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News
SCHOOLS FAIL TO MAKE THE GRADE ON HEALTH
By Dorsey Griffith
Sacramento Bee Medical Writer
(Published May 9, 2001)
California children are getting shortchanged in physical education and oversupplied with snack foods, putting them at risk of obesity and a host of related medical problems, a new statewide survey shows. The comprehensive survey of children 9 to 11 years old found more than half are not getting enough daily exercise and nearly one-third are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.
The survey paints a particularly troublesome picture of public schools, some of which do not meet state requirements for physical education, fail to provide nutrition education, or offer students too many opportunities to snack on chips, sodas and candy. It also provides fuel for recent legislative efforts to limit the sale of sodas and high-fat snacks at schools, boost funds for school lunches and require that state laws mandating physical education are followed. "You can't have kids smart and well-prepared if they aren't also physically fit," said Dr. Carmen Nevarez, medical director at the Public Health Institute, which conducted the survey with funding from the California Endowment. "You can't study after you drink a Big Gulp. There are 17 teaspoons of sugar in there.
"The California Children's Healthy Eating and Exercise Practices Survey was mailed to 2,000 households with children ages 9 to 11. Of those, 814 responded and 394 children took part in a follow-up telephone survey. The 1999 survey, which found 32 percent of children overweight or at risk, didn't surprise Gil Sisneros, physical activity coordinator for the state Department of Health Services. He said only 30 percent of school districts are complying with a 1999 state law mandating fitness tests for fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders. In the districts that did comply last year, he said, nearly 80 percent failed to meet the basic fitness standard. That means just six children out of 100 in those grades demonstrated they can pass the test. "The basic requirements are not being met," Sisneros said. "The natural outcome is you're going to get children who are unhealthy."
Although many school officials say they are working to reverse trends in childhood obesity and inactivity, the battle of the bulge is an uphill one. A lack of funds, staff, equipment and time combine with competing demands to undermine efforts to keep kids healthy, they say. Although many elementary schools strictly limit food sales outside of the lunch program, the survey found that 8 percent of children had access to vending machines stocked with snacks and 16 percent could buy soda. An additional 24 percent said their cafeteria served fast food like McDonald's, Burger King and Taco Bell. "We have 70 cents per lunch (to spend) on food," said Nancy MagaŅa-Alexander, nutrition supervisor for the Sacramento City Unified School District. "So many school districts, whether right or wrong, have gone to bolstering their a la carte or snack bar programs because they keep us afloat. That's the bottom line." School and health officials were encouraged by findings that what kids consume at school -- both in calories and in knowledge -- can make a positive difference in their overall health. Fourth- and fifth-graders who learned about nutrition in classes ate more fruits and vegetables and were more likely to meet the federal guidelines for physical activity. And kids who participated in the school lunch program were more likely to get the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, milk and beans than their counterparts.
That's good news for Arthur C. Butler Elementary School in Elk Grove, where students get nutrition education and where about three-fourths of them eat lunch provided by the school district. Tuesday, they chose between French toast and chicken nuggets with hash-brown potatoes. Also on the menu: a Good Source breakfast bar, regular or chocolate milk, apple juice and assorted fresh fruit. Few kids grabbed an apple or banana. Some supplemented their meals with candy brought from home, a violation of school policy. And a handful paid 50 cents extra for a Sunny Delight orange drink sold by cafeteria staff. "It's not a healthy choice. It's an extra beverage," explained Anne Gaffney, a nutrition education specialist with the Elk Grove district. "It's walking that fine line between what students want and what is good for them." And while students at Butler are generally eating well and learning about the importance of doing so, many are not getting physical education classes. The state requires elementary school children get 200 minutes of physical education every 10 days, exclusive of recess. The survey found that time spent in physical education fell almost one hour short of the state mandate. "It would be good to get exercise every day because the students would lose energy in the classroom, and they'd be tired," said Angelica Eichman, a 9-year-old fourth-grader who transferred from a private school where she had P.E. daily. "Now, they are hyper." Michael Anderson, Butler's vice principal, said the school's first- through third-graders get regular P.E. classes. But time constraints mean fourth- through sixth-graders often go without. "Our community has said we want our kids to have technology; so we have computer classes," he said." We want our kids to have a second language; so they get Spanish." Add to that several hours of reading and math, he added, "and your day is over."
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