Lessons in healthiness

Schools fighting our widespread weight problem

Students pass in the halls at Del Norte High. Local schools are ramping up efforts to encourage healthy eating and exercise. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

According to data released last year for hundreds of local students, 39-47 percent were found to be overweight or obese, compared to 32 percent nationally.

The reasons are different for each child, and genetics can play a role, but poor nutrition and lack of physical activity are the leading causes of obesity. A depressed local economy exacerbates the issue.

“It’s a real problem,” said Deborah Kravitz, Del Norte County Unified School District’s project coordinator for Network for a Healthy California, a state initiative to get kids to exercise and eat more fruits and vegetables.

And it’s a problem local educators tackle on a daily basis by teaching students healthy eating habits, mandating physical activity and serving them nutritiously balanced meals at school.

Students have the opportunity to learn how to garden and prepare food right in the classroom. They are being required to spend more time in P.E. classes. And those who have weight issues are getting personal attention from school nurses.

But some kids don’t get nutritionally healthy foods outside of school.

In an “economically challenged area” such as Del Norte, said school nurse Kris Hunt said, it can be easier for families to buy less healthy foods. To some, she said, “healthy means pricey.”

Families on a tight budget may skip meals or feel forced to “take anything” when they do have money, Kravitz said, like a burger off the dollar menu at a fast-food joint.

“Kids hide food (at school),” she said, because “they don’t know what’s going to happen when they go home.”

What the numbers say

The number of obese children in America has steadily risen over the last 30 years, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which uses BMI.

The number of obese children has tripled since 1980, and almost 32 percent of children and adolescents 2-19 years old are overweight or obese, according to NHANES.

Excessive weight on a child’s frame can cause health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

Eighty percent of obese children grow up to become obese adults and could face life-threatening illnesses like heart disease, cancer and stroke, according to the CDC.

Last school year, Del Norte collected students’ body mass indexes. The data showed that just under half of local students were overweight or obese.

Body mass index (BMI) is a number calculated from a person’s height and weight. For children, age and gender are also taken into account.

“It’s a tool,” said Hunt. “It identifies students that we need to be taking a further look at.”

It was the first time the district had collected that much data, testing all kindergartners, first-, third-, fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders.

The school district’s two nurses are again collecting BMI data for the same grade levels. This spring, the school district will have new numbers for comparison, said Don Olson assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

Collecting students’ BMI is a long-term project, Hunt said. As years pass, local trends will become apparent.

“A touchy subject”

School nurses have the task of informing students and their parents if they are underweight, overweight or obese.

“It’s a touchy subject,” Hunt said.

“There’s an emotional risk of labeling a child,” nurse Irene Tynes added.

Either nurse will talk to those students in private and notify the parents that the student should see a doctor.

If the family doesn’t already have a doctor, the school nurses help them get to one and sometimes actually go with the child. They then track those students’ progress.

“We will help them find assistance,” Hunt said.

In talking with students, Tynes said she has found soda pop to be a major contributor to their weight gain.

Students get some satisfaction from the calories, sugar or caffeine in soda and then don’t eat healthy foods, she said. Those sodas can soon add up to a lot of sugar in one day.

“If you cut out that one thing, you can drop that weight,” Tynes tells students.

If she can get students to stop drinking sodas, and they feel better for it, then she can push them to be more physically active.

“You can find the individual problem if you spend the time,” Hunt said.

And talking about what students eat and drink can help the school nurses find out about other problems in their lives that might be affecting their health.

“Nutrition is an easy way to get to a child,” Tynes said. “There’s a whole lot more going on in their lives and now we have a relationship.”