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The Memphis Commercial Appeal, April 7, 2007
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Under a hailstorm of ridicule, schools have scrambled to dam the surge of childhood obesity by yanking soda machines and scrapping calorie-laden cafeteria food.
But a nationwide study indicates schools may not be to blame for our youth s' expanding girth. Researchers at Indiana University and Ohio State found the rate of weight gain doubled in kindergarten and first-grade students during summer break compared with the months they were in school. The findings reported in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health came as little surprise to local schools. As Tennessee ranks third in the nation for childhood obesity and fifth for type 2 diabetes in children, the pressure has been on schools to get kids healthy. "The school system gets blamed for a lot of things," said Marsha Landstreet, Shelby County Schools' supervisor of school nutrition. Federal and state mandates have called for more exercise, banning soda and eliminating junk food. But kids continue to gain weight and get sick. "We have a part in that, in the learning process, but it's not the school food making children fat," Landstreet said.
School specialists agree that when structured school days are put on hold, kids are left to lounge around and snack all day. Between video games and DVDs, there are too many options to sit, said Carol Irwin, Memphis City Schools' health, physical education, and lifetime wellness coordinator. "We don't even have to stand and turn the channel anymore." Irwin says everything about this study points to the need for year-round schools. "During the school year, we're able to control children at the environment they're at." Preliminary data from Memphis schools show a 30 percent obesity rate for fourth- and fifth-graders, nearly double the national average. County schools have not tracked student obesity. Looking at 5,380 students across the county, the study recorded each student's BMI or body mass index, which is a measurement of height and weight. Researchers assess increases during summer vacation by comparing measurements from the beginning and end of their kindergarten and first-grade school years.
They found the increase was even larger among black and Hispanic students and children who already were overweight. But kindergartners and first-graders aren't the only ones packing on the pounds during summer break, says Dr. Pedro Velasquez-Mieyer. As co-director of the Pediatric Lifestyle Clinic at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, he sees patients ages 14 and up and has observed summer weight gain in middle and high school students as well. "It's exactly the same" as the results for the younger children in the study, he said. City schools' Irwin says several factors keep kids cooped up over the summer. "So many parents are paranoid to let their children run outside and get lost," she said. And although there are plenty of summer camp programs, many parents can't afford them or can't find transportation, Irwin said. Although the study's research indicates schools are not the obesity culprit, Irwin says it doesn't take the responsibility off them for keeping kids healthy. "We need to be talking to parents, reminding parents how big a deal this is," she said. "We need to work together."
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