Shaping up

DALTON — Lined up in the cafeteria at Blue Ridge School, two dozen or so students attempt to imitate the high-energy movements of Zumba instructor Natalie Rogers.

In another wing of the school, a group of second-graders gets a lesson in proper hand-washing techniques from students in newly formed health care classes at Morris Innovative High School. Such mini-stations —16 of them in all — were coordinated for Blue Ridge’s first school-wide health fair last week.

The fair is just one example of many ways in which Georgia schools are working to place more emphasis on health and wellness programs since 37.7 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 17 in Georgia are considered obese, according to a 2009 study by several national organizations, including the Childhood Obesity Action Network.

“There is an epidemic of childhood obesity,” said Blue Ridge Principal Lisa Goode, who noted students in her zone have to go to another part of town to access a public park. “Getting exercise is an issue for them.”

New state education requirements through the SHAPE (Student Health and Physical Education) Partnership specify that students enrolled in physical education classes in grades one through 12 must undergo a fitness assessment beginning this spring. Parents will receive their children’s FitnessGram reports for students in fourth grade or higher, but individual reports won’t be provided to anyone else, officials said.

Each school will record height, weight, flexibility and how well students do on a series of exercises like pushups and curl-ups. The assessments won’t affect grades, but they will be able to pinpoint at least some areas of strength or weakness.

“I think they’re very useful,” said Gladden Middle School P.E. teacher Nathan Ridley. “I’m sure what we’ll do is at the system level, probably in the summertime or before school starts, we’ll get numbers that show what needs they may have ... I’m sure then from the system level, they’ll make recommendations if there are changes we need to make in our daily activities.”

Georgia Department of Education spokesman Matt Cardoza said schools receive state funding for the $325 kit and license each school needs to administer the FitnessGram as well as testing materials at $80 per school and data storage at $95 per school.

State education officials will compile FitnessGram results and an annual fitness assessment report to the governor beginning in October 2012.

Whitfield County Schools teaching and learning coordinator Dee Goodwin said all teachers have had a full day of training on the new assessment.

“We hope the impact of this new assessment will be that it creates a focus on fitness goals and an overall healthier lifestyle for our students and their families,” Goodwin said.

Implementing change

Rogers, the Zumba instructor who is also active in the National Parent Teacher Association, said she’s been lobbying in Washington and Atlanta for several years for better health and physical education laws and funding for schools. A teacher in Cobb County Schools, Rogers said implementing mandatory cardiovascular exercise before the start of school each day works well for Japan and Finland, and it could work for the United States, too. Many education policy makers point to the success of the two foreign countries on international student assessments as reasons to imitate their practices.

Sometimes, the easiest way to create change is at the school level. Rogers said her school, Sope Creek Elementary, already has physical fitness time.

Goode said Blue Ridge doesn’t have the space to do cardio exercises for large groups every day, but the school has a running club and other exercise groups that meet at least weekly, and she’s looking into other ways to give kids a chance to be more active. Last week’s health fair coincides with Georgia’s health-centered initiatives, she said, but it wasn’t organized because of it.

While obesity is a concern, Beverly Hedges, a P.E. teacher at Blue Ridge, said people should use caution in judging children or adults on their weight. Everyone can benefit from a healthy lifestyle, she said, but some children are overweight because of a genetic disorder beyond their control or because of medication that causes them to gain weight no matter what they eat or how much they exercise.

Yet there are plenty of students who aren’t doing as much as they could, and plenty of parents and caregivers Hedges said she hopes will learn to make healthier choices also as schools work to educate parents through literature they send home.

“Hopefully if they (students) see their own results and their parents see the results, it’ll get the kids out of the house more,” Hedges said. “I just want the kids who can be healthier to step up.”

Students are often receptive to health education. Blue Ridge invited representatives from Dalton State College’s nursing program, an eye care provider, Dalton Public Schools nutrition services, the Dalton Fire Department, EMS, a karate studio and several other local agencies.

Blue Ridge second-grader Vasti Santos said she learned from the health fair more about what kinds of foods are good for her, foods like “tomatoes, grapes, lettuce, celery.”

“They told us we need to be healthy,” she said.

Lizbeth Guerrero, who is also in second grade at Blue Ridge, said she learned the importance of dental health, her favorite part of the health fair.

“We learned that if your teeth hurt, you have to tell your mom to take you to the doctor or the hospital,” she said.

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