AFHK reached
nearly 4 million kids
in 8,000 schools in
1,100 school districts.
Now some 90 per-
cent of schools have
wellness policies in -
tend ed to promote
physical education
and model good nutrition in grades
K through 12. But there is still a tre-
mendous gap between policy state-
ments and program implementation.
Concrete action can make a diff er-
ence: there are school districts that
have invested in carts and equip-
ment to serve breakfast in class-
rooms, and as a result have increased
the number of children receiving a
nutritious breakfast.
These kinds of partnerships be-
tween schools and outside groups CO
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7N E WSW E E K . C O M
will be critical to addressing this
complex challenge and all the barri-
ers to healthy behavior that go with
it. Individuals must make healthy
lifestyle choices for themselves and
their families; com-
munities must make
changes that promote
healthful eating and
physical activity; and
policies must be de -
vel oped and imple-
mented to ensure that
the changes take place. Working
together, we can create a healthier
America—for all of us, but especially
for our children.
david satcher, M.D., Ph.D., was
surgeon general of the United States
from 1998 to 2002. He is the director of
the Satcher Health Leadership Institute
and the Center of Excellence on Health
Disparities at Morehouse School of
Medicine, where he is also the Poussaint-
Satcher-Cosby professor of mental health.
ONLY 18 PERCENT OF PARENTS THOUGHT SCHOOLS WERE DOING A GOOD JOB OFFERING
NUTRITIOUS FOODS.
SATCHER WITH
HOUSTON STUDENTS.
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ten years ago, elementary-school
students in Cambridge, Mass., ate a
fairly typical lunch: American chop
suey, beef and macaroni, canned fruit
in syrup. “There were no fresh vegeta-
bles and no whole grains,” says Dawn
Olcott, a school nutritionist with the
Cambridge Public Health Department.
“And dairy products were not low fat.”
Today, locally grown produce, in-
cluding fresh squash
and tomatoes, is
off ered. A chef is cre-
ating nutritious re ci-
pes . And students are
growing fruits and
vegetables in their
own school garden.
“There’s just nothing like kids plant-
ing the seed and watching it come
up,” says Virginia Chomitz, a senior
scientist at the Institute for Com-
munity Health , based at the Cam-
bridge Health Alliance. “A child who
wouldn’t even look at a snow pea
before will pop it in her mouth and
have a new and positive experience
about food.”
That new and positive experience
has been missing for far too long.
The National School Lunch Program
BAC K TO S C H O O L8
by claudia kalb
How schools can plant the seeds for healthy eating.
Lunchroom
Makeover
provides meals for more than 30 mil-
lion children across the country every
day. Those lunches, many of which
are served free or at a reduced cost, are
critical to the well-being of students.
But they are not nearly as nutritious
as they should be. A report sponsored
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
found that the average salt content
of school lunches is almost twice the
recommended level .
Schools do provide a
range of choices for
students, but many
of those options are
high-fat, high-calorie
foods, such as french
fries and cheese-
burgers. Almost one third of schools
still off er whole milk, despite govern-
ment guidelines recommending non-
fat or low-fat milk for children age 2
and older . And while most schools are
meeting targets for protein and vita-
mins, 42 percent fail to off er fresh fruit
or raw vegetables on a daily basis.
Unhealthy eating has contributed
to a childhood-obesity epidem ic in
this country. One third of America’s
youth are now overweight or obese,
putting them at risk for chronic
42 PERCENT OF SCHOOLS FAIL TO
OFFER FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES ON A DAILY BASIS.
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9N E WSW E E K . C O M
illnesses, including diabetes and car-
diovascular disease. The obesity crisis
has alarmed public-health offi cials
and propelled better nutrition into the
spotlight. First lady Michelle Obama
has made school lunch a pillar of her
Let’s Move initiative, launched ear-
lier this year. Major food suppliers
have joined in, pledging to decrease
sugar, fat, and salt; increase whole
grains; and double the amount of
fruits and veggies served in school
meals within 10 years . On Capitol Hill,
the Child Nutrition Reauthorization
Act, which seeks to increase meal-
reimbursement rates so schools can
buy higher-quality and fresher foods,
is making its way through the legis-
lature. And the push to feed students
more nutritious meals has even made
it to prime-time TV: in a recent Top
Chef episode featuring White House
assistant chef Sam Kass as guest
judge, contestants competed to create
a healthy, kid-friendly school lunch
on a limited budget. Thumbs down:
banana pudding doused in sugar. Best
of the bunch: pork carnitas, cole slaw
made with yogurt, chicken fl avored
with apple cider, and melon kebabs.
Lessons learned from the Cam-
bridge initiative, which was launched
in 1998, are relevant to any school dis-
trict in the country. First and foremost,
revolutionizing school lunch is no
easy task. One major hurdle: adjust-
ing a food-service culture that has
been entrenched for decades. Lunch
staff are used to serving canned goods
and reheating foods prepared else-
where, because feeding kids quickly
and effi ciently on a budget has long
been the goal—not necessarily feeding
them well. Chomitz and Olcott, who
work collaboratively through Cam-
bridge’s Healthy Children Task Force,
have learned that change will come
only when school administrators make
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11
kitchens. When Olcott and Connelly
attempted to lay out how to make the
fi rst recipe—a simple mix of butternut
squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown
sugar, and oil—they immediately
noticed staff members looking at each
other as if something was wrong. “We
were telling them to measure out a
tablespoon of cinnamon,” says Olcott.
“They said, ‘We don’t have measuring
spoons and cups.’ I hadn’t realized they
didn’t have that kind of basic equip-
ment .” The condition of school ovens
diff ered signifi cantly , so the recipe
had to be tweaked. In one kitchen, the
bake time was 40 minutes; in another,
60 . “We had to work with the staff at
each of the schools to coach them and
change the recipe based on what their
ovens could do,” says Olcott.
