A grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation
will bring together a Michigan university and several local
elementary schools to help youngsters learn healthy lifestyle
habits they can take into adulthood.
Eastern Michigan University will use a BCBSM Foundation
grant to work with four Ypsilanti elementary schools, Brick,
Childs, Model and Redner — part of Lincoln Consolidated
Schools — to bring a wellness program to 1,770 elementary
schoolchildren as well as their teachers and other school
employees.
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Karshin |
"Reaching children at this early stage, before serious
problems develop, can help them avoid obesity and associated
chronic diseases later in life," said Ira Strumwasser,
executive director and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Michigan Foundation. "As a foundation concerned about
the health status of Michigan residents, we are clearly
interested in a community collaboration that can help the
state build an active, healthy workforce of the future."
EMU's wellness program has two parts: Win to Lose and
Shape Up. Shape Up is for kindergarten through fifth-graders
while Win to Lose is for teachers and other school employees.
The program is supported by a two-year, $167,000 foundation
grant.
The Win-to-Lose segment for school employees is instrumental
in helping pupils succeed in the Shape Up program, said
Christine Karshin, associate professor of health education
in EMU's School of Health Promotion and Human Performance.
"The modeling of healthy behaviors by teachers and other
school employees is an important key to this program. Childhood
obesity prevention programs often fail because they don't
get support from the school environment," Karshin said. "School
employees will see personal benefits from this program
and, in turn, will be equipped to engage children in the
classroom."
School employees began their Win-to-Lose portion of the
program in early September by participating in stress management
and nutrition workshops conducted by EMU faculty from health
education, physical education, dietetics and social work
departments. The workshops are geared to reducing employees'
risk of weight-related illnesses by developing teams with
an ultimate goal of losing the greatest percentage of weight.
Shape Up, the schoolchildren portion of the program, begins
in January 2009 when EMU staff will take baseline data
of each pupil's activity levels and eating habits just
before pupils begin the voluntary program. Schoolchildren
will then learn how to develop a positive physical and
mental image, eat healthier, be active at least one hour
per day, decrease video "screen time" to two hours per
day, and learn sports skills they can enjoy throughout
life. Pupils' families also will be encouraged to participate.
The information will be compared with activity and eating
habits one year later.
"Elementary school is an ideal time to teach behaviors
and foster excitement about being physically active," said
Lynn Cleary, superintendent of Lincoln Consolidated Schools. "We
look forward to participating in this program and seeing
positive results for our teachers and students."
Health fairs and workshops, physical activity instruction
and family activities will support the Shape Up program.
