When CHOOSY talks, children at Heartland Head Start do more than listen. They stretch, march, twist, throw, catch, sing, dance and learn about healthier food choices.
"For them, it's fun," said Deb O'Connell, child health and development content leader at Head Start, 206 Stillwell St., Bloomington.
But when the character CHOOSY (Choose Healthy Options Often and Start Young) sings to the 3- to 5-year-olds in recordings that encourage movement and healthy eating, the children are doing physical activity while learning about the importance of movement and healthful eating.
"CHOOSY eats one cookie," JaMarcus Lackey, 4, said at Head Start following a recent activity.
"He eats vegetables," said Amarius Bellamy, 4.
"We spin and march. I do exercise like this," Lackey said as he did a pushup. "I do CHOOSY things at home: jump and play basketball."
CHOOSY is the centerpiece of "I Am Moving, I Am Learning," a program at Head Start to fight childhood obesity by increasing physical activity during daily routines and promoting healthy nutrition.
All 332 Head Start children at six centers in McLean and Livingston counties are involved in the program. The number of children exposed to the program -- or a similar one -- may increase in the coming months.
McLean County's first Community Summit on Childhood Overweight and Obesity at Illinois State University's Alumni Center in Normal on Oct. 1 will highlight several "success stories" -- including the Head Start program -- with the hope that others may learn from those stories, said summit co-chairwomen Jackie Lanier of the McLean County Health Department and Marilyn Morrow of Illinois State University.
Morrow, chairwoman of health science at ISU, recognized more than a year ago that several ISU faculty were studying childhood weight gain but there needed to be a stronger community connection. A task force began meeting with representatives of ISU, the health department, United Way of McLean County, YWCA McLean County, Heartland Head Start, BroMenn Regional Medical Center and OSF St. Joseph Medical Center.
County's rate of overweight, obese children
A goal of the task force is to determine McLean County's rate of overweight and obese children. There is no county statistic but health professionals believe it is similar to state and national rates.
In 2007, the most recent year for which figures are available, 34.9 percent of Illinois children were considered overweight or obese, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Trust for America Report. Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 12.4 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds, 17 percent of 6- to 11-year-olds and 17.6 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds are overweight or obese. Those percentages are about triple what they were a generation ago.
Illinois Youth Survey in McLean County last year revealed that 24 percent of sixth-graders, 26 percent of eighth-graders, and 29 percent of 10th- and 12th-graders consider themselves overweight.
Overweight children are at increased risk of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, said Lanier, a health department health promotions specialist.
Multiple factors have contributed to the rising rates, including an increasingly sedentary lifestyle in which fewer children walk or ride their bikes to school; more children opting to play indoors rather than outside; and busy parents who don't have time to prepare healthful meals, Morrow said.
The task force decided to have a summit for 60 health and fitness professionals, with a focus on some local programs that are working. The task force wants to take that information and recommend later this fall one or two programs that could be expanded throughout the community beginning next year, Morrow said.
"I Am Moving, I Am Learning" -- which began in August 2008 -- not only gets children moving several times a day, but includes activities that involve counting, color recognition and choosing healthful foods, said Teri Meismer, Head Start education manager.
"Movement is important for brain development," said Diana Hancock, Head Start family specialist.
A year ago, Head Start in McLean and Livingston counties determined that 25 percent of their students were overweight, said Stephanie Martin, health and nutrition manager.
"I love the program," said Jakeda Hamilton of Bloomington, Amarius Bellamy's mother.
"I think it's helping me at home. I try not to eat as much and try to have less sweets. I want the kids to learn with me. We tried Brussels sprouts and we like them. When I go running, they ride their bikes."
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Fight fat
Here are tips for the entire family to fight excess weight:
--Make family time active time. Take a walk around the neighborhood, on Constitution Trail or in a park; play ball; or go for a family bike ride.
--When the weather outside is bad, dance indoors.
--Shop the perimeter of supermarkets, where produce and dairy items are located, and less in the middle, where the processed foods are offered.
--Check Web sites -- such as www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov -- that include healthful recipes.
--Drink more water and milk and less pop and juice.
--Eat more meals together. Eat more fruits and vegetables and limit fatty foods.
--Consider the benefits of physical activity and healthful eating: weight control, better sleep, enhanced mood, increased energy, improved health and better performance at school and work.
SOURCES: Michelle Maurer, Dale Brown, Diana Hancock, Stephanie Martin To see more of The Pantagraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pantagraph.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.