WALNUT HILLS — A new pilot program aims to give Cincinnati kids an extra push in battling an epidemic among the nation’s youth: obesity.
Cincinnati Public Schools has partnered with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center to offer a weight management clinic at Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Walnut Hills, the latest program that puts schools on the front line.
Local officials hope the program offers a solution, but they understand the realities. Historically – despite the billions of dollars spent nationwide in recent years to fight the ever-growing trend – anti-obesity programs have failed. Childhood obesity continues to rise at alarming rates; so do the economic and academic costs.
“It is difficult to point to something that works,” said James O. Hill, Anschutz Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado and national expert on obesity. “We’ve had research studies and some success with small groups, but implementing something broad in schools really hasn’t been that successful.”
NEW PROGRAM OFFERS A DIFFERENT MODEL
CPS’ new program is simple: Frederick Douglass students whose body mass index scores are at or above the 84th percentile, or those who have other weight-related health issues, will be recommended for the after-school program, where students and their parents meet with registered dieticians and exercise physiologists to create individual diet and exercise plans.
CPS will track results at the roughly 350-student school and may expand the program to additional schools. It’s part of a broader neighborhood anti-obesity initiative started by community groups in Walnut Hills. The strong partnerships are why Children’s Hospital picked this school in this community.
“We’re going to solve this obesity problem. And we’re going to do it in communities like Walnut Hills, and in schools like Frederick Douglass,” said Marilyn Crumpton, director of Growing Well Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Health Department’s division of School & Adolescent Health.
Hill sees real potential with the new program. “This is fairly unique. ... I do think it is fairly innovative,” he said. “I’m happy to see children’s hospitals interacting with schools. (But) it’s going to be very, very hard.”
ADDING TEETH TO STATES' CHILDHOOD OBESITY LAWS
Concern about the growing waistlines of the nation’s youth has spurred lots of laws and programs over the years. Among them:
1. National school-lunch rules, tied to federal funding, that dictate calorie counts, vegetable servings and a ban on deep-fried foods.
2. In Ohio, the Healthy Choices for Healthy Children Act, which became law in 2010 and cited childhood obesity as “the most profound public health issue confronting Ohio,” restricts the foods and beverages offered in schools; requires districts to record student BMIs; requires 30 minutes of exercise a day; changes curriculum requirements (requiring, for example, health education to include instruction on nutrition and physical activity) and gym teacher qualifications.
Districts must report results to the state. A “physical education and wellness measure” will appear on a district’s Ohio Report Card in August for the first time; it won’t change their academic ratings.
3.In Kentucky, a 2005-06 law set nutritional parameters in schools, including student access to vending machines and fast food. It also required elementary schools have wellness policies that include up to 30 minutes of physical activity a day and require schools measure students fitness levels annually.
In February 2012, the Kentucky Board of Education revised the state’s student health policy to include a place for BMI reporting on student health forms. The forms become part of the students’ cumulative health records. The data is reported at the request of public health officials for statewide analysis purposes so the department can track the trends.
4. National initiatives such as Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move public awareness campaign.
5. Local programs throughout Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky schools that range from food education (class projects about fruits and vegetables or field trips to farms) to exercise regimes.
Such initiatives didn’t arise in a vacuum. The statistics are stark. And today, it’s an education issue.
AN EVER-GROWING EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM
Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in teenagers in the past 30 years, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2010, more than one-third of children and teenagers were overweight or obese.
The weight gains coincided with a lifestyle change. Years ago more children walked to school, played outside and ate home-cooked meals. Today, they spend much of their days at computers or televisions and rely more on processed food or fast-food.
About 15 percent of high school students in Ohio and 17 percent in Kentucky were obese, according to a 2011 survey by the CDC.
A 2012 report from the Trust for America’s Health ranked Kentucky third in the nation in the number of children considered obese. Ohio ranked 12th.
Childhood obesity puts youth at risk for heart disease and pre-diabetes and increases the risk of them becoming obese adults, leading to additional health problems such as stroke and many types of cancer, according to the CDC.
It also sucks up taxpayer dollars. The National School Boards Association says obesity-related health care accounts for an estimated 21 percent of medical spending, some of which is paid for through Medicare and Medicaid.
Childhood obesity is worse in poor neighborhoods, where families often lack nearby grocery stores or the funds to pay for fresh foods.
Like many other social, economic or health issues among youth, obesity has become an education issue. Some studies have shown a link between obesity and decreased academic achievement.
Being overweight can lead to health issues, low self-esteem and bullying that can increase the student’s absence rate.
OBESITY LEGISLATION CAN BE CUMBERSOME
Local school districts are no strangers to health partnerships. But tackling health issues through laws or mandates has at times been a stumbling block.
When Ohio mandated schools take BMI measurements, about half the school districts in the state and all but nine of the 49 local districts opted out, calling it too cumbersome. Eventually the state made it optional. Districts also aren’t required to participate in the 30-minute exercise pilot.
Most states have passed laws that attempt to address childhood obesity. But there is room for improvement, said Kathy Christie, a vice president with the Education Commission of the States, which tracks and compares state policies on many education issues.
As of last year, 38 states mandated physical education in elementary, middle and high school, according to the 2012 Shape of the Nation report. But most didn’t require a specific amount and more than half, including Ohio and Kentucky, allowed exemptions.
“I think states have been working on this longer then most people know,” said Christie. But, she added, “the devil is always in the details.”
Siegel said not many anti-obesity interventions have been scientifically evaluated.
Organizers of the Frederick Douglass pilot hope this one will serve as an example.
“This is the one type of intervention that’s been shown to work with kids who are obese – the specific pediatric weight-management clinic,” Siegel said.
The program will be a next step after the BMI measurements. It will answer the “what now?” question for families of overweight students who aren’t sure how to get help.
“That can be difficult,” Siegel said. “That’s why we’re there. We hope to eliminate one more barrier.”
Frederick Douglass school kicked off the program May 7. Time will tell how successful it is. But hope is high. “It sounds like they have lots of the right players,” UC’s Hill said. “It’d be really good if this is the one that works.”
Crumpton offered this quote at the grand opening: “It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
The author: Frederick Douglass.■