Patience and fl exibility are critical
to the success of lunch makeovers.
It took 14 months to get Chef Vin’s
butternut squash on school menus.
Every step posed new
challenges: creating
the recipe, conduct-
ing taste tests with
kids and finessing
the mixture, find-
ing a local vendor
who could supply
450 pounds of diced
squash , getting staff up to speed in
their kitchens. And lunch reformers
must be prepared for the palates of
children, too, who don’t always take to
a new food instantaneously. “You have
to present it to them seven, eight, nine
times for them to be comfortable try-
ing it and liking it,” says Connelly.
The Cambridge team is realistic
about how radically it can transform
school cafeterias. A complete revolu-
tion is economically and practically
diffi cult to accomplish, and the ele-
mentary-school menu still contains
some of the old standbys—mac and
cheese, spaghetti and meat sauce. But
options have markedly improved.
Today kids can choose grilled-chicken
fajitas, vegetarian chili, lentil soup,
tomato-basil-mozzarella salad, and
roasted sweet-potato fries with cumin
and chili powder. One day, after Olcott
and Connelly encouraged staff partici-
pation, a food-service member showed
up with her own batch of golden broth
with fresh cabbage, turnips, carrots,
butternut squash, and potatoes. “It
was fabulous,” says Olcott. “Marie’s
Haitian Soup” is now a regular feature.
Ultimately, the key to improving
any lunch program is sustainability.
“If the program only
works when the chef
is in the kitchen, it
will never be success-
ful,” says Connelly.
One-on-one training
and straightforward,
simple recipes are the
way to go. The pay-
off is enormous, especially when kids
learn healthy habits early in life and
make them part of their daily routine.
“I’ve had kids say, ‘I want my mom or
dad to make this at home,’ ” says Con-
nelly. “I think that’s a testament that it’s
working. That makes me feel great.”
11N E WSW E E K . C O M
‘A LOT OF THE CHILDREN HAD NEVER SEEN A WHOLE HEAD OF BROCCOLI BEFORE
IN ITS FRESH RAW FORM,’ SAYS OLCOTT.
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nutrition a top-down priority, not an
afterthought. Chomitz learned how
low nutrition ranked when she fi rst
approached the Cambridge school
system about improving its lunch
off erings a decade ago: the superin-
tendent told Chomitz she’d never had
a conversation with
a food-service staff
member. “It never
dawned on her.”
Fortunately, the
school system agreed
to join forces and
hired a proactive food-
service manager who
was eager to support better nutrition.
Using funding obtained through fed-
eral, state, and local grants , Chomitz
and her team purchased fresh fruits
and vegetables and brought them into
the schools for kids to sample. Cam-
bridge public schools serve a broad mix
of students: 64 percent are nonwhite
and 41 percent are low income. “A lot
of the children had never seen a whole
head of broccoli before in its fresh raw
form,” says Olcott. College students
volunteered to help, and together they
handed out small tasting cups at caf-
eteria tables and talked to the kids
about each of the items. The goal was
not just to get children excited about
brightly colored fruits and vegetables,
but also to convince food-service staff
that the kids would actually eat them.
Not only did they eat them, “they’d
come back for seconds and frequently
thirds,” says Olcott.
The more experience kids have with
fruits and vegetables, the better: a child
who picks a tomato or slices a car-
rot wants to eat it . So the Cambridge
team partnered with a local school-
gardening group called City Sprouts to
create school-based gardens. Whenever
possible, the produce grown was fea-
tured in the cafeteria
as a fruit or vegetable
of the month.
School lunches can -
not be remade in one
giant leap . In Cam-
bridge, goal No. 1 was
simply adding fr esh
fruits and vegetables.
Next up: new dishes created with local
produce. In 2006 the school system
hired part-time chef Vin Connelly to
develop tasty, kid-friendly recipes. Here
again, the team had to be sensitive to
longtime food staff ers. “I can’t walk into
a kitchen and say, ‘Chef Vin is here—get
out of the way,’ ” says Connelly. “A lot of
these people have been in their job 25
years. Like anybody else, they’re resis-
tant to change.” It became clear that
food-service members had to be actively
involved in the process, not simply told
what to do. Bringing everyone together
for a recipe demonstration turned out
to be “totally ineff ective,” says Chomitz.
Instead, Olcott and Connelly had to
meet with staff at every school indi-
vidually to introduce them to the most
basic skills. Many of them hadn’t been
trained to cut or cook. Some didn’t
know how to peel a vegetable.
And there was another major
challenge: outdated and ill-equipped
BAC K TO S C H O O L10
MANY FOOD-SERVICE STAFFERS HADN’T
BEEN TRAINED TO CUT OR COOK. SOME DIDN’T
KNOW HOW TO PEEL A VEGETABLE.
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BAC K TO S C H O O L12
In early June, fi rst lady Michelle
Obama urged hundreds of chefs to
adopt schools in their communities .
Afterward , Maine chef and cookbook
author Kathy Gunst talked with
NEWSWEEK’s Claudia Kalb.
What happened when you got home
from the White House? I contacted
the principal at my local elementary
school. The next thing I know, a land-
scape architect who is redesigning
the school’s landscape said, “Do you
want a greenhouse?” Within a month
everything had changed.
What are your immediate plans?
I’m hoping to get the greenhouse
and garden up early this fall, and
I’m going into the classroom in Sep-
tember to teach food education and
cooking to the kids. The goal is to get
the teachers to work the greenhouse
into their curriculum, from art to sci-
ence to writing projects.
What about school lunch? This
is very tricky. A lot of the foods they
buy are frozen or canned. My plan is
to examine that and, with the budget
they have , see if we can augment it
with a salad bar and fresh fruits.
