Moving from Super Sized to Super Fit
By Kimberly Butler, Ed.D.
Sweetwater Physical Curriculum Specialist
When the nation's "First Mom" kicked off a campaign focusing on childhood obesity recently she told Larry King: "It's not about weight...it's about fitness."
Michelle Obama is right on target by putting the focus on health instead of popular culture's obsession with Hollywood looks. Of all of Mrs. Obama's goals for fighting childhood obesity, what resonates most with me is her goal that none of the babies born today should grow up to be obese adults.
This implies a massive overhaul in how we, as a nation, approach decisions regarding lifetime wellness for our children.
Here in Sweetwater Schools we're overhauling our approach to student wellness. We are 100% committed to doing whatever we can to help this generation of students avoid the burden of growing up overweight.
We know that schools can play a critical role in curbing the epidemic of weight gain. What Aristotle said a thousand years ago holds true today: healthy students perform better academically than unhealthy students.
Four years ago, the school board adopted a district wellness policy to improve student health by promoting exercise and good nutrition as part of the learning experience. As a part of this junk food, candy and soft drinks can no longer be sold on campus.
We've also revamped physical education replacing the emphasis on competitive team sports and athletic ability with individual and dual sports, dance, outdoor orienteering, tumbling, and team activities. In PE classes, we've made a priority of creating individual prescriptions for fitness (see March 4 blog).
Sweetwater is the first local district to make PE mandatory for all 9th grade students. These classes focus on preparing students to pass the state baseline test for fitness--the Fitnessgram--in their freshmen year. The Fitnessgram tests five areas: aerobic capacity, body composition, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility.
Students who do not master the Fitnessgram standards in 9th grade are automatically enrolled in a PE intervention class called "Fitness for Life." These students receive targeted lessons in how to take charge of their well-being through exercise and healthy eating.
Fitness is now a priority in Sweetwater Schools. Our teachers and administrators are teaming up to make sure students are getting the quality instruction they need to learn healthy habits for lifelong wellness.
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