Initiative working to combat childhood obesity

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series. The first appeared in last Sunday’s Daily Citizen.

The increase in home technology over the past 20 years has had a downside — by and large, the sight of children playing outside in the yard during non-winter months is becoming more and more rare.

An alliance of nutritionists, educators, health care professionals and business people want to change that. Their efforts with the Northwest Georgia Health Care Partnership are aimed at heading off the growing national trend toward childhood obesity, brought about for the most part by sedentary kids.

“It’s a preventative program,” said Carmel Cowart, the school wellness coordinator for the partnership, “but we’re very sensitive and want to help families who are already dealing with overweight children in the home. We use very positive messages.”

Through a three-year grant procured from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, the Childhood Physical Activity and Nutrition Initiative, or CPAN, was born. In its second year, the endeavor is utilizing the $150,000 grant to heavily invest in the Dalton city, Murray and Whitfield school systems. Recent studies there have shown that local kids are above the national average in being overweight or at risk of overweight.

The broad school-based approach includes several components: classroom, nutrition services, physical education, overall school environment and “most importantly,” notes Cowart, parent outreach on the homefront.

Perhaps the most important component, however, is outreach to children’s parents.

“The greatest influence on any type of behavior is the parents,” Cowart observed, “including at mealtimes.”

A monthly newsletter is sent out to parents, with tips on healthy eating and ways to work physical activity into busy lives, such as a family walk after supper or playing games in the yard.

The initiative also sponsors parent classes in nutrition and fit living, including recipe demonstrations by nutritionists, chefs or registered dietitians. According to participants’ schedules, these classes might take place on campus in the morning, afternoon or evening.

“We’ve had fairly good to very good participation (in the parent classes),” Cowart said. “Many of the evaluations the parents have filled out express satisfaction with the experience, and thank us for the opportunity. They say they’ll pass (information about the classes) on to their friends.”

The effort among parents appears to be paying off — they’re wanting to form their own cooking clubs to exchange ideas, instead of just letting someone at the head of the class talk at them. Parents are encouraged to be physically active, using federal Centers for Disease Control standards of 30 minutes a day for five days a week. (Their recommendations for kids are one hour a day most days of the week.)

Dr. Marty Douglas of Dalton is a local pediatrician who sees the problem every day in his practice.

“Childhood obesity is a large epidemic in this country,” he said. “Our future work force is at risk for a lot of complications.”

Douglas said he is treating kids “under 20 years old with Type II obesity-related diabetes,” one dozen of whom weigh more than 300 pounds and some over 350 pounds who cannot weigh on the office scale.

“Aside from the (health) complications of obesity, it’s bad for our economy and bad for our work force,” he said. “Health care costs will skyrocket when this generation hits the work force. It’s important for our leaders to look at the impact of that.”

A pediatrician in Dalton since 1984, Douglas said having a plan to address the problem is critical.

“What’s needed is a comprehensive strategy that includes public education and awareness, and how nutrition and physical activity affect obesity,” he said. “I would like to see our governor and Legislature take leadership on this issue. According to the (state) Department of Human Resources, obesity is a $2 billion a year problem in health care costs and loss of productivity, and that’s in Georgia alone.”

Douglas also recommends that a Web site be developed that is “family friendly” to boost awareness and education.

Dalton Mayor David Pennington is one of the founding members of the partnership, and along with being a career insurance agent who looks closely at risk factors, he is also an avid exerciser.

“As a runner and devoted exercise person I can tell you that someone who exercises 30 minutes a day will incur 40 percent less health care costs,” he said. “Smokers who exercise will incur 30 percent less costs, and even an obese person who exercises will incur 30 percent less costs.”

Pennington believes the city’s role is to make it possible for all citizens to have access to sites where physical activity is possible.

“We need to make it more convenient at public parks and other public venues for people to exercise,” he said. “If we don’t start exercising our health care costs will sink America. It’s scary what some of these kids are going to look like in 30 years.”

To measure progress and test CPAN’s effectiveness, the partnership is working with Dalton State College, and a student from Georgia Tech will contribute research as part of his doctoral dissertation.

The initiative is in need of volunteers for help with the cooking clubs, serving refreshments and specialists who can make presentations. For more information, call Cowart at (706) 272-6013.

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