Cindy Wolff

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Cindy Wolff
Making the Grade Diet, Fitness,
Performance Cindy Wolff, MPA, RD, PhD Center
for Nutrition Activity Promotion,
CSUC May 3, 2006
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Goals for Today

• Recognize the need for nutrition education and
  physical activity promotion for students
• Explain the link between diet, fitness, and
  academic performance
• Identify strategies for improving eating and
  activity patterns for Butte County students

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Snapshot of American Kids

• Overfed but undernourished
• Declining physical activity
• Limited health literacy

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Overweight ? Diabetes Risk
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Overweight Harms Childrens Health

• Todays infants have a 1 in 3 chance of
  developing diabetes.
• A 1 in 2 chance if they are Hispanic or African
  Am.

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Percentage of students who ate 5 or more servings
of fruits and vegetables per day during the past
7 days.
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Percentage of students who drank 3 or more
glasses of milk per day during the past 7 days.
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Students who did not participate in 20 min. of
vigorous physical activity on 3 of the past 7
days did not do 30 min. of moderate physical
activity on 5 of the past 7 days.
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CHILDREN MUST BE HEALTHY TO LEARN AND CHILDREN
MUST LEARN TO BE HEALTHY.
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Patterns Start Young

• Overweight at age 4
• predicts overweight at
• age 25.
• Overweight is easier and
• less expensive to prevent,
• than to treat.

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Butte CountyPreschoolers

• 34 to 47 of kids are either overweight or at
  risk for overweight
• Fast food is associated with increased weight
• Gyovai, Gonzales, Ferran, Wolff.  Family eating
  and activity habits
• Associated with overweight risk among low-income
  preschool
• Children. CA J Health Prom, 2003.

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Overweight among Low-Income Butte County
Preschoolers
PedNSS data were used to calculate mean rates.
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BMI Categories for Butte County 4th 8th Graders
44 were 85th tile BMI-for-age
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BMI Groups by Ethnicity (n1,250)
The rate of overweight was higher for Hispanic
vs. White students (plt.001)
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Overweight among Native American K-9th Students
K - 3 Grades 4th - 9th Grades
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Rates of Overweight for 9th 10th Graders
(n111)
Percentage
BMI Group
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Overweight Acanthosis
40 of overweight students are AN positive. The
majority are Hispanic.
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Overweight Hypertension
Normotensive lt90, Prehypertension 90-95th,
Hypertension gt95th
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Systolic Blood Pressure by BMI for 9th 10th
Graders (n96)
126 13
119 12
113 9
BMI Group
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Positive Attitude Toward Fruit/Veggies is
Associated with Lower BP in NA Students
Based on the Likert statement It is important
to eat 5 fruits vegies/ day (p.007)
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Fruit Vegetable Consumption
Grades with different letters are significantly
different (plt.001)
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Soda Is Associated With Both BMI Systolic BP

• Soda consumption gt 2 per day
• ? mean BMI by 2.2 units 23.1 vs. 20.9 (p
  .004)
• ? mean Systolic BP of 7 mmHg 113 vs. 106 mmHg
  (p .002)

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CA Fitnessgram
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5th Graders are Sedentary

• At the end of week 1 only 34 met the goal of
  12,000 steps/day
• Assumption is that lt 34 met the goal prior to
  the start of StepFit
• 11,062 was average steps/day for week 1

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9th 10th Graders Achieving 12,000 Steps Per Day
(n44, plt.05)
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33
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Percentage
17
Week
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Nutrition Enhances Achievement
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Fitness Enhances Achievement
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Nutrition Enhances Achievement

• Comprehensive School Health
• Reading and math scores of 3rd 4th graders with
  comprehensive health educ. were significantly
  higher (Schoener, et al, 1988)
• School Breakfast Programs
• Improve academic achievement, reduce visits to
  the school nurse, decrease behavioral problems
  (Murphy, et al, 1998)
• Improve academic performance absenteeism among
  low-income elementary school students (Meyers,
  et al, 1989)
• Enhance nutrient intake which was associated with
  significant improvements in academic performance.

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Overweight Inhibits Achievement

• Change from not overweight to overweight status
  during the 1st 4 yrs in school is a significant
  risk factor for adverse school outcomes
• Reductions in test scores
• Increased absences
• Increased behavioral problems among girls (Sturm,
  2006)

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Physical Education, Too

• Students who participated in PE programs did not
  experience a harmful effect on their standardized
  test scores (Sallis, et al, 1999 Shephard, 1996
  Dwyer, et al, 1983)
• Physical activity is positively associated
  with academic performance (Dwyer, et al, 1996)
• Regular (35 times/wk) physical
  activity enhances the health,
  academic performance, attitudes and
  classroom behavior of children at school (Keays
  Allison, 1995)

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State Study Shows Physically Fit Kids Perform
Better Academically

• Higher achievement was associated with higher
  levels of fitness.
• Students who met minimum fitness levels in 3 or
  more physical fitness areas showed the greatest
  gains in academic achievement.

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Children receive about 1/3 of their daily
calories at school. Schools can offer healthier
foods and not lose revenues.
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Call To Action

• Ensure daily, quality physical education in all
  school grades.
• Ensure that schools provide healthful foods and
  beverages on school campuses and at school
  events.
• Adopt policies specifying that all foods and
  beverages available at school
  contribute toward eating patterns
  that are consistent with the
  Dietary Guidelines.

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Congress Reinforced This Call

• The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization of
  2004 requires every local district to develop and
  implement a Wellness Policy by fall of 2006.

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Why School Wellness?
Health and success in school are interrelated.

• Schools cannot achieve their mission of education
  if students staff are not healthy fit
  physically, mentally, socially.
• Experts recommend that schools take an active
  role in preventing disabling health conditions
  that - create misery
  - consume an
  excessive share of our resources.

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Thank You!

• Cindy Wolff
• 898-5288
• cwolff_at_csuchico.edu

Marty Mares 345-0678 mmares_at_scnac.org
Kelley Marty 345-0678 kmarty_at_scnac.org