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It will take a village to stem the growing trend of childhood obesity. And the LSU AgCenter has joined a community push to keep kids healthier.
Childhood obesity is an alarming problem in the United States. The number of obese and overweight children continues to climb. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 17 percent of children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19 are obese and 34 percent are overweight and at risk of becoming obese. The percentage of obese children is up from 14 percent in 2000. Twenty-eight percent of youngsters were overweight in 2000.
Alarming also is that 80 percent of these overweight children become overweight adults.
Childhood obesity is associated with several health consequences including high cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, bone and joint disorders, asthma, sleep apnea, low exercise tolerance, increased viral infections and premature maturation. The most serious and prevalent consequences of childhood obesity are psychological: depression, low self-esteem and social discrimination.
Smart Bodies
Smart Bodies is an interactive campaign designed to help prevent childhood obesity. The program is a joint venture of the LSU AgCenter and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation.
The program has three parts that integrate classroom activities with hands-on learning. The components include the Louisiana Body Walk, the OrganWise Guys and Take 10! Smart Bodies teaches children healthy lifestyles and recognizes that prevention of obesity is easier than treatment.
“The important thing is to reach the children while they are young because it is so difficult to change health habits later in life,” said Denise Holston, LSU AgCenter’s Smart Bodies coordinator.
The program is in nearly 100 schools and has reached an estimated 12,000 youngsters. Holston is wrapping up a research project with 18 schools. Preliminary results indicate the program is having a positive influence on the children.
“One school said they have started ordering more fruits and vegetables for the cafeteria because they started running out after the program was implemented,” Holston said.
Education Programs and Outreach
The LSU AgCenter's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) helps limited-income families with young children. EFNEP’s mission is to empower these families to make informed decisions about food purchasing, food safety and meal management. While the program focuses on helping the family become more financially efficient in meeting food needs, participants get information about making healthy choices for themselves and their children. The program annually reaches nearly 2,000 low-income families, which include about 7,500 youngsters. Tests on behavior changes indicated that 59 percent of the families improved in serving healthier foods.
EFNEP relies on nutrition educators to get the information to the participants. Nutrition educators work in the same parishes where they live. Many nutrition educators are graduates of the EFNEP program. These educators provide lessons to groups and support to individuals. They are trained using the Web-based nutrition curriculum Eat Smart, which was developed by a team of LSU AgCenter nutrition specialists. The curriculum is organized into six sections: Basic Nutrition, The Nutrients, Stretching Your Food Dollars, Nutrition & Chronic Disease, Nutrition & the Life Cycle and Food Safety. Each section has several lessons and includes pre and post-tests.
All AgCenter nutrition educators are required to become certified within two years from the employment date. Eat Smart is used as the study curriculum for the certification program. Several other states besides Louisiana have a paraprofessional certification program and use Eat Smart as their study curriculum, according to Heli Roy, program coordinator.
The Smart Choices curriculum has resources for both adults and youth. The program emphasizes healthy eating and increased physical activity in both.
Promoting Activity
Active children are more likely to be active adults. LSU AgCenter nutritionist Beth Reames and other family and consumer scientists promote activity for all age groups and stress the importance of active children.
Insufficient physical activity increases the risk of being overweight or obese and for having many related chronic diseases. Regular physical activity is linked with immediate and long-term health benefits, including weight control, lower blood pressure, improved cardio-respiratory function and enhanced psychological well-being.
In addition to getting children moving, the nutritionist encourages healthy eating habits and discourages the consumption of high sugar beverages. Youngsters should always eat a healthy breakfast, and snacking should be discouraged after dinnertime. Reames recommends getting acquainted with the revised Food Guide Pyramid. Often parents are unaware that the portions they serve their children are larger than the serving sizes recommended by the Food Pyramid. A serving of meat, poultry or fish is 3 ounces, about the size of a deck of cards. Similarly, a 1.5-ounce serving of cheese is equal to three dominoes, and a half-cup serving of fruit, vegetables, rice or pasta is the size of half a baseball.
LSU AgCenter nutritionists and agents also are involved in Louisiana on the Move, which is part of the national American on the Move campaign. Agents promote the campaign’s goal to get Louisianans to move more, about 2,000 steps a day and eat less, about 100 fewer calories.
Recognition
In 2005, LSU AgCenter nutritionists were recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for their role in the fight against childhood obesity. The nutritionists were part of a team promoting Delta HOPE – a program aimed at improving children’s health through classroom-based intervention in the Mississippi Delta area of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Some schools in Northeast Louisiana implemented the Take 10! program in their classrooms. The program incorporates 10 minutes of exercise into math, English and science lessons throughout the day. For example, students may do jumping jacks while reciting math problems. This area was chosen because it’s a high poverty area and with high poverty comes obesity.
"We are involved with school-based health centers to teach nutrition education," said Heli Roy, LSU AgCenter nutritionist. "These types of activities are important so that when these young people start making their own choices, they can make the right choices."
The LSU AgCenter is one of 11 institutions of higher education in the Louisiana State University System. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, it provides educational services in every parish and conducts research that contributes to the economic development of the state. The LSU AgCenter does not grant degrees nor benefit from tuition increases. The LSU AgCenter plays an integral role in supporting agricultural industries, enhancing the environment, and improving the quality of life through its 4-H youth, family and community programs.