Eventually, these foods would come
from what we grow. One of the most
horrifying things is what kids are
bringing to eat from home. Bologna
in plastic trays. It’s become a crap-
food contest in the cafeterias. Who
said kids only like hot dogs and
chicken nuggets?
What kinds of local fruits and
vegetables could you serve? Apples,
blueberries, strawberries, pumpkins.
One of the things we’re going to have
to do is make fall vegetables sexy. I’m
hoping to make the rest of the school
system insanely jealous so they’ll
want to do it , too.
Who’s paying? It’s completely vol-
untary. Parents are coming to build
the greenhouse, plant and weed.
Everybody in the community wants
to help. They’re deeply interested in
improving the quality of food .
How optimistic are you? It’s very
dreamy right now, and I’m fi lled with
enthusiasm. Check back in a year.
Beyond Hot DogsAfter a White House visit, chef Kathy Gunst is putting school lunch on the menu.
WE ALL KNOW THAT CONSUM-
ING ENOUGH LOW-FAT DAIRY,
WHOLE GRAINS, FRUITS AND
VEGETABLES helps ensure that
children grow up healthy and fi t.
While parents obviously determine
what babies, toddlers and younger
children eat, kids exert more control
over their food choices as they move
into middle and high school. Unfor-
tunately, their eating habits some-
times change for the worse. Even if
they ate healthy foods as toddlers
and in the elementary-school years,
when they get to middle school,
they have easy access to snacks
and junk foods.
While there is never a good
time to neglect nutrition, the
middle-school years may be
particularly bad. Because kids are
growing rapidly at this age, they
need plenty of food, but it’s crucial
that it be good food, explains
Stephen R. Daniels, M.D., Ph.D.,
a member of the American Academy
of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on
Nutrition. “Middle schoolers need
diets low in saturated fat, rather
than total fat; they need calcium
from low-fat dairy, and they need
whole grains,” he says. “As caloric
needs increase during this period
of rapid growth, the risk of
obesity increases if kids are getting
additional calories from fat and
junk foods.”
His concerns are well-founded.
One out of three kids is now con-
sidered overweight or obese, with
almost 7 percent of U.S. sixth graders
severely obese. Many of the risk
factors for heart disease are already
present even in pre-adolescent
READING, WRITING AND…
EATING
One out of three kids is
now considered overweight
or obese.
ADVERTISEMENT
C M Y K 5 95
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13
food. Fresh fruits and vegetables
and a baked-potato bar (this is
Idaho, after all) are now regular
features in Gooding lunchrooms.
Gooding Elementary was the fi rst
school to receive a Gold Award of
Distinction from the USDA as part
of the HUSSC 2010.
If Gooding’s students are any
measure, the image of kids as picky
eaters may be misleading and
unfair. “We can’t keep cucumbers.
Cucumbers are hands down the
most popular vegetable,” says
Baumann. The kids also love
strawberries. “One week we went
through 480 pounds of strawber-
ries. They just ate and ate and
ate them.”
Packaging counts, too. As part of
their participation in Fuel Up to Play
60, students at George Washington
Carver School, in Newark, NJ, were
heavily involved in decisions about
their school’s nutrition program. One
of the changes they asked for was
that milk be offered in recyclable,
single-serve plastic bottles. “The
bottles are a little more fashionable
than the paper cartons,” explains
Carver principal Winston Jackson.
And sure enough, Jackson says,
once the bottles arrived, the kids
started drinking more milk.
Choice and Voice
The Houston School District, the
seventh largest district in the na-
tion, discovered that kids want two
things: choice and voice.
When, as part of Fuel Up to Play
60, Houston kids became engaged
with the effort to improve their
schools’ menus, they made it clear
that they didn’t want to be told,
“Eat this; it’s good for you.” They
wanted to be taught how to choose
healthy foods and then be given
opportunities to make their own
choices and promote more healthful
foods throughout their schools.
This makes perfect sense to the
AAP’s Dr. Daniels. “Kids need to
have some ownership of their food;
they need to know about what it is
and where it comes from,” he says.
Half the battle of getting
kids to eat healthier food is
providing these foods for
them to eat.
C M Y K 5 95
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15
children, and diseases such as type 2
diabetes and hypertension, once
problems only for older people, are
becoming all too common in children.
The problem is a tough one,
but schools are a logical place to
intervene.
According to Jenny Favret,
a registered dietitian and pediatric
nutritionist with the Healthy Life-
styles Program at Duke Univer-
sity’s Children’s Hospital & Health
Center, in Durham, NC, middle
school is an excellent time to
step in. “The earlier we can instill
healthy habits, the better, but the
middle-school years are not too
late,” she says. “In fact, they’re a
good time. This is an age when
children are ready to buy into a
healthy lifestyle message. Several
studies demonstrate that when
children are offered healthy food
they will choose it.”
Real Food
Half the battle of getting kids to
eat healthier food is providing
these foods for them to eat. But
this isn’t always as simple as it
sounds. Drew Patterson, chef and
assistant director of production
for nutrition services at the Ohio
State University Medical Center,
in Columbus, is currently work-
ing with the Ohio Department of
Education to train school nutrition
staff to cook homemade food for
the students, rather than
relying on processed and
convenience foods.
While the program is
going over well, accord-
ing to Patterson, there are
challenges. For one thing,
“Many schools aren’t even
set up to cook; they’ve just
been warming up conve-
nience foods,” he says.
The Gooding Joint
School District, in Good-
ing, ID, has taken up the
HealthierUS Schools Chal-
lenge (HUSSC), a program
of the USDA to improve
the health environment of the na-
tion’s schools. The Gooding district
contracted with local farmers to
grow fruits and vegetables specifi -
cally for the schools, and Anji Bau-
mann, child-nutrition director of the
Gooding district, began introducing
many meals using local produce.
