Healthy Schools The Key To A Healthier Michigan
By Shannon Carney Oleksyk, registered dietitian at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
We pay a high price for childhood obesity in Michigan. With one in three kids in categorized as overweight or obese, it's affecting our children's health and school performance.
Outside of the home, children spend the majority of their time at school, so educators are in a prime position to help support parents' efforts by exposing children to healthy foods and options.
In 2009, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan took on the challenge of helping Michigan kids make healthier choices by creating Building Healthy Communities, a school-based program designed to fight obesity and improve childhood health inside and outside the classroom. Building Healthy Communities is an evidence-based, comprehensive, school-wide initiative that provides teachers and administrators with tools and resources to help students build healthy habits that can be carried into adulthood.
Participating schools receive resources to promote nutrition education and increase access to healthy, nutrient-rich food and beverages. In addition to helping kids adopt a healthier diet, Building Healthy Communities also helps schools increase access to physical activity opportunities and teach physical education.
Seven years later, the program has grown into a statewide public-private partnership that has touched the lives of 180,000 students in nearly 400 schools.
Recent research from a Harvard doctoral candidate highlights an often-overlooked issue: kids can be picky eaters. The researcher points out that children's taste develops with repetitiveness – meaning a child who doesn't like Brussel sprouts may have to taste this food "eight to 15" times to develop a liking for it.
Research shows, students attending Building Healthy Communities elementary schools eat 40 percent more fruits and vegetables than the national average of six- to 11-year-olds. Teachers and administrators regularly hear stories from parents who are shocked when their kids ask for vegetables on their own, and eat everything they put in front of them. Students in participating elementary schools also show a 28 percent increase in calories burned over one year, and see significant improvements in reading and math.
Building Healthy Communities is just one example of how organizations can come together to support parents' efforts to help kids learn to try – and love – healthy foods, making the healthier choice the easier choice.
Shannon Carney Oleksyk, registered dietitian at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, manages the Building Healthy Communities program. For more information on the Building Healthy Communities program, including how schools can apply, visit bcbsm.com/buildhealth.
Building Healthy Communities is a private-public initiative supported by multiple statewide organizations, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Michigan Department of Education, the Michigan Fitness Foundation, Michigan State University Extension, Michigan Team Nutrition, United Dairy Industry of Michigan, University of Michigan, Wayne State University Center for School Health and Action for Healthy Kids.
