Saturday, October 6, 2007 1:16 AM CDT
Heart Smart for Teens
Improving health and fitness of girls is the focus of a new SBLHC program
By DAWN SCHABBING, Features Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
A McDonald’s Big Mac offers plenty of nutritional value, including a percentage of daily values needed in calcium, iron, vitamins A and C.
But, a group of adolescent girls participating in a new program is also learning that the sandwich offers even more — 540 calories and 29 grams of total fat, according to McDonald’s Web site, www.mcdonalds.com.
“It is a multiple-serving size of meat, plus other food groups,” said exercise specialist Karyn Cole of Windsor. “But, the fat and calories will far outweigh any of the good things that are in a Big Mac.”
This example and others about making healthy choices are being discussed by Cole and registered nurse Lori Nottmeyer of Mattoon as part of the Heart Smart for Teens program.
Both work in the cardiac rehabilitation department at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center and spend two days a week in area schools teaching girls in grades five through eight about health and fitness.
A grant obtained from the Illinois Department of Public Health Office of Women’s Health has allowed Cole and Nottmeyer the opportunity to teach young girls about making good choices. The main intent of the nine-week-long program is to get girls headed in the right direction for improving their health and getting in the habit of exercising.
Alyson Winkleblack, 11, a sixth-grader at Mattoon Middle School, said she has learned about stretching and exercising.
“They taught us when stretching too far can be too much. Also, we need to get 30 minutes of exercise each day — for five to seven days each week,” Winkleblack, daughter of Jim Winkleblack, said.
The free program is being offered on Tuesdays in three different sessions at Mattoon Middle School; and on Thursday at Neoga and Windsor schools. The program is held as part of the students’ regular physical education program.
This semester about 140 students are a part of the program in the three school districts. During its first year, about 280 girls will have benefited from Heart Smart for Teens.
“We try to make it fun,” Nottmeyer said. “We teach that you don’t have to be doing sprints to be exercising.”
The program focuses on MyPyramid, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s colorful icon for obtaining the proper combination of food groups and a certain amount of activity to maintain a healthy life.
MMS sixth-grader Abby Erickson, daughter of Rae Erickson of Mattoon, said, “I’ve learned a lot about food and about using MyPyramid to tell me what I need each day.”
MyPyramid.com allows anyone to use the program by entering one’s age, gender, height, weight and level of physical activity and get a personal eating plan.
“When you come down to it, it is all about diet and exercise,” Cole said. “In the cardiac rehab department we often see older people. We work with them to enhance their quality of life.
“In Heart Smart for Teens, we want to set an impression that they should create a healthy lifestyle now, so they won’t have to go down that path when they are older.”
Nottmeyer, a former school nurse for Mattoon schools, said the Heart Smart program gives the girls a healthy snack, physical activity and education.
It was revealed through surveys of students participating in SBLHC’s “I Sing the Body Electric” program that there was a need for such a program in Coles, Cumberland and Shelby counties.
According to the survey, teens in these three counties indicated a percentage of teens engage in tobacco use, and more than one-third described themselves as “slightly overweight” or “very overweight.”
Girls are expected to complete a food diary, a physical activity diary, participate in fitness activities and set goals.
Tori Budds, 11, daughter of Samantha Budds of Mattoon, said she enjoys different things about the program. “We get to dance and stuff. And I like the snacks they make, too.”
Nottmeyer said, “We try to make a variety of healthy snacks that they can also make at home.”
Students kick off the program with a pre-test to assess their knowledge about food choices, serving sizes and healthy choices. At the conclusion of the program students will take the test again to see how much they’ve learned.
The program teaches how much physical activity is needed, how to find a good balance between food and physical activity, and what foods should be eaten every day.
Also, students have a chance to win a Trek bicycle in a raffle at the end of the program. The hybrid-style bike is valued at about $300. Names are tossed into the raffle when the student completes tasks such as filling out the plan on MyPyramid.com, and turning in an activity sheet, for examples.
Currently, the Heart Smart for Teens is running on the first year’s grant. The future of the program depends on future state grants and the amount of interest showed by the school districts and students.
“The schools have been very receptive and very excited about this program,” Coles said. “If offers us a chance to share this and it gives the students a change of pace from the regular routine.”
For more information about the program contact Sharon Jackson, project coordinator, at 258- or 348-2177.
Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschabbing@jg-tc.com or at 238-6864.
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