Monday, February 23, 2004 11:17 AM CST
Educators learn how to promote healthy eating for children
BY HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
MATTOON -- Decades ago, overweight children in schools were laughed at by their peers.
Today, obesity is threatening the health of children enrolled in preschool and day care.
On Saturday, about two dozen preschool and day care professionals came together in the Coles County 4-H Center in Charleston to learn "Healthy Moves for Healthy Children" as a strategy for reducing the risk of obesity for young children. The major causes of these problems are unhealthy eating habits and less physical activity among children.
Some statistics offered Saturday show the increase in the incidences of childhood obesity and its effects are no laughing matter anymore.
-- In Coles County, 16 percent of kindergarten-age students are obese, based on figures from recent school physicals in local schools.
-- In Illinois, there were 12.6 percent of children age 5 and younger listed as obese in 2000, an increase of 3.3 percent from 1976, according to a study conducted by the Women, Infants and Children program. Illinois is not alone; nationwide, the number of overweight or obese children has increased by a large percentage since the early 1990s.
-- Nationwide, there are more and more children, age 3 or younger, suffering from Type 2 Diabetes, a disease that normally surfaces in adults. Other diseases, like those affecting the heart, are also becoming more prevalent among young children.
-- One quarter of the vegetables eaten by young children in this country are french fries.
-- Children are watching on average 14 hours of television per week, and adolescents are playing an average of seven hours on video games.
Bev Combs, a University of Illinois Extension educator on nutrition and wellness, believes there can be no delay on taking steps to reduce obesity among children. Combs presented many ideas for getting young children more interested in healthy eating and physical activity away from the television or the computer.
"It is time to act," Combs said. "We do have to take it one step at a time, but look at what has happened over the past 10 years."
The statistics presented by Combs showed the severity of the problem with childhood obesity to day-care provider Jamie Akins of Ashmore.
"The facts about obesity with children were shocking. I will try harder to make sure they understand the importance of a healthy diet and exercise," Akins said.
She showed illustrated books on healthy foods that would catch the attention of children, like "Eating the Alphabet." The workshop also provided a chance for the child-care providers to work their muscles with a game of waving a long piece of crepe paper.
Then some participants could finally sink their teeth into a lesson through preparation of fingerfood snacks, including a sweet mix of cereal with brown sugar, corn syrup and margarine, and graham crackers with peanut butter and slices of bananas. In two blenders were the pulverized ingredients for blueberry smoothies, the fruit, pineapple juice and yogurt.
The workshop "chefs" also demonstrated how teachers or parents could enhance learning on healthy eating with "hands-on training."
"A lot of the students I have worked with don't like to eat fruits and vegetables at home, but they love to help cook something. And when they do they are more likely to eat it when they are involved in making it," said Beth Tracey, a Greenup resident involved with programs at Immanuel Lutheran Preschool. Tracey also works with school-age children as well.
"Some parents can't spend enough time with their children and many times the kids are just getting microwave meals. Some aren't even aware of the different fruits or food groups," said Tema Metzler of Charleston, who works with Immanuel Lutheran Church Preschool. "That's why I like to get the kids involved in preparing the foods or with helping pour things."
Day-care provider Beckie Alexander of Arcola said children she works with are either "picky eaters" or addicted to junk food. She has a simple rule in her facility: You have to a least try something before rejecting it. That is a good rule for healthy vegetables or fruits, educators say.
"I have them try at least 'a teaspoon.' I always say they have to at least try it before they turn it away," Alexander said.
Other workshop participants organized some games with the other participants acting as students. Overall, the games showed that healthy eating must be coupled with children enjoying some controlled play.
Alexander said the activity ideas were well-timed because many of the children under her care are suffering from "cabin fever" so there already is some energy to be tapped.
"I like the idea of giving them something different to do," Alexander said.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
CLICK TO ENLARGE
|
|
|
