Debbie Laurain used to get winded walking up the stairs
and down the hall to her second-floor apartment. She used
to approach meals with an "if it tastes good, I'm getting
more" philosophy.
But, with help from a program led by Eastern Michigan
University faculty, Laurain hit the new year with a whole
new perspective on her health.
 |
WALKING THE WALK: Teachers at Lincoln
Consolidated Schools' Model Elementary walk
laps in the school's hallway after work Feb. 6.
(above, from left) Debbie
Laurain, Jennifer
Harless and Charlene Ronaud are teachers from
one of four district elementary
schools who
participated in the Lose To Win program, provided
by EMU's
College of Health and Human Services
through a $167,000 grant. Teachers
will pass
their good example to approximately 2,000 K-5
students who will participate
in Shape Up, a
program designed to promote healthy habits. |
A paraprofessional at Lincoln Consolidated Schools' Model
Elementary, Laurain is one of 120 employees from four of
the district's elementary schools who signed up for Lose
to Win, a program run by faculty from EMU's College of
Health and Human Services (CHHS).
As Lose to Win, which was designed for school employees,
winds down, the CHHS researchers are launching Shape Up,
a program geared toward promoting healthy habits in about
2,000 of the district's K-5 students. Both programs are
funded by a $167,003 grant from the Blue Cross and Blue
Shield of Michigan Foundation.
"The unique part of the design was that we focused on
not only the students, but employees as well," said project
manager Chris Karshin, an EMU associate professor in health
promotion and human performance. "We focused on the employees
first, to show them how this could work for them as individuals.
(That way) they could then be good role models and promote
it to students. We're hoping for a positive change in the
whole school environment."
The EMU team will have a better idea of how well the program
worked when Shape Up concludes in May, but the early response
has been good.
Laurain said she's not sure any of the students she's
around have noticed that she's lost 34 pounds since September.
But, she and her colleagues in the program have sometimes
had students join them on their daily walks. And when cold
weather kept the students indoors for recess, Laurain got
down on the floor in the technology room and started leading
the kids in exercises.
"I had kids getting up from tables where they were playing
games and doing stretching exercises, asking, "Are we going
to do this again tomorrow?'" Laurain said. (They did.)
The Shape Up program, which is just beginning at Model,
Brick, Childs and Redner elementary schools, promotes physical
activity, healthy eating, healthy body image and good self-esteem.
Kids will be given pedometers, with activities built around
using them. The program also will provide free, healthy
snack foods — both familiar fruits and vegetables
and some less familiar ones — in the lunchroom
with the purpose to help expose children to new foods.
"I'm pleased by the fact that this program has been embraced
and supported by all different arms of the district," Karshin
said. "The district superintendent has been nothing but
supportive. She's a participant, too. We've had great support
form the principals and I've been getting lots of calls
and e-mails from parents saying, 'what a great idea' and
volunteering to help us for future events."
Employees in Lose to Win formed teams of three to four
persons and had the option of conducting after-school activities,
such as yoga and classes using exercise balls and medicine
balls. The early indication has been that those who took
part in the programmed after-school activities were the
most successful. As an added incentive in each building,
each member of the team that loses the greatest percentage
of weight will get $1,000.
"They created these groups or teams to have that support
network," Karshin said. "That doesn't mean you couldn't
do it on your own, but it does help to have someone there
that you enjoy being with."
Laurain weighed 223 pounds when the Lose to Win program
started in September. Despite losing a little ground during
the holiday break, she's down to 189 pounds and has her
sights set on 175.
The positive comments she's gotten from staff are a great
ego booster, she said. And having people to exercise with
has been key. She hasn't done as much with her team as
some participants, but she and some other colleagues meet
each morning to walk eight laps of the hallways — approximately
2 miles — inside Model. Laurain picks up another
mile or so making security checks at her apartment complex
and plays Wallyball with friends a couple times a week.
She 's become her own food portion police when she makes
meals, and she no longer huffs and puffs after climbing
the stairs.
"Me and the girls have made a pact that we will continue
this," Laurain said. "Besides the weight, I've lost inches
— 9.5 inches in my waist, 2.25 inches in my hips, four
inches in my thigh... I don't want to quit just because
the program's ending."
