Never Too Young to Start: Elementary Students and Preventing Obesity

While visiting OVES in Wayne County last week, I stopped by to see Mrs. Cox. She's a terrific teacher. During my visit, I watched as she guided the eager minds in her classroom through a wonderful math lesson. She tinkered with the Sieve of Eratosthenes relating number patterns with visual patterns. She also facillitated as her students worked with the concept of factoring. Her pupils delighted in flying up to her interactive Promethean ACTIVBoard to use the factor-tree from the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. I enjoyed watching the learners find pleasure in mathematcs. In addition to questions about new resources for integrating technology into her math lessons, Mrs. Cox also asked me to find some other resources for her. She told me that she was concerned about the dietary habits of her students. Being a former nurse, she is greatly concerned about the epidemic of obesity that is affecting younger and younger students (according to the American Heart Association, currently, more than 10% of children ages 2 to 5 in the United States are overweight--up from 7% in 1994). Mrs. Cox told me that she wanted some technology enhanced resources that would help her pupils make more informed choices about what and how they eat. She belives that early intervention may help students develop more thoughtful dietary habits. I heartily agree with her. Toward that end, I'm suggesting that she (and other educators interested in helping pupils foster more responsible patterns of eating) search the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, a site that gives users an exhaustive list of all the nutrients contained within the foods they eat. Also useful is the USDA's web page on dietary health. The Center for Disease Control's Healthy Eating Tips is a collection of sites that detail how to plan a proper diet. Another good resource is the Center for Science in the Public Interest's Health, Nutrition, and Diet web page. It has easy to understand facts and practical suggestions for better calorie consumption. Another site worth visiting is George Mateljan's The World's Healthiest Foods where visitors can see a list of fodds they should be consuming and why it's in their best interest to do so. 5 a Day the Color Way and 5aDay.gov also provide related information. In terms of sites specifically geared towards children, the health portion of FirstGov for Kids, Get Up-Get Out at Funfit Kids, and the comprehensive children's health site, KidsHealth. Although visiting these sites will not magically dispel unwise dietary choices, it's a start.