School cooks throughout the
district have since taken up the
challenge of cooking more healthful
ADVERTISEMENT
Roberto Garza, Offensive Guard, #63,
Chicago Bears, Fuel Up to Play 60
Spokesperson
5 95C M Y K
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14
the kids could use to really boost
their self-esteem.” As it turned
out, building their self-esteem by
giving them the opportunity to be
successful at fi tness and nutrition
goals was far more effective.
Self-esteem is something En-
slow students should have plenty
of these days. The awards just keep
coming. In June, Riley and some of
her students traveled to New York
to accept a bronze National Recog-
nition Award from the Alliance for
a Healthier Generation in acknowl-
edgment of their success in creat-
ing a healthier school environment.
One Enslow eighth grader, who
was a participant on the national
student panel and met Bill Clinton,
spoke highly of Fuel Up to Play
60. “It was fun and easy to do,” he
said of the program. The students’
efforts have made a difference
beyond just winning awards and
garnering some good national
publicity. “My eating habits have
defi nitely changed at home, too,”
the teen said. “For one thing, I
drink more water. My family has
listened, too. I told them about
good nutrition and now they are
eating better.”
Newark’s Winston Jackson has
also noticed this ripple effect from
schools’ efforts to improve lifestyles.
“The Fuel Up to Play 60 program
had a big impact on our students,
and on the staff, too. We are all
eating better, and we designed a
walking path around the school.
Since the kids can’t walk on it
without teachers present, we are all
walking more,” he says.
According to Jackson, this is
not a fl ash-in-the-pan change.
After seeing the benefi ts of the
program, he says that the school
is “planning to do everything we
can to continue to make sure our
students and staff get exercise and
eat as healthfully as they can.”
The middle-school years are a
time of many changes, and clearly
many of them can be changes for
the better. But perhaps the really
exciting truth is that when students
adopt healthier lifestyles, they can
become the teachers, taking the
message of a healthier lifestyle back
home and into their communities.
Michael Clayton, Wide
Receiver, #80, Tampa Bay
Buccaneers, Fuel Up to
Play 60 Spokesperson
C M Y K 5 95
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ADVERTISEMENT
Something to Feel Good About
Students at Enslow Middle School
in Huntington, WV, stepped up and
took action for their own health
with the Fuel Up to Play 60 pro-
gram despite making international
news not long ago. Enslow was
profi led by British chef Jamie Oliver
in a television program called Jamie
Oliver’s Food Revolution, Oliver’s
stateside version of his televised
efforts to educate the British public
about healthy eating. Oliver came
to town to spotlight the city and
demonstrate to the citizens of
Huntington, which had been named
by the CDC as among the nation’s
unhealthiest areas, how they could
elevate their health status by learn-
ing about nutrition and improving
their diets.
Lisa Riley, director of the Fuel
Up to Play 60 program at Enslow,
didn’t have much time to worry
about Oliver’s visit. She was too
busy trying to fi gure out how she
could afford pedometers for her
students. She had read in a journal
article that regular physical activity
could help raise test scores, and
she wanted to start a walking club.
Meanwhile, she heard about
Fuel Up to Play 60 and fi gured
that “this would enable us to get
pedometers,” Riley recalls. The
program went over even better
than she’d hoped: The Enslow
students eventually won fi rst place
in the Fuel Up to Play 60 national
competition, in which they earned
points by eating nutritious foods,
being active and engaging in school
activities. Winning the national
competition enabled the students
to earn not only the pedometers,
but a $20,000 makeover for the
school cafeteria and a HOPSports
interactive youth physical education
training system.
The program was so successful
at Enslow in part because the stu-
dents up till then hadn’t had much
choice or voice. “We are a very
small, Title 1 school,” explains Riley.
“We are the underdog in sports
and we usually don’t score well
on yearly state assessments, but
Fuel Up to Play 60 was something
Middle schoolers need plenty of food, but it’s crucial that it
be good food—low in saturated fat, sugar and salt, and high in
whole grains and calcium from low-fat dairy.
5 95C M Y K
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C M Y K 5 95
makeover for caption change Folio Mag Pg Vol MO
19 1
19N E WSW E E K . C O M
A TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS HELPED
TO TURN ONE CLASSROOM INTO A
FITNESS CENTER.
GREEN-JACKSON
WITH BERNARD .
on helping children avoid the same
fate as her brother. “People need to
break bad habits while they’re young
and not wait until they’re 40 years old,”
Green-Jackson says. Today, YBH has
fi tness centers in all six of Albany’s
public middle schools, as well as three
elementary schools.
Grassroots projects like YBH have
become increasingly common across
the country as communities search for
new and innovative ways to battle the
nation’s childhood-obesity epidem-
ic. Since the passage of the No Child
Left Behind Act in 2001, most schools
have focused their time and fi nancial
re sources on test subjects— reading,
writing, and math—at the expense
of activities like PE, says Judy Young
of the American Alliance for Health,
Physical Education, Recreation and
Dance . Only one state—Alabama—
meets the recommended 150 minutes
per week of PE in
elementary school
and 225 minutes per
week i n middle and
high school, accord-
ing to the 2010 Shape
of the Nation Report:
Status of Physical
Education in the USA, released by the
National Association for Sport and
Physical Education and the American
Heart Association. Young says
that proposed revisions to No
Child Left Behind, which are
in the works in many offi ces
on Capitol Hill, underscore
the correlation between
physical activity and academic
achievement. “If kids are not healthy
and well, they’re not going to be pro-
ductive and able to use whatever
other kinds of skills
they have,” she says.
With dangerously low
standards for physi-
cal education in most
states, YBH serves as
a model for communi-
ties that want to encourage
kids—in a fun and healthy way—to
move more and eat better.
The need for physical and nutri-
tion education is particularly strong in
Green-Jackson’s home state, which has
the third-highest rate of youth obesity
in the country. (Mississippi and Arkan-
sas rank fi rst and second, respectively,
according to a 2009 report from the
Trust for America’s Health and the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.)
