State tackling child obesity through school wellness programs
Re: “Schools tackling obesity head-on,” Aug. 6 news story.
I think it’s great that the state has mandated wellness programs for all Colorado school districts. I love the idea of including things like fly fishing and skateboarding in P.E. classes. Children should know that exercise can be loads of fun. But I was appalled by some of the so-called “healthy” offerings for lunch and in vending machines. (I still can’t figure out why there are vending machines in schools.) Low-sodium chips and low-fat pizza from Domino’s don’t count as health food. That is just plain lazy. Healthy food isn’t just about cutting out the bad stuff. It’s about finding food that does something good for your body. It requires thought, time and lots of chopping. Children should be offered fresh, in-season, regional fruits and vegetables every day. And if we really want to teach them wellness, we’ll get them involved in the process. Why not ask different grade levels to make salads for the entire school to enjoy? They can pick the ingredients and do all of the preparation.
I’m glad Colorado has created this mandate, but I’m afraid it might just be rhetoric to make parents feel good. Until I see that a truly healthy meal is being offered at school, my daughter will continue to bring her lunches from home.
Amy L. Anderson, Denver
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Child health and education should be leading concerns in every community. Thanks to The Post and reporter Jack Cox for highlighting the benefits of school wellness policies. Research abounds on the link between health and academic achievement. Studies show that children who experience poor nutrition and hunger – which can be present in underweight, normal weight, or overweight children – tend to have lower standardized test scores and show less academic achievement overall than their more well-nourished peers. Low-income children are much more likely than other children to live in households that have inadequate food budgets and therefore are more likely to be hungry or at risk for hunger. Children everywhere have a right to be healthy, to be free from hunger, and to learn to the fullest of their potential, yet poverty and food insecurity among our children continue to be serious problems.
The national school breakfast, school lunch and summer food service programs provide the best nutrition many children receive and in some cases a school meal may be the only food a child receives in a day. Given the enormous benefits of the federal nutrition programs and the grave risks to children in need to whom the programs do not reach, it is critical that school wellness policies include the expansion of participation in school meals to ensure that no child goes hungry, and that all children have their nutritional needs met during the day.
Tina Podolak, Executive Director, Colorado Anti-Hunger Network, Denver
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Colorado school districts that promote more physical activity and solid nutrition are, as they hope, doing the right thing. But the emphasis of these programs needs to be on overall health, and the headline “Schools tackling obesity,” makes me worry that it is, as usual, on students’ waistlines. “Weight teasing,” as nutrition specialist Dianne Neumark-Sztainer prefers to sanitize harassment and bullying, is not a “weight-related problem,” but a hate-related problem. The answer lies in confronting those who are engaging in the behavior, not in trying to get victims to conform so that they are no longer targets. School districts have a real opportunity, too, to send a clear message: weight is not synonymous with health. But in an age where moral hysteria reigns supreme and the anorexic ideal is promoted as “normal,” I’m not holding my breath.
Katharhynn Heidelberg, Montrose
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As an avid fly-fisherman, I know there are many life lessons to be learned standing in a river waving a rod. However, it is not an aerobic workout. Perhaps as a rule of thumb, any “sport” that can be enjoyed while a) quaffing a beer and b) smoking a cigarette should not be considered physical education.
I realize the goal is to get our children doing something, anything, physical. But fishing? If one’s heart rate is rising and one feels like one is getting a workout fishing, one needs to work on one’s cast!
Kim Field, Littleton
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