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Parents call for crack down on childhood obesity

by Alana Price
May 23, 2006

By Alana Y. Price, Medill News Service Kidhealth
Salad bars in school cafeterias and increased physical education requirements are just two demands articulated by more than 500 parents who plan to rally for healthier schools Thursday afternoon in Humboldt Park.

Parents and community groups organized the rally to encourage the Chicago Public Schools to adopt stronger measures against childhood obesity as part of a new school wellness policy. The district must finalize the wellness policy this summer to comply with new federal and state mandates, which require all schools to set health goals before next school year. Working under the auspices of a nonprofit organization called the Healthy Schools Campaign, parents are asking the Chicago Board of Education to adopt an ambitious plan.

"We have to get involved ... because we don't want to raise children who are sick," said Milagros Abril, whose three sons attend Hans Christian Andersen Elementary School in East Ukrainian Village. "I can help my son in my house, but what about at school?"

Abril said she is particularly worried about her 11-year-old son, who is 30 pounds overweight and has high cholesterol. She's encouraging him to exercise and eat healthy food at home, but she's frustrated about the greasy food at his cafeteria.

"If he's only provided fried chicken and pizza or junk food, it's going to be impossible to keep track of what he's eating," Abril said. "I also think he doesn't get enough physical activity. They don't have any recess to stretch their legs and jump around. [Having P.E.] once a week is not enough."

Abril said she and her neighbors got involved in the Healthy Schools Campaign through West Town Leadership United, a neighborhood community organization. She supports the campaign's recommendation that elementary and middle schools offer P.E. classes twice per week and provide salad bars for all students.

Parents groups from Chicago's North, West and Southwest Side neighborhoods are planning to attend Thursday's rally, which will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Humboldt Park Boathouse, 1359 N. Sacramento Blvd. A panel of school board members and public health officials will be present to answer questions and respond to parents' concerns.

Childhood obesity is a nationwide epidemic, but the problem is particularly acute among African American and Hispanic children in Chicago. About two out of every three children from Humboldt Park, West Town, South Lawndale, North Lawndale and Roseland are overweight or obese, according to a 2004 study by the Sinai Urban Health Institute.

Illinois technically requires daily physical education classes for students from kindergarten through high school, but a study conducted by researchers last year at Illinois State University concluded that 83 percent of elementary schools do not meet this standard. The majority of students have P.E. just once per week.

Officials from the Chicago Public Schools have been working to draft a local school wellness policy since December, said Ken Papineau, the district's director of coordinated school health. Representatives from the Office of Specialized Services, which oversees food services, worked with representatives from the Office of High School Programs, which oversees physical education, to write a first draft of the policy.

"We're currently collecting public feedback," Papineau said. "We're moving into the revision stage and we'll release a revised draft of the policy back to the public before finalizing it in June."

Papineau said the school district has worked closely with community organizations such as the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children, the Stakeholders Collaboration to Improve Student Health and the Healthy Schools Campaign from the beginning of the process, but he declined to comment directly on the campaign's policy recommendations about salad bars and P.E.

However, he noted that community support for healthier schools has the potential to help the district meet new health goals, especially because funding is tight.

"We're trying to harness the interest and the energy that surrounds this subject to the benefit of schools," Papineau said. "Although there's not additional funding ... we've heard from community organizations that are interested in partnering with us to provide services to students."

For example, neighborhood groups can offer physically strenuous after-school programs, Papineau said. PTAs can hold monthly fundraisers to help pay for school salad bars.

School officials and campaign leaders agree that finding ways to follow through on any kind of wellness policy will be an ongoing challenge. The Healthy Schools Campaign is recommending that the school district include a health indicator on school score cards as one measure to keep schools accountable to students' health needs. But schools will undoubtedly need more money to meet new health goals.

"It's going to take all levels of government and community support in order to provide the resources needed," campaign spokeswoman Deborah Popely said. "We do understand that the schools are trying to do a lot with a little. ... But health is a pathway to learning -- health and learning should go hand in hand."

http://mesh.medill.northwestern.edu/mnschicago/archives/2006/05/kidhelth_parent.html