In Georgia, kids are
required to take PE in
elementary school but
not in middle school.
In fact, only 55 per-
cent of middle-school
students in Georgia
meet the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention re-
quirements for recommended physi-
cal activity, but 15 percent are obese,
according to the Georgia Department
of Community Health.
That lack of exercise, combined with
easy access to unhealthy food and
drinks, is making kids sick, says Dr.
Tanya Smith, a pediatrician in Albany
5 95C M Y K
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18 1
makeover for caption change
it was after midnight when
Pamela Green-Jackson sat up in
bed in her home in Albany, Ga., and
woke her husband. She told him that
a dream had inspired her to start an
exercise and nutrition program for
kids. “He told me to go back to sleep,
that I couldn’t save the world,” Green-
Jackson says. “I said, why not?”
Sure enough, Green-Jackson got out
of bed the next morning and immedi-
ately began fundraising for her proj-
ect, which she named Youth Becoming
Healthy (YBH). Within a month, she
had received $30,000 in grants. A team
of volunteers helped to turn one of the
classrooms at a local middle school
into a fi tness center. They brought in a
mix of new and used equipment: four
bikes, four treadmills, one Universal
machine, an elliptical, and benches.
They painted the walls the school
colors—burgundy and white—and
purchased Dance Dance Revolution,
a videogame that allows players to
keep track of how many calories they
burn in “workout mode.” Green-Jack-
son passed out sign-up sheets for the
fi tness program, which would take
place after school, and 180 kids put
down their names.
It was the winter of 2003, and Green-
Jackson’s timing was eerie. Right after
she and her team of volunteers began
renovating the classroom, her obese
43-year-old brother, Bernard Green,
developed uncontrolled diabetes. Less
than a month later, he died weighing
427 pounds. The loss instilled Green-
Jackson with an even greater sense of
urgency, and she decided to quit her job
at the Albany Herald to focus full time CO
UR
TE
SY
OF
JA
CK
SO
N F
AM
ILY
BAC K TO S C H O O L18
by johannah cornblatt
Obesity killed her brother. Now Pamela Green-Jackson is helping schools close the phys-ed gap.
A Fitness Revolution
C M Y K 5 95
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21
She cried with me.” The Thomas fam-
ily soon began participating in YBH,
meeting with a nutritionist and several
other families twice a week. The nutri-
tionist gave out healthy recipes and
even distributed a prize to the family
that lost the most weight. (“That wasn’t
us,” Karen admits .)
For families like the Thomases, YBH
has become a reliable source of both
physical and emotional support. Malik
lost nearly 20 pounds
at the YBH camp last
summer and, even
though he’s in high
school now, he still
uses YBH facilities to
exercise after school.
“I’m just hoping that
Malik can be normal and do some of
the things that regular-size kids can
do,” Karen says. Green-Jackson, who
always calls to check on Malik if he
misses a workout session, continues
to play a key role in reaching that goal.
“She’s very motivating,” Karen says.
Green-Jackson inspired one student
not only to lose weight, but also to
launch a health and wellness program
of her own . Jasmine Warren enrolled in
YBH in the sixth grade, when she was
11 years old and weighed 153 pounds.
After a year of running on the tread-
mill, biking, and doing aerobics, she
shed 35 pounds. “It was fun,” Warren
says. “The program was a big success
for me.” Warren says that Green-
Jackson has made a “wonderful
diff erence” in their community.
Indeed, Green-Jackson encour-
aged Warren, who will be a high-school
senior this fall, to launch Youth in
Action for Healthy Lifestyles, a stu-
dent-run program that aims to educate
kids in Albany about the importance of
physical activity and healthy eating. It
brings together about 60 people ages 5
to 25 every weekend to participate in a
range of physical activities—including
aerobics, softball, jump-roping, soccer,
and volleyball—at a local park, school,
or convention center.
Warren’s staff now
includes 10 teenagers
who received train-
ing from the Dough-
erty County Health
Department and who
advise other students
on nutritious eating. Green-Jackson
continues to serve as a mentor to War-
ren. “She’s been a backbone to my pro-
gram,” Warren says.
In the future, Green-Jackson would
like to make it easier for kids to eat
well both on and off school grounds.
Serving a nutritious breakfast in the
classroom would be a great place to
start, she says. Green-Jackson also
has some innovative ideas for the
hours after the last bell rings : one day,
she would like YBH to take mobile
fruit and vegetable stands into low-
income areas. There, she envisions
launching gardening programs to
teach children how to grow their own
fruit and vegetables. “My wife is a big
dreamer,” says Larry. For all those
she’s inspired so far, that is turning
out to be a very good thing indeed.
21N E WSW E E K . C O M
THE PROGRAM OFFERS HIP-HOP
DANCE, MARTIAL ARTS, WEIGHTLIFTING,
AND WALKING CLUBS.
5 95C M Y K
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20
and the president
of YBH. Smith says she has seen
children as young as 4 with high blood
pressure and full-blown diabetes.
Many overweight preteen girls come
to her with menstrual issues, and one
of her young obese patients had such
severe sleep apnea that he needed a
tracheotomy. Obese children are at
increased risk for a host of other medi-
cal conditions, including hypertension,
asthma, and low self-esteem. “These
kids are having issues that they have no
business having,” Green-Jackson says.
And the price is high: according to the
Georgia Department of Community
Health, obesity costs Georgia an esti-
mated $2.4 million a year (or $250 per
Georgian each year).
