Franklin Elementary students get interactive lesson in healthy eating

Sure, he was a little sweaty, but no worse for the wear.

Dylan Coonts had conquered the Food Pyramid, scaling the 25-foot inflatable climbing wall in the gymnasium of Franklin Elementary School.

"It was great," the fourth-grader said, shouting over the din of the gym just before lunch Tuesday.

Coonts and his class joined Franklin students for the 2010 Dairy Fully Fueled Tour, sponsored by St. Louis District Dairy Council and funded by local dairy farmers.

The program transformed the school's gymnasium into an interactive playground, complete with the String Cheese Fun Run, the Yogurt Swirl, nutrition-based video games and bass-laden pop music bouncing off the walls.

Franklin, thanks to a school nurse and a physical education teacher, earned the right to host the event, one of 34 schools in Missouri and Illinois on the tour this year.

The program is learning by doing. As Dylan and his classmates scaled the Food Pyramid Climbing Wall, they eyed the brightly colored nutrition categories. Students wrote their names on the Pledge Wall, promising to "eat more foods from the dairy, vegetable and whole grain groups every day." And they raced one another in the inflatable Fun Run, where they were encouraged to "be cheesy."

Susan Hanley, executive director of the St. Louis District Dairy Council, said the program is designed to engage students in making smart choices about nutrition and physical activity.

Making good choices and establishing healthy habits early, nutrition experts say, is critical in the battle against epidemic obesity rates among U.S. teens. Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years, increasing from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 19.6 percent in 2008 among children aged 6 to 11, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The prevalence of obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 increased from 5 percent to 18.1 percent.

The health complications are variegated -- surges in cardiovascular disease, diabetes and bone and joint disorders -- and consequently crippling to the U.S. health system, experts say.

Franklin Elementary and the schools in the Cape Girardeau School District are combating the effect of childhood obesity and inactivity through a variety of programs and a change in philosophy, said Lisa Elfrink, the district's nutrition services coordinator. Breakfasts, lunches and after-school snacks emphasize whole-grain bread products with lower sodium counts, including corn dogs, chicken nuggets and pizza. The vending machines, now found only at the high school and junior high, offer baked chips, lower-calorie energy drinks and diet soda, and 12-ounce juice bottles rather than the 20-ounce servings.

While Elfrink said the district doesn't track obesity rates, she acknowledges Cape Girardeau public schools are experiencing the same kind of problems found in districts across the country. The mission, the administrator said, is to get the message out about the importance of nutrition and physical activity.

"It starts at preschool and goes through high school," Elfrink said.

Franklin principal Rhonda Dunham said she doesn't see a big problem with obesity at the elementary school, but she has seen a troubling pattern of inactivity among an increasing number of students. She said it is hard to compete with Xbox, television and the Internet.

"When I grew up we didn't have all that. We weren't allowed to sit in front of the TV, we had neighborhoods to play in," Dunham said. "The fact is, they just don't get outside. So we have been trying to combat that with more exercise."

While schools struggle with the obesity question, they also must be cognizant of the poverty problem. About 87 percent of Franklin's students are in the free- and reduced-price-lunch program.

"Not only do we have children worried about obesity, we also have children in this country, in this community, who need what we put in front of them every single day," Elfrink said.

Quality food programs, a nutrition education focus and increased student activity are the pathways to building a stronger student body, nutrition experts say.

Dylan Coonts will tell you why healthy eating habits matter.

"It can help you when you're older," the 9-year-old said.

mkittle@semissourian.com

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