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Student Health a Concern During, After School in E-Town

Posted on: Tuesday, 21 February 2006, 09:00 CST

By JOHN DUFFY, Correspondent

Comprehensive wellness initiatives shape programs during and after school in Elizabethtown Area School District. Districts must address the nutritional value of school-provided food in addition to health, nutrition and physical fitness education as part of a 2004 bill that funds federal nutrition programs. Going another step toward reducing the dangers of obesity, the district launched an after-school health program at the high school last fall. Likely participants were identified by head nurse Cindy Zedaker, who recently conducted the first study of students at risk of obesity in the district. By measuring 1,100 of the schools 1,300 students, she found 206 to be at risk of developing obesity-associated health problems including diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. These students and others will be invited to join an after-school activity and counseling effort called EtownShapedown. Through a high Highmark BlueCross/BlueShield grant, nutritionist Carol Collins was hired by the district to run the twice-weekly class, which focuses on fitness, nutrition and healthy stress relief

. Collins and Zedaker are now considering incentives to increase program participation, and both are members of a committee that met for the first this month to draft the districts wellness policy. Zedaker hopes the policy the committee submits will help students make healthy choices on their own. But some members of the medical community are among the strongest critics of food programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funds and supplies school lunch programs. Some critics have said the problem of obesity in adolescents and teens not discounting the Internet, television and a general trend toward sedentary lifestyles can be traced to the departments food programs. Physicians Concerned for Responsible Medicine slammed the department in 2003 for its overemphasis of fatty meats and cheeses at the expense of simple grains, fruits and vegetables. For example, in 2001, the department spent $350 million on surplus beef and cheese for its food programs, double what it spent on fruits and vegetables. It also prohibited soy or rice milk unless a student presented a note from a doctor. And a 1999 study by the USDA found that only 20 percent of the food offered in schools met with the departments fat-content criteria. The government spends millions buying up surplus meat and dairy products, and then dumps them on the school lunch program, said PCRM dietitian Dulcie Ward. Provisions of the 2004 reauthorization act do take positive steps, Ward said. But schools can come up with great wellness policies, but the food and the money come from the USDA, so ultimately there needs to be federal attention paid, she said. Some school districts also have come under criticism for offering brand-name food in cafeterias in addition to standard school lunches. Such foods are free from federal school-lunch nutrition standards, but often mean added revenue for school districts. Competitive foods at Elizabethtown are limited to items like cookies, iced tea and muffins at lunchtime. Soda machines in the building are not accessible to students during school hours. But even this may need attention. Collins said, In order for this to be meaningful, we have to address the competitive foods, as nutrition advocates call them. But Collins is optimistic about the future. There is no way a parent cannot know that obesity in young people is a problem. Its in the press, its on television, their pediatricians are telling them, she said. This is not a new idea, and I think we have momentum now to help students live healthier lives.

Source: Intelligencer Journal

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