YBH aims to reach children where
they spend the majority of their time:
on school grounds. Now in its sev-
enth year, YBH off ers a range of kid-
requested activities, including hip-hop
dance, martial arts, weightlifting, and
walking clubs after school hours. In
fact, YBH fi tness instructors encour-
age all the program’s participants to
keep track of their total daily steps
using a pedometer or step counter
(every 10,000 steps equals fi ve miles,
which is the goal for the day). YBH
also brings in nutritionists to teach
kids about making better food choices
and how to read labels. After opening
fi tness facilities in nine schools in Al-
bany, YBH also started off ering a free
four-week camp last summer. In order
to attend the camp, which is funded
through donations, children must be
referred by a pediatrician and have at
least one chronic disease related to obe-
sity. So far, the results have been prom-
ising. Green-Jackson estimates that
since 2003, participants in YBH have
collectively lost thousands of pounds.
That kind of success doesn’t come
easily. Green-Jackson cites the cost of
equipment and qualifi ed instructors,
as well as parental transportation to
and from fi tness centers after school
hours, as the biggest obstacles. “One
person can’t do this alone,” she says.
She recommends gaining the support
of the school board, hospitals, pedia-
tricians, and other willing volunteers.
“I’ve seen 20 other programs right here
in this city we live in start and fail over
the years,” says Green-Jackson’s hus-
band, Larry, who became a certifi ed
youth trainer and now helps his wife
run YBH. “We haven’t failed because
my wife stayed true to what she started.
She continued to focus on the kids.”
One of those kids is 14-year-old
Malik Thomas, who, at nearly 400
pounds, sometimes struggles just to
walk. Green-Jackson spotted Malik
and his mother, Karen, at Walmart
one day and approached them to tell
them about YBH. “The fi rst
time that I met her, I told
her she was just a god-
send to me,” Karen says.
“Her brother had gone
through the same thing. I
could talk to her, and I cried.
BAC K TO S C H O O L20
Wake Up to Wellness
Schools in the Fuel Up to Play 60
program are carving out active
time for kids in unique and creative
ways. At Bailly Elementary School,
in Chesterton, IN, about 50 miles
southeast of Chicago, cafeteria
manager Lisa Ozimek teamed up
with school nurse Marian Danko last
year to launch a walking club in the
half hour before classes started. “As
soon as the kids came in, they got
a healthy breakfast and then joined
me in the gym,” says Ozimek.
At fi rst, the students simply
walked the gym’s perimeter. Soon,
however, the two advisors began
pulling out jump ropes and balls for
children to play with. “Then we decid-
ed to take it up another notch,” says
Ozimek. They recruited members of
the community to introduce children
to new types of fi tness activities—a
physical therapist who taught the
kids stretching and yoga poses, and
a local martial-arts instructor. “He
had the students breaking boards
with karate chops,” she says. “Kids
couldn’t wait to get to the gym in
the mornings. Some even had their
parents drop them off early.”
The program started with about
15 to 20 students, but once word
got around, the number jumped to
160. “I love fi tness,” says one Bailly
student. “It makes the day more
fun at school, and I know I’m doing
something good for my body.”
Feedback from teachers has
been equally positive. “Teach-
ers said the kids coming from the
program were awake, had all their
fi dgeting out of the way and were
ready to learn when they came
into the classroom,” reports Bailly’s
principal, Michael Grubbs.
The school’s students did so well
with Fuel Up to Play 60 that they
surpassed all other Indiana schools
in the program. As a result, they
earned additional fi tness equip-
ment—including hurdles and an
agility ladder—as well as a visit from
team personnel from the Indianapolis
Colts. “I never thought it would get
as big as it did,” says Ozimek. “It
made a big difference with these
kids and it’s a big deal with us.”
Class Action
Motivating students to get up and
move is an even greater challenge
when kids reach middle school.
For one thing, teen-level sports get
more competitive and expensive,
and participation rates drop.
Boltz Middle School, in Fort
Collins, CO, wanted to appeal to
students at every fi tness level
when it signed on to Fuel Up
to Play 60. So teachers enlisted
students to help design a program
that every kid would respond to.
The result: fun “fi tness kits” that
teachers can borrow to give stu-
dents exercise breaks.
Schools in the Fuel Up to Play 60 program are carving out
active time for kids in unique and creative ways.
C M Y K 5 95
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USED TO BE, KIDS ORGANIZED
GAMES OF RED ROVER AND
PLAYED HOPSCOTCH ON THE
SIDEWALK. These days, when
children want to have fun, they’re
more likely to fi re up the computer
or game console.
“Kids have forgotten how to
play,” says Cedric Bryant, Ph.D., chief
science offi cer for the American
Council on Exercise. “So many things
where they don’t actively move are
vying for their time and attention.”
No wonder three or four times as
many American kids are overweight
or obese as a generation ago.
Yet keeping kids moving can
lead to unexpected payoffs.
Stronger Bodies, Sharper Minds
While you may know that exercise
leads to better cardiovascular
fitness, reduced body fat and
stronger bones, getting active
can also improve academic
performance. In a study of 214
middle-school students by
researchers from Michigan State
University, in East Lansing, those
who participated in vigorous
physical activities did about 10
percent better in core classes like
math, science and English. “It’s
a win-win,” says James Pivarnik,
Ph.D., an MSU professor of kine-
siology and epidemiology and
past president of the American
College of Sports Medicine.
“The more active and fit kids
seem to do better on test scores
and grades.”
In addition, exercise breaks
during the school day have
been shown to improve learning
and classroom behavior. And
regular physical activity has
psychological benefi ts that can
help kids cope socially and deal
with peer pressure.
Current guidelines call for kids
to get at least 60 minutes of exer-
cise a day. Yet according to a study
published in Medicine and Science
in Sports and Exercise, only 42
percent of children ages 6 to 11 and
a mere 8 percent of adolescents
meet that goal.
