CHILDHOOD OBESITY

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CHILDHOOD OBESITY

• TRENDS

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OBJECTIVES

• Become aware of child obesity problem
• Inform what BMI is
• Consider changes that can be made
• Give ways to encourage classroom activities
• Suggest ways to improve school health
• Review Middleboro Wellness Plan
• Tips for Parents

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Heart disease is the leading cause of death in
the United States. Overweight and obesity
increase one's risk of developing heart disease.

• By 8 yrs of age 40 of children have significant
  cardiac risk factors like high blood pressure,
  high cholesterol and/ or inactive lifestyles.
• The percentage of overweight youth has more than
  doubled in the past 30 years.
• Obesity is one of the most pressing health
  threats to families and children nationwide.
• 1/3 of American children and adolescents are
  either obese or at risk of being obese.
• Children who are overweight or obese increase
  their likelihood of developing heart disease,
  type 2 diabetes, stroke, asthma and a host of
  other serious health problems.
• Numerous factors contribute to weight problems
  including heredity or family history, activity,
  and eating habits.

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December 2008 NASN STUDY

• Overweight and obesity are considered the number
  one reason for peer rejection in America.
• Falkner colleagues (2001) compared to nonobese
  peers 7th,9th 11th graders were more likely to
  have negative social experiences, believe they
  were poor students, and expect to quit school.
• Costs of illnesses related to childhood obesity
  have risen from 35 mil to 127 mil over the past
  20 years. Claims to medicaid in North Carolina
  for management of chronic diseases related to
  obesity have already been affected.
• As already stated physical and psychological
  consequences are more damaging.

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Adopting heart healthy behaviors, such as
following a healthy eating plan and participating
in regular physical activity, can help
individuals achieve or maintain a healthy weight.
Even modest amounts of weight loss of
approximately 10 percent of initial body weight
can reduce high blood pressure, high blood
cholesterol levels, and high blood glucose levels
in overweight or obese individuals with high
levels. Reducing these risk factors helps to
prevent cardiovascular disease and/or reduce its
severity in those with existing disease.
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BMI

• What is BMI?
• Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from
  a childs weight and height. BMI is a reliable
  indicator of body fatness for most children and
  teens. BMI does not measure body fat directly,
  but research has shown that BMI correlates to
  direct measures of body fat, such as underwater
  weighing and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry
  (DXA).1 BMI can be considered an alternative for
  direct measures of body fat. Additionally, BMI is
  an inexpensive and easy-to-perform method of
  screening for weight categories that may lead to
  health problems.
• For children and teens, BMI is age- and
  sex-specific and is often referred to as
  BMI-for-age.

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WHAT IS BMI PERCENTILE
After BMI is calculated for children and teens,
the BMI number is plotted on the CDC BMI-for-age
growth charts (for either girls or boys) to
obtain a percentile ranking. Percentiles are the
most commonly used indicator to assess the size
and growth patterns of individual children in the
United States. The percentile indicates the
relative position of the childs BMI number among
children of the same sex and age. The growth
charts show the weight status categories used
with children and teens (underweight, healthy
weight, at risk of overweight, and overweight).
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BMI-for-age weight status categories and the
corresponding percentiles are shown in the
following table.
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Tips for Teachers

• Just another thing to add to your already busy
  day!

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There are many ways to celebrate at school. I
have provided you with a hand-out that lists
non-food ways to celebrate and healthy snack
ideas. It is my desire that we could institute a
new policy for the 2008-2009 school year.

Examples of this would be non-food ways (
active game chosen by students, special art
project, donate a book to classroom) healthy
snacks ( fruit tray, finger sandwiches, cheese
cubes crackers). Unfortunately getting
parents onboard with no cupcakes/treats could be
hard. Parents like to send sweets in because in
some respects that is easier than being more
creative.
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Constructive Classroom Rewards Classroom
rewards can be an effective way to encourage
positive behavior but schools should not only
teach children to make healthy food choices but
also provide an environment that fosters that.
Somehow the connection between food and mood
needs to be broken. Therefore a goal should be
to separate food from rewards. (Handout of non
food rewards) Examples social rewards (
special attention, praise, or thanks)
recognition ( sticker, photo, or note sent home)
Privileges school supplies.
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A School can increase physical activities

• Teach academics through physical activity
• Keep kids active at recess, before and after
  school.
• Brain power breaks.
• Reward students with physical activity
  opportunities helps eliminate food rewards
• Promotion of lifestyle physical activities to
  students staff. ( take display pictures of
  staff students being active)
• Engage students and families in physical
  activities

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Activity websites

• www.fitnessfinders.net
• http//www.actionforhealthykids.org/gotuwc/
• www.creativewalking.com
• www.opi.mt.gov/pdf/health/MindBody.pdf
• http//teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/empowering
  youth.html
• httpwww.bam.gov
• www.newenglanddairycouncil.org/wellness

