Fitter, Healthier Kids in Cambridge

Elementary students are getting leaner and more fit, according to a presentation by the Healthy Children Task Force at last Tuesday’s School Committee meeting.

Over a three year period from 2004 through 2006, there has been a steady decline in the percentage of overweight children in both income categories (eligible and non-eligible for free or reduced lunch).

Overweight is defined as weight at or above the 95th percentile for one’s age group. Nineteen percent of CPS children, or 722 kids, are overweight and 17 percent, or 650 kids, are considered “at risk” of becoming overweight. A hispanic or black child is roughly twice as likely to be overweight as a white or Asian child.

At the same time, though, kids are getting fitter. The percentage of kids not passing their fitness tests has fallen from 70 percent in 2004 to 64 percent -- still a high number, but the trend seems promising. (Don’t ask me to take this test, however.)

The task force attributed progress made to a number of Cambridge initiatives in and outside schools. One of these is a grant that enabled the p.e. department to pioneer an annual “Health and Fitness Report Card” that is sent home to parents. These report cards include information on weight and BMI (body mass index), another indicator of relative health. This effort is now being replicated across the country -- although not always without some controversy.

The task force also credited City Sprouts, a non-profit organization in Cambridge that works with many of our schools, for maintaining gardens on-site and introducing fresh vegetables to students at lunch time. The task force has also worked with the CPS food service director to make healthier breakfasts and lunches, and is starting to work on better options in the high school cafeterias.

Recently, too, the School Committee and the superintendent have funded new gardens at several elementary schools as well as a new p.e. program that introduces ballroom dancing to 5th and 6th graders.

BTW, for a really heart-warming, infectious good time, come to the ballroom dancing exhibition scheduled this year for Thursday, March 15.