LEARNING TO GET FIT
ADVERTISEMENT
Roberto Garza, Offensive Guard, #63,
Chicago Bears, Fuel Up to Play 60
Spokesperson
5 95C M Y K
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22
And in Michigan, the Detroit
Lions’ Youth Football coach led an
on-fi eld workout for students, with
players on hand to promote healthy
eating and physical activity
Fitness for All
Schools are tapping into every
resource available to boost fi tness in
kids—including kids with disabilities.
For example, the Miami-Dade Coun-
ty Public School System in Miami,
FL, participates in I Can Do It, You
Can Do It, a collaboration between
the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Service’s Offi ce on Disability,
the National Institutes Of Health, and
the President’s Council on Physical
Fitness and Sports.
Through the program, adult men-
tors are paired with students who
face physical or intellectual
disabilities.
By working with community
recreational groups and private
facilities, the school system is able to
offer unique opportunities to
students with disabilities. For in-
stance, kids can learn how to sail at
local sailing or yacht clubs, which are
generally empty during the week,
according to Jayne Greenberg,
Ed.D., executive director of physi-
cal education and health literacy for
the school system. Students with
disabilities can sign up to snorkel,
ride horses or play sled hockey or
wheelchair basketball with the help
of volunteers—all during the regular
school day.
Like Fuel Up to Play 60, the
program requires students to track
their fi tness habits online or on
paper. After six weeks of regular
exercise, they’re eligible for a
Presidential Active Lifestyle Award
(PALA) patch and certifi cate. Last
year, 1,200 Miami-Dade students
with disabilities received the
award. (For information, go to
www.presidentschallenge.org or call
800-258-8146.)
Miami-Dade’s regular PE
program also offers all children an
unusual roster of activities, such
as scuba diving and kayaking, and
spinning, yoga and Pilates classes.
“Now even kids who aren’t required
to take PE are opting back in,”
Greenberg says.
That’s true for students all
over the country, as more schools
take the lead in promoting fi tness.
“There’s no downside to exercise,”
says Boltz Middle School’s McVicker.
“It benefi ts everybody.”
Teenagers need to be active.
The more they use their bodies,
the better their brains work.
C M Y K 5 95
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25
“Students loved the idea,” says
Jamie Quiros, a Spanish teacher at
Boltz. “They brainstormed a list of
10 items they could see themselves
playing with and fi gured out how
much they could spend on the
items, based on the budget we had.”
The kids then placed the items
in different bins, from standard
gym fare like volleyballs, footballs
and basketballs, to unconventional
fi tness “gear” such as kites, juggling
sets, Frisbees and Hula-hoops.
Such activities limit competi-
tion, which can lead to unwelcome
social comparisons, and elimination
games. “It’s attractive to almost
every kid,” says Quiros. “There’s
something there for everybody.”
Teachers use the kits in vari-
ous situations—after students have
fi nished a project, for instance, or
as a reward after taking a test.
“If you put two or three 10-minute
exercise breaks into the school day,
that’s 20 to 30 minutes of exercise
kids weren’t getting before,” says
Pivarnik.
The kits are popular with both
teachers and students. “I’ve noticed
a radical increase in the number of
groups outside and being active,”
says Lisa McVicker, the school’s
principal. “It’s got everyone think-
ing, ‘How can I incorporate little
periods of activity into the day?’
Passive learning doesn’t work well,
especially at the middle-school
level. Teenagers need to be active.
The more they use their bodies, the
better their brains work.”
NFL on the Field for Kids
All 32 NFL teams are active in Fuel
Up to Play 60 in their local areas.
Players and team mascots have
attended school assemblies and
been featured in posters, videos,
PSAs and more, while students get
the opportunity to use stadiums
and training facilities. For example,
the Carolina Panthers opened “The
Fuel Up to Play 60 Kid’s Combine,”
a free area that promotes fi tness
through football drills for children
and their families on the Panthers’
practice fi elds.
In Arizona, the school with the
most Fuel Up to Play 60 points
won the chance to participate in
a special Cardinals Kids Camp at
the University of Phoenix Stadium,
where they tried out various ob-
stacle courses with an NFL theme.
ADVERTISEMENT
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Why is eating healthy so important?
ward: As a football player you have
to watch what you eat. The same
goes for our nation’s kids. A third
of them are dealing with an obesity
problem. And now with the econ-
omy taking away school programs
that educate students on how to eat
healthy, it’s really up to the kids to
get outside and apply their knowl-
edge on how to eat well on their
own instead of sitting on their couch
playing Xbox all day.
Where should students start when
it comes to making healthy eating
choices? Throw away all the junk
food. If you don’t have the accessibil-
ity, it makes it easier to eat healthy.
Ask your parents not to buy certain
things, and that makes it easier to
have good eating habits. Try not to
eat after 8 o’clock at night. Drink a
lot of water. And if you want a snack,
there’s nothing wrong with that, but
get fruit, like grapes or apples.
How can students help their
friends eat healthy? Nutrition is
everything. It takes a lot to be dis-
ciplined about that. Sometimes it
takes a friend; ask a friend to help
you. You can convince your friends
to help each other out. Ask each
other, “Did you drink water?”
Encourage your friends. At the end
of the day, if they lose weight, they
are proud of it and they’ll thank you.
What good changes can healthy
eating bring for teens? They’ll have
more energy and more self-esteem.
You should care about exercising
because it makes you feel a lot bet-
ter and improves your confi dence. A
lot of kids who are better with their
health are more confi dent than kids
who aren’t eating as healthy or who
don’t care.
Are there any big mistakes to
avoid when starting to work out?
You have to want to do it. You can
talk a lot about it, but if you don’t
take [the] road to doing it, then you
won’t get in shape.
You don’t have to start out right
away, you can go slowly. It’s like
smokers—you can’t quit overnight.
Walk a mile. If you feel comfortable
after that, add a half a mile. It’s hard
for the fi rst week, but in the long
haul, if you’re disciplined enough to
do it, it’s amazing how it works.
