Thanks to Gov. Nathan Deal’s business-minded leadership, Georgia is emerging as an innovative pioneer in tackling the greatest health threat of our generation: childhood obesity.
Instead of the usual finger-wagging and nagging aimed at heavy kids, Georgia is one of three states committed to boosting the health and wellness of all kids, with a laser-like focus on the specific fitness measures most closely related to classroom performance and health care costs. This data-driven approach gives schools local control over programming and maximizes Georgia’s commitment to personal responsibility.
Schools are showcasing this creative approach by rallying behind Deal’s call to join the Student Health and Physical Education Partnership, the public-private venture paving the way for more than 1 million Georgia schoolchildren to improve their physical fitness and classroom performance.
Backed by the governor’s office, the Department of Education, Division of Public Health, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, this year’s SHAPE pilot program is touching more than 100,000 students in White, Hall, Bibb, Lowndes and Gwinnett counties.
Today at the White County Intermediate School, Deal will honor the pilot schools, whose experiences are driving this fall’s statewide rollout. As schools strengthen PE programs and enable students to track their own physical fitness over time, they will compete for recognition and equipment grants through the Governor’s Fitness Honor Roll.
The SHAPE Partnership reinforces the kind of personal responsibility that drives professional athletes: Confronted by hard data about our strengths and weaknesses in nutrition and exercise, we must change our behavior to realize better results.
Better knowledge and information of nutrition requirements and exercise programs certainly will go a long way toward achieving the end goal of healthier youth.
SHAPE generates data through Fitnessgram, an internationally recognized assessment that measures the strength, flexibility and endurance of students in PE classes. Reports place kids in the “healthy fitness zone” or “needs improvement” on each test. Sophisticated data management helps kids and parents chart improvement.
The benefit of Fitnessgram, developed by the father of the aerobic fitness movement, Dr. Ken Cooper, is that it does not reward specific athletic skills or promote a particular body image; it determines fitness. The test results reveal slim children who are not physically fit, as well as heavier kids who are.
At White Intermediate, PE teacher Eilene Barrett has converted a storage room into a workout room. Students can visit the “Fit Pit” throughout the day — a smart move, given that physical activity not only improves attendance and reduces disciplinary incidents, but also repairs old brain cells and builds new ones.
Barrett gets it. She knows it’s critical to give kids opportunities to be active every day, not just once in a while. And she knows it doesn’t take a lot of money to make a big impact.
The Governor’s Fitness Honor Roll will reward this kind of innovation. As part of the governor’s announcement today, visit www.georgiashape.org to share stories from your school and to be certain that your school benefits from the growing SHAPE Partnership network. This informative website will be available today.
Deal knows the need is urgent. More than one in five Georgia kids ages 10 to 17 are obese. Among low-income kids ages 2 to 4, about one in eight are already obese. The health care price tag for childhood obesity in Georgia is $2.4 billion annually and rising.
The good news is that kids are naturally wired to pursue active lives. They must now rely on our leadership to afford them the opportunity of a fair shot at a healthy life. All of us, from Hahira to Hiawassee and all points in between, owe Georgia’s children this kind of home-field advantage.
John Schuerholz is president of the Atlanta Braves.
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