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     We need to  praise Food Services for the
healthy changes that have already been made. Lynn
Petrowski, our prior Food Services Director, did
a wonderful job of making healthy changes within
our lunch program. This has been well accepted
at the lower levels but still causes complaints
with upper levels due to likes dislikes. We
have an enhanced food base, follow the A-list for
health foods and have limited the a la carte to
all baked not fried foods. Nationwide there are
now changes to whole grains, baked not fried
snacks, and vending machines being removed from
within schools. 55 of national schools are using
skinless poultry, only 19 offer French fries,
and 60 of elementary schools offer lettuce,
vegetable or bean salads.
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Study says ads trick children's taste buds
Wrapping affects their
preferences By Lindsey Tanner,
Associated Press    August 7, 2007
Even carrots, milk, and apple juice tasted better
to the children when they were wrapped in the
familiar packaging of the Golden Arches You
see a McDonald's label and kids start
salivating," said Diane Levin, a childhood
development specialist who campaigns against
advertising to children The study will probably
stir more debate over the movement to restrict
ads to children. It comes less than a month after
11 major food and drink companies, including
McDonald's, announced new curbs on marketing to
children under 12
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Entire school activity ideas

• A walking club for staff and or students.
• A mock relay to correspond to the Boston
  Marathon.
• Bulletin board showing staff students being
  active.
• Would like volunteers who might be interesting in
  doing something like this.

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THE MIDDLEBORO WELLNESS POLICY PROCEDURAL
GUIDELINES
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• Set Nutrition Education Goals encourage students
  to make lifelong healthy food choices.
• Set Physical Activity Goals help students to
  understand the short and long term benefits of a
  physically active healthy lifestyle.
• Establish nutrition standards for all food
  available in school setting.
• Set goals for school based activities to promote
  wellness.
• Set goals for measurement evaluation.

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It is very important that parents are a role
model for their children. Behavior is learned
from observation. We can either be a good or bad
example. It helps to examine your own behavior.
Please think about the following questions in
order to examine your own eating habits.Do you
snack all day long?Do you eat in front of the
TV?Do you eat whenever you are bored or under
stress?Do you eat dessert at every meal?Do you
skip breakfast?Do you have soda rather than milk
or water with your meals?Do you diet all the
time and have a fear of food?These are
behaviors your kids may pick-up on, which can
affect their eating habits now and in the future.
Therefore, think about your own eating regimen
to support your childs positive food choices.
1.                 
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• Ways to be a role model would be
• never skip meals
• limit junk food in the house
• eat and prepare food with your children
• try new foods but dont force children to try
• turn off the TV while eating
• be active yourself.

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WHAT ARE HEALTHY FOODSWe should never label
foods as either GOOD or BAD.This can restrict
eating or lead to negative attitudes toward
food. Healthy foods are those that are
nutrient-rich or have a large amount of key
vitamins and minerals for their calories. It is
critical to make each calorie count especially
when weight may be an issue. You dont have to
give up your favorite foods to eat a healthy diet
just try to have your core choices nutrient-rich
and round out with other foods. Colorful fruits
and vegetables have more nutrients, lean meats,
beans, low fat and fat free dairy and nuts are
examples of ideal foods.A website that is a good
family guide to healthy eating is
www.nutritionexploration.org
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WAYS TO ENCOURAGE BETTER EATING HABITS FOR YOUR
CHILD

• Be that positive role model
• Plan cook meals together
• Offer kid-size servings
• Give your child a good start with breakfast

• Encourage drinking low fat milk water
• Plan afternoon snacks
• Pay attention to hunger cues
• Avoid skipping meals
• Restrictive diets are usually not best for kids

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HELP YOUR CHILD BECOME MORE ACTIVE

• Boundaries- set time limits on TV, video games
  computers
• Play- encourage daily after school activities
  play outdoors, ride a bike, walk the dog, toss a
  ball
• Family time- adopt a lifestyle that includes
  regular physical activity walk after dinner,
  games that incorporate movement
• Encourage- provide opportunities to experience
  different activities let them choose what they
  like
• Enjoy- make sure the activity is not viewed as
  punishment

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I have a survey for the families which might give
them an indication of how their food choices
measure up.
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• If you pack a lunch for school, what foods do you
  send?
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• ___ Sandwich ___leftovers ___cookies
  ___chips
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• ___ granola bar ___ yogurt ___ veggies
  ___ fruit other ________
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IN YOUR HOME SURVEY  

• What snack foods do you have in your home?
  (Check all that apply.)
•  
• ___ cookies ___ chips ___ granola bars
  ___yogurt
•  
• ___ fruit ___ veggies ___bagels
  other ______________
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IN YOUR HOME SURVEY   1.        What snack
foods do you have in your home? (Check all that
apply. ___ cookies ___ chips ___ granola
bars ___yogurt ___ fruit ___ veggies
___bagels other ______________   2.
        If you pack a lunch for school, what
foods do you send? ___ Sandwich
___leftovers ___cookies ___chips ___
granola bar ___ yogurt ___ veggies ___
fruit other ________   3.        What is
there to drink in your house? (Check all that
apply.) ___ water ___ soda ___ fruit
drink ___ 100 fruit juice (orange, apple,
etc) ___ 1 milk ___ whole milk
___ fat-free milk   4.        How many times
does your family eat out during the week? ___
every day ___ 4 times a week ___ 2 times
a week ___ Once a week ___ rarely   5.       
Do you have sports equipment (bike, balls, roller
blades, etc.) at home? ___ Yes ___ No,
Explain __________________________________   6.   
     Are the adults in the home physically
active? ___ All the time ___ Sometimes, explain
______________________ ___ Never



 

• Are the adults in the home physically active?
•  
• ___ All the time ___ Sometimes, explain
  ______________________
•  
• ___ Never
•  
•  
•  

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THANK YOU

• You do a lot in your days and I appreciate your
  attention as we work together to fight this
  growing problem.