HINES WARD,
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver
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Throw Away the Junk Food
What are the easiest ways to build
fi tness into a daily routine?
jones-drew: Going outside for a
walk and talking, a pickup game of
basketball or kickball; just whatever
it is that you do, go outside and do it.
Instead of getting a ride from school,
walk home. Or take a bike. Swimming
is a great way to get exercise, too; it’s
the best way, actually, and it’s some-
thing people do for recreation, too.
How can healthy teens positively
infl uence their peers’ fi tness? Chal-
lenge your friends, and encourage
them to come outside. Even if you
can’t get them to eat healthy, if you
exercise with them you’re doing them
a favor.
If you exercise, can you pay less
attention to what you eat? You really
want to be doing both. You’re always
going to go back to your foundation
and what you know, so it’s all about
learning responsibility and great hab-
its. I had a higher metabolism when I
was young, so the things I’m used to
eating, now that I’m older, my body’s
not burning them in the same way.
What I’m doing now is re-teaching
myself, trying to get going the right
way. I wish I’d started eating healthy
earlier because then I’d be used to it.
Do you have any good tips on how to
eat healthy during the day? Always
carry fruit. It helps your body and
uses enzymes to help your body break
down what you’ve already eaten. Even
McDonald’s sells fruit , and it’s always
good to snack on those because it fi lls
you up right away, it’s not putting a lot
in your stomach, and it helps break
down everything else as well.
You don’t always have to eat
the exact perfect meal, but having
fruits and vegetables in your diet will
help out a bunch.
I like fruits like
nectarines, pine-
apples, and man-
gos. And I’m a big
broccoli fan—you
can’t knock it till
you try it!
MAURICE JONES-DREW, running back for the
Jacksonville Jaguars
Two NFL superstars share their secrets
about exercise and healthy eating.
by nayeli rodriguez
*Daily Recommendations: 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free milk or equivalent milk products for those 9 years of age and older and 2 cups of low-fat or fat-free milk or equivalent milk products for children 2-8 years old.
For more information, visit www.nationaldairycouncil.org/childnutrition.
ALL MILK—REGULAR AND
FLAVORED—CONTAINS A UNIQUE
COMBINATION OF NUTRIENTS
important for growth and develop-
ment, including three of the fi ve
“nutrients of concern” for which
children have inadequate intakes.
And, fl avored milk accounts for less
than 3.5% of added sugar intake in
children ages 6 to 12 and less than
2% in teens.
FIVE REASONS WHY FLAVORED
MILK MATTERS
1. Kids love the taste
Milk provides nutrients essential
for good health and kids will drink
more when it’s fl avored.
2. Nine essential nutrients
Flavored milk contains the same
nine essential nutrients as white
milk—calcium, potassium, phos-
phorus, protein, vitamins A, D and
B12, ribofl avin and niacin (niacin
equivalents)—and is a healthful
alternative to soft drinks.
3. Helps kids achieve 3 servings
Drinking low-fat or fat-free white
or fl avored milk helps kids get the
3 daily servings* of dairy foods
recommended by the Dietary
Guidelines for Americans.
4. Better diet quality
Children who drink fl avored milk
meet more of their nutrient needs;
do not consume more added sugar
or total fat; and are not heavier
than non-milk drinkers.
5. Top choice in schools
Low-fat fl avored milk is the most
popular milk choice in schools
and kids drink less (and get fewer
nutrients) if it’s taken away.
FLAVORED MILK PROVIDES NINE ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS
ADVERTISEMENT
These health and nutrition organizations support 3-Every-Day™ of Dairy, a science-based nutrition education program encouraging Americans to consume the recommended three daily
servings of nutrient-rich low-fat or fat-free milk and milk products to improve overall health.
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BAC K TO S C H O O L28
by ian yarett
There are recommendations—and then reality.
What Kids Eat
SOURCES: INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
71 percent of the recommended
meats and beans.
But 33 percent of those are in
the form of sandwiches and
burgers. Choose lean meats,
fi sh, and poultry —baked,
broiled, or grilled rather than
fried—and try to eat beans,
nuts, and seeds, as opposed
to just beef .
45 percent of the recommended fruits.
But 53 percent of
those are in the form
of juice. It’s better to
minimize consumption
of fruit drinks, which
are high in sugar .
44 percent of the recommended vegetables.
But 22 percent of those
vegetables are in the
form of fries and potato
chips. Stay away from
fried food when possible,
and eat more green and
orange vegetables.
73 percent of the recommended dairy.
But 31 percent of milk intake
is in the form of whole or
2 percent milk. Choose low-
fat or fat-free milk products
instead, and make sure to
fi nd other sources of calcium
if you don’t consume milk.
118 percent of the recommended grains.
But 27 percent of those
grains are in the form of
sandwiches, burgers,
and pizza. More whole
grains like brown rice or
whole-wheat bread
would be a better choice.
57 percent of the recommended oils.
But 28 percent of those oils
are in the form of corn-based
salty snacks and potato
chips. It’s best to get your
fats from fi sh, nuts, and
vegetable oils, while
minimizing consumption of
solid (saturated or trans) fats
like butter or margarine.
1. Increase access to and consumption of affordable and appealing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and lean meats in and out of school.
2. Stimulate children and youth to be more physicallyactive for 60 minutes every day in and out of school.
3. Boost resources (fi nancial/rewards/incentives/training/technical assistance) to schools in order to improve physical fi tness and nutrition programs.
4. Educate and motivate children and youth to eat the recommended daily servings of nutrient-rich foods and beverages.
5. Empower children and youth to take action at their school and at home to develop their own pathways to better fi tness and nutrition for life.
ENDING CHILDHOOD OBESITY
WITHIN A GENERATION
We support school-based nutrition and physical
fi tness initiatives, such as Fuel Up to Play 60, that help
achieve these guiding principles:
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