Learning To Eat: Inova Researcher Says Education Is Key To Solving Childhood Obesity

December 27, 2007 - 2:12pm
by Shannon Sollinger @ Loudoun Times-Mirror

RICHMOND, Va. - Nearly one-third of the 10- to 17-year olds in Virginia are overweight or obese, according to a 2003 National Survey of Children's Heath.

The trend, some call it an epidemic, has led to alarming increases in ailments long confined to the adult population – diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Recent headlines suggest this may be "the heart attack generation."

The schools, suggests a recent study conducted in Loudoun, might be the ideal place to start educating both children and their parents about nutrition and exercise.

As Americans over the last three decades started eating more processed and fast foods, they, and their children, started spending more time in front of the TV or a video game console. Obesity, according to a Mayo Clinic study, "is greater among children and adolescents who frequently watch television."

Obesity can be caused by genetic mutations and an out-of-kilter metabolism, but the culprit is nearly always taking in more calories than are used up by exercise, aka overeating. And the answer to that is education: Educate the parents, educate the children. Educate the children to educate the parents.

A 24-week study of the effect of teaching nutrition and offering structured exercise programs at four Loudoun elementary schools led researcher Karen G. Speroni to conclude that school nurses might use their position as "role models and spokespersons to foster increased activity and improved nutritional education in their schools and communities."

Speroni, director of nursing research at Inova Loudoun Hospital, concedes that "school nurses and/or school staff cannot solve the childhood obesity epidemic." But it's a place to start.

In her study, students at four elementary schools volunteered for an afterschool exercise and nutrition pilot program based on the local franchise Kids Living Fit. Speroni, with fellow researchers Cynthia Early, research nurse at Inova Loudoun Hospital, and Martin Atherton, George Mason University adjunct professor, added registered dietitians and registered nurses.

The children also participated in afterschool activities, and for four of the 24 weeks wore a pedometer and recorded how many steps they took in a week.

The object of the study, Speroni said, was to determine whether children can be taught to make "best choices" with respect to activities and the food they consume.

The answer was "yes." The body mass index – ratio of body fat to height and weight – decreased in the study group at the end of the 24 weeks.

Dietitians met with the students four times, 30 minutes per session, to discuss "best choice" lunches, the Food Guide Pyramid and serving size, healthy choices and “portion distortion,” and fast food evaluation.

The schools serve up about 24,000 lunches a day that meet or exceed national and state nutritional guidelines. But the schools value choice, Speroni said, and there is no way to ensure that an individual diner chooses well.

Speroni said she has watched a cafeteria line and observed children opt for, say, the "mac and cheese with wheat roll" over the "ham, turkey and cheese deli sandwich," and then walk straight past the fruit, the vegetables and the milk.

She recommended to the school board, at the conclusion of her study, that choice may not be the best path to health. Better, she suggested, to put out the "best choice" tray – the child can still choose between the two main entrees, but everything else will already be on the tray. The diner will not have the option of passing up the fruit and the vegetable.

That will lead to some waste, she admitted, but the portions could be smaller and the health benefits will outweigh the waste.

We need to teach the children, Speroni said, that the "object of eating is not to satisfy the pleasure of the moment, but to fuel your body with energy, the balanced diet and food it needs so you can enjoy the things you like to do best, to play and learn, to grow your body and to grow your mind."

Contact the reporter at ssollinger@timespapers.com

Copyright 2007 Loudoun Times-Mirror. All rights reserved.

by Shannon Sollinger @ Loudoun Times-Mirror

RICHMOND, Va. - Nearly one-third of the 10- to 17-year olds in Virginia are overweight or obese, according to a 2003 National Survey of Children's Heath.

The trend, some call it an epidemic, has led to alarming increases in ailments long confined to the adult population – diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Recent headlines suggest this may be "the heart attack generation."

The schools, suggests a recent study conducted in Loudoun, might be the ideal place to start educating both children and their parents about nutrition and exercise.

As Americans over the last three decades started eating more processed and fast foods, they, and their children, started spending more time in front of the TV or a video game console. Obesity, according to a Mayo Clinic study, "is greater among children and adolescents who frequently watch television."

Obesity can be caused by genetic mutations and an out-of-kilter metabolism, but the culprit is nearly always taking in more calories than are used up by exercise, aka overeating. And the answer to that is education: Educate the parents, educate the children. Educate the children to educate the parents.

A 24-week study of the effect of teaching nutrition and offering structured exercise programs at four Loudoun elementary schools led researcher Karen G. Speroni to conclude that school nurses might use their position as "role models and spokespersons to foster increased activity and improved nutritional education in their schools and communities."

Speroni, director of nursing research at Inova Loudoun Hospital, concedes that "school nurses and/or school staff cannot solve the childhood obesity epidemic." But it's a place to start.

In her study, students at four elementary schools volunteered for an afterschool exercise and nutrition pilot program based on the local franchise Kids Living Fit. Speroni, with fellow researchers Cynthia Early, research nurse at Inova Loudoun Hospital, and Martin Atherton, George Mason University adjunct professor, added registered dietitians and registered nurses.

The children also participated in afterschool activities, and for four of the 24 weeks wore a pedometer and recorded how many steps they took in a week.

The object of the study, Speroni said, was to determine whether children can be taught to make "best choices" with respect to activities and the food they consume.

The answer was "yes." The body mass index – ratio of body fat to height and weight – decreased in the study group at the end of the 24 weeks.

Dietitians met with the students four times, 30 minutes per session, to discuss "best choice" lunches, the Food Guide Pyramid and serving size, healthy choices and “portion distortion,” and fast food evaluation.

The schools serve up about 24,000 lunches a day that meet or exceed national and state nutritional guidelines. But the schools value choice, Speroni said, and there is no way to ensure that an individual diner chooses well.

Speroni said she has watched a cafeteria line and observed children opt for, say, the "mac and cheese with wheat roll" over the "ham, turkey and cheese deli sandwich," and then walk straight past the fruit, the vegetables and the milk.

She recommended to the school board, at the conclusion of her study, that choice may not be the best path to health. Better, she suggested, to put out the "best choice" tray – the child can still choose between the two main entrees, but everything else will already be on the tray. The diner will not have the option of passing up the fruit and the vegetable.

That will lead to some waste, she admitted, but the portions could be smaller and the health benefits will outweigh the waste.