COLEBROOKDALE Although the primary focus at Colebrookdale Elementary School (CES) has always been to provide students with a solid education, these days there is also a secondary emphasis on health and wellness.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity now affects 17 percent of all children and adolescents in the United States, triple the rate from just one generation ago, and the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that there is a 70 percent chance that overweight adolescents will become overweight adults.

Since unhealthy eating patterns and lack of physical activity are the most prevalent factors leading to weight gain in children and adolescents, the CES administration and staff decided to help the school population get and stay healthy.

One way the school is promoting good health is by implementing a breakfast program. In January, the CES cafeteria began offering a daily breakfast which, like the school lunch, is geared toward offering healthier options.

We try to be very health-conscious with the breakfast choices here to make them more nutritious, so for at least two meals of the day [the students] could be getting a good meal, explained CES principal Michael Stoudt.

The program is even more popular than anticipated, with an average of 75 of the 360 students eating breakfast at the school each morning. Although several other schools in the district also have breakfast programs, CES has the highest attendance in the area.

While diet is one component of good health, physical activity is also important. Since last year, CES students have been learning that video games need not be mindless time wasters, but can be active and healthful instead.

CES physical education teacher Darla Lieb used grant money last year to purchase a Wii video game system that she has since been using to teach children how fitness can be fun.

The students participate in the Wii Feel the Beat program, which teaches them to keep track of their heart rates while playing Wii games in order to draw conclusions about which games are most beneficial to their health. The hope is that the children will then take this knowledge home and participate in active games when they play with their own video game systems.

I like to encourage every student in my class to be able to find something that theyre going to enjoy and want to do outside of fitness class, said Lieb. Continued...

Originally posted here:
Colebrookdale elementary students learn health and wellness