School Nutrition and Physical Activity

In response to what the U.S. Surgeon General calls an “epidemic” of childhood overweight and obesity, the Great Lakes Center for Youth Development (the Center) focuses special attention on school nutrition and physical activity.

The facts on childhood overweight and obesity

A 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that 17 percent of 2 to 19 year olds in America were overweight. It’s a trend that’s been on the rise for decades. Today there are nearly twice as many overweight children and nearly three times as many overweight adolescents as there were in 1980.

Overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults, leaving them at risk for a number of health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and some forms of cancer.

It’s a problem that hits close to home. According to a 2007 report from the Trust for America’s Health, Michigan has the ninth highest rate of adult obesity in the nation at 26.8 percent and the 20th highest rate of overweight youths (ages 10-17) at 14.5 percent. To read the full report, click here.

In the Upper Peninsula, the news isn’t any brighter. In sidebar surveys to the Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors Survey, the Center found that 81 percent of students in Marquette and Alger counties and 76 percent of studetns in Chippewa and Mackinac counties eat fewer than the five recommended servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Fifteen percent of students in Chippewa and Mackinac counties and 11 percent in Marquette and Alger counties did not exercise for at least 30 minutes in a seven day period.

Call to action

In 2001, the U.S. Surgeon General released a Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. The Call to Action centers on activities and interventions in five settings: schools, families and communities, health care, media and communications, and worksites.

As part of its goal to mobilize the community around positive youth development, the Great Lakes Center for Youth Development is acting upon the Surgeon General’s recommendations for schools. The Center is partnering with the Marquette Alger Regional Educational Service Agency, U.P. Diabetes Outreach Network, and Michigan State University Extension to strengthen the school nutrition environment in the Upper Peninsula.

Healthy School Action Tool

One of the ways the Center strengthens school nutrition is by assisting schools in completing the Healthy School Action Tool (HSAT), an online assessment to determine ways to create a healthier school. In 2006-2007, the Center and partners assisted seven school districts in Marquette and Alger Counties in completing the HSAT. As a result, numerous actions were taken to improve the school nutrition climate. These include the substitution of water, milk and juice for pop in vending machines; greater availability of healthy snacks in the cafeteria and during athletic and other after-school events; physical activity “brain breaks” during class time, parent breakfasts promoting nutrition, and more.

Jump into Foods and Fitness

The Center, in conjunction with MSU Extension of Marquette County, offers Jump into Foods and Fitness (JIFF) workshops for schools and other youth-serving organizations. JIFF is a curriculum developed by MSU Extension to help improve kids’ overall health and fitness and reduce their risk of developing life-threatening illnesses later in life.

JIFF takes the serious business of teaching kids about healthy food choices and being physically active and makes it fun. Jiff the Joey sets the stage for eight “Kangaroo Jumps” or sessions in the curriculum. Learning activities in nutrition, physical fitness and food safety are integrated into the program which was designed for ages 8 to 11 but can be modified for ages 5 and up.

You don’t need to be an expert in childhood nutrition and fitness to deliver the JIFF program. In the highly interactive workshop, participants find out how they can learn right along with the kids, whether in a school, after-school, club, camp, or other youth program setting.

For more information on JIFF, visit the MSU Extension Web site.

Representatives of youth-serving organizations from around the Upper Peninsula participate in a Jump into Foods and Fitness workshop in June 2008 at Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

Healthy school success stories

Click on the following U.P. schools to read how they are improving policies, programs, and practices on healthy eating, physical activity, and tobacco-free lifestyles.

AuTrain-Onota School

Bahwating Anishnabe Public School Academy

Bessemer Area School District

Engadine High School

Manistique High School

Mid Peninsula School

Republic Michigamme School

Rudyard High School

The Center can help your school

If your U.P. school is interested in completing the HSAT, please contact Linda Remsburg, Youth Development Associate at the Center, by phone at 906-228-8919 ext. 26 or e-mail at lremsburg@glcyd.org.

Great links to school nutrition information

The Michigan Department of Community Health, in partnership with other organizations, offers a suite of Web sites to help your school assess whether you are doing all you can to make sure your students are fit, healthy and ready to learn.

Michigan Team Nutrition is a partnership of Michigan State University and Michigan Department of Education. It provides member schools with nutrition information and opportunities to apply for funding.

Action for Healthy Kids is a nonprofit organization formed specifically to address the epidemic of overweight, undernourished and sedentary youth by focusing on changes in school.

The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture focuses on two objectives: to advance and promote dietary guidance for all Americans, and to conduct applied research and analyses in nutrition and consumer economics.