Making School A Moving Experience

In 1975 the rate of obesity among children was 5%. In 2008 the rate of obesity among children had plumped to 16%.

Today 1 in 3 children will develop diabetes without significant lifestyle changes.

Today 37% of Delaware’s children are overweight or obese.

In 1960, 60% of the kids walked to school. Today barely 10% walk.

Since 1991 there has been a 500% increase in the number of prescriptions written for children with attention disorders.

There is one thing that is research proven to change all of the above trends – physical activity.

We can all identify many of the contributors to this phenomenon of increasing obesity in America. Computers, video games and cell phones have taken the place of after school bike riding, neighborhood whiffle ball games, hide and seek or flag football.

Concerns for child safety have caused parents to be more protective and less likely to be comfortable with their children getting on their bikes and being gone until dark. Organized sports make it happen for some, but even those kids on a team don’t necessarily stay active when the season is over.

And, of course, the intimate relationship we have with the fast food drive through window hasn’t helped.

That’s why the Lake Forest School District has joined with the Nemours Health and Prevention Services to push for more physical activity time for our students, particularly our younger ones. The facts used to start this commentary come from a presentation prepared by the Nemours folks entitled Make School a Moving Experience.

With assistance from a grant through The Nemours Foundation, all Lake Forest elementary schools will be striving to assure that each child has 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week. Our grant covers grades K-5, but W.T.Chipman Middle School has asked to be included so we’ll support their efforts, too.

Today’s elementary school children have physical education taught by the Phys Ed teacher just once a week for 30-40 minutes. That’s not nearly enough, but to have “gym class” daily would require the employment of about 10 more PE teachers and the construction of a whole lot of gym space. I assure you, that isn’t going to happen any time soon.

So, how are we going to get more physical activity at school without increasing phys ed classes? We have been experimenting with a number of strategies. Some start every morning with school-wide exercise. They may call that time Jammin Minutes or Smartin Spartan Stretch -- 5-7 minutes of exercise as a part of the morning announcements. They also may randomly call for “Drop Everything and Jam” though out the week. Teachers and students alike, love the interruption and appreciate the opportunity to get off their seat and on their feet for exercise and dance.

All are working to be sure recess time is sacred (should rarely be taken away as punishment) and to be sure all students are active. No book reading during recess – get that heart rate up.

W.T.Chipman has set aside a room and is raising money for fitness equipment. If you have any good quality fitness equipment that you would like to donate, please let us know.

It took years for us to gain this much weight. We’re not going to fix it all in one year. But, we recognize that healthy children will learn better. We recognize that healthy children become healthy citizens.

We hope you’ll support our efforts to Make School A Moving Experience.