MOUNT VERNON — For the fifth year, the United Way of Knox County and local schools teamed up to reverse the trend of childhood obesity.
According to United Way statistics, about 30 percent of Knox County children are overweight or obese. Through the United Way’s Crunch Out Obesity program, area physical education teachers are helping fourth-graders learn about exercise and nutrition through 5-2-1-0:
- five or more servings of fruits or vegetables each day
- two hours or less of recreational TV and computer use each day
- one hour or more of physical activity each day
- zero sugary drinks
“They did a nice job of choosing the age group,” said Marilyn Rutherford, physical education teacher at Fredericktown Elementary School. “Fourth-graders still have that inner child in them willing to play. It’s a crucial point because they start making their own choices with foods; their parents start giving them that power.”
Rutherford said the biggest difference she sees in the children by the end of the six-week program is their knowledge base.
“Prior to this, to try and carry on a conversation about portion size and nutrition and exercising on a daily basis, it doesn’t happen,” she said. “By the end of this you can carry on that conversation with any of them. Even the fourth-grade teachers are like, ‘wow, they got this out of the program and they are able to put it on paper.’”
“Their knowledge of the nutritional aspect increases during the six weeks,” said Ann Henry, physical education teacher at Danville Elementary School. “They like to share with me the good and the bad [choices they make]. I tell them you’re supposed to be able to have treats, it’s just a matter of making more healthy choices than unhealthy.
“They’re definitely learning and making changes,” she continued. “I’ll have kids afterward, fifth- and even sixth-graders, come up and tell me they are still making better choices because of what they learned in Crunch Out Obesity. They do share with me that this not only changes them, but their families also.”
“You can see things are happening in the family,” said Rutherford. “I think that’s the piece that Lisa [Rutter, United Way program coordinator] gets. To see that family piece, that’s potentially a life-changing moment in their lifestyle.”
The United Way provides a set of exercise balls to each elementary school. Each student also receives an exercise ball to take home with them.
Rutherford has 120 students in the program this year. “We’re doing the exercises on the ball, leaning on them and doing push-ups and holding it in the air,” explained fourth-grader Kit Bellman.
The most important thing she learned is that you are only supposed to eat as much meat as the size of a deck of cards. Regarding the effect Crunch Out Obesity has had on her family, Kit said “they’ve been more cautious about what they are eating. We’ve had more reading time, too.”
Nevaeh Ward’s favorite part is “that we get to exercise and get stronger and have fun.”
“I learned that it actually helps us learn stuff and it’s not just playing dodge ball,” she said. Her advice to her family is to drink more water.
“I think it gets people to exercise; they can have fun and make them have more time to play with each other and be part of a team,” said Rylei Schultes. “I learned that you can do more than just playing on electronics.”
“I learned that I can do more stuff than I thought I could,” said Drew Dumbaugh.
At Danville elementary, 50 fourth-graders participated in the program. Clayton Vance and Katelyn Stephens agreed that their favorite part of the program was playing games and exercising with the exercise balls. That fits Henry’s philosophy.
“Being in the field that I’m in, I don’t ever want them to see exercise as a punishment,” she said. “With Crunch Out Obesity, you’re able to work muscle groups without doing push-ups, without doing your traditional exercise. I like to fool them.”
“I learned about portion sizes,” said Clayton. “That’s important because it tells you how much of a snack or how much food you can eat.”
Katelyn said 5-2-1-0 is important because “I didn’t know I have to eat five vegetables a day, watch less than two hours of TV and drink zero sugar stuff.”
With Thanksgiving just one day away, Drew said that he will try and remember portion control. Clayton and Katelyn said they will probably “pig out,” because, as Clayton explained, “there’s a lot of good stuff to eat on Thanksgiving.” They did, however, take to heart Henry’s advice on making more healthy choices than unhealthy choices, as both said they will start again on Friday.
“The catchy phrase 5-2-1-0, I have second- and third-graders asking about it. And, of course, the excitement of seeing the balls,” said Rutherford. “I hope this program will continue because the excitement is there for the incoming group.”
As part of the program, students track their physical activity and nutritional choices in a daily log. Students are now working on an essay telling what they learned and how they are living healthy. Essay winners will be announced at an awards celebration on Jan. 20, 2018, at the Gallagher Center.
