Obesity Prevention Efforts Help El Paso Kids

[Hadassah Terry]

Obesity Prevention Efforts Help El Paso Kids

Victor R. Martinez, El Paso Times, Texas

Posted Mar 30, 2010

EL PASO -- When first lady Michelle Obama launched her "Let's Move" initiative to fight childhood obesity in February, many students in El Paso were already ahead of the curve, and it wasn't around the belly.

The first lady's nationwide campaign calls for a number of initiatives that target what she calls four key pillars -- getting parents more informed about nutrition and exercise, improving the quality of food in schools, making healthful foods more affordable and accessible for families, and focusing more on physical education.


Researchers at the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living (University of Texas School of Public Health Science Center in Houston) found that obesity prevention efforts in the El Paso area were the most effective in Texas in decreasing the prevalence of childhood obesity.

"Data from the El Paso region shows us that obesity prevention efforts, when implemented on a broad scale, can be successful," said Deanna Hoelscher, professor and director at the Michael and Susan Dell Center.

According to the School Physical Activity and Nutrition Project, called SPAN, there was a 13 percent decrease in obesity among El Paso's fourth-graders since a 2004-2005 study showed about 37 percent of El Paso-area fourth-graders and eighth-graders were overweight or obese.

The purpose of this study was to examine regional changes in the prevalence of obesity due to statewide policies and programs among children in grades four, eight

and 11 in Texas Health Services regions between 2000-2002 and 2004-2005 in nine selected counties.

The probability-based sample survey, funded by the Texas Department of State Health Services, was conducted to look at the nutritional health of students in Texas. Another part of the survey was recording the students' height and weight.


"We looked at measures of dietary intake, measures for physical activities and body mass index which is a measure of obesity," Hoelscher said.

The SPAN survey of 23,190 Texas students -- including 1,164 El Paso elementary, middle and high-school students -- contained questions concerning the students' eating habits, how they spend their free time, and how much physical activity they get at school and at home. Another survey was filled out by the participants' parents.

Hoelscher said much of the credit for the health improvements in El Paso should be given to the Paso del Norte Health Foundation and its programs.

"It was kind of a perfect storm of different programs and policies coming together at the time the survey was done," she said. "Much of that was funded by Paso del Norte Health Foundation."

During that time, Paso del Norte funded an elementary school program called CATCH, Coordinated Approach To Child Health. The CATCH program was designed to encourage healthful living among youths by teaching such habits as a healthful diet and exercise.

The foundation also funded community programs such as the Que Sabrosa Vida cooking program and Walk El Paso! Walk El Paso! encouraged walking 20 minutes a day, three times a week, while Que Sabrosa Vida was a five-year, $3 million nutrition initiative to teach El Pasoans to create healthful Mexican food.


"It was a coordinated and collaborative approach that made this work," said Enrique Mata, senior program officer for the Paso del Norte Health Foundation. "The multiple partners in the community that have worked with us to provide better opportunities for physical activities and better opportunities for healthy meals have made a real difference."

Mata said El Pasoans accepted the positive messages that the Paso del Norte Foundation sent out to create a healthful change in behavior.

"There are always going to be barriers like not having a safe place to play, not having time allocated for recess or having enough time to have a family together," he said. "As a community, in trying to be good role models, we learned through those health messages to remove those barriers and provide doable activities and help people get out and be fit and healthy."

Last week, a new round of SPAN surveys were handed out to physical education students in 23 schools in the El Paso, San Elizario and Socorro school districts, including fourth-graders at Barron Elementary School.

Jose Garcia, a physical education teacher at Barron Elementary, in the El Paso Independent School District, has heard all the alarming statistics about childhood obesity.

The number of overweight children has tripled in the past 30 years, and an alarming number of American children have high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes because they are overweight.


"These kids are exercising hard every day, and they don't even know it," Garcia said. "We try to make P.E. fun. We try to incorporate everybody in different games where everyone can compete and have fun and stay fit."

The Barron Elementary students know how important it is to stay fit and eat properly.

"We let them know how important a good diet and exercise is for them," Garcia said. "We do an after-school program, called A to Q Zones, where the kids sign up and participate in different activities that we don't do during P.E."

The children can participate in various games.

"We have a pedometer on them and it counts their steps on a daily basis, and they add them up in the end of the week, and they get little ribbons," he said.

He also said parents need to be more conscious about what their children are eating and to be more involved in the children's activities inside and outside of school.


"Parents need to get them involved in summer or winter leagues," Garcia said. "They can take them to recreation centers. It doesn't have to be competitive just as long is they are out moving and off the TV."

Carolyn Smith, the project director in charge of collecting data for the SPAN Project, agrees that the battle of the bulge ultimately begins at home.

"One of these days we are going to have to get back to basics or we are going to find ourselves getting more and more unhealthy," she said. "But it's really exciting that the El Paso community has gotten involved like they have. It's a really good model for other communities to follow."

Victor R. Martinez may be reached at [e-mail]; 546-6128.

Help your child keep fit
Even if your child isn't interested in team sports, you can still help him get involved in activities that will improve self-esteem, strength, coordination and general fitness.
--Offer choices. Many activities can keep children fit, not all of them involving team sports.

--Keep an open mind. Some girls want to play ice hockey and basketball, while some boys want to take ballet or figure skating.


--Suggest activities that work well for solo types as well as team players, such as dancing, gymnastics, swimming, skating, martial arts and horseback riding.

--Encourage other non-sports activities to build teamwork and sharing skills such as school clubs, band or orchestra participation, volunteer activities, debating teams or performance groups.

--Be supportive, but don't push. If your child mentions interest in a certain activity, don't immediately assume you're raising the next Olympic champion. Your child might just want to play tennis for fun and fitness.

--Set a good example. Take a walk, go for a swim or sign up for a fitness class yourself.

--Remember that your children may not care for the sports you excelled in. Let them go their own way, as long as they are fit and active.
Source: www.ehow.com.

-----


To see more of the El Paso Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.elpasotimes.com.

Copyright © 2010, El Paso Times, Texas