Back-to-school means back to hitting the books. Yet this year, one Wisconsin teacher is passing out a different kind of book to her students in grades five through eight. The new fitbook(TM) junior, a 12-week interactive fitness and food journal for kids, will teach students at St. Francis de Sales the importance of goal-setting, engaging in daily physical activities and making nutritious food choices, while balancing their tasks at school and home.
"My goal is to teach students the importance of taking care of their health. I want them to have fun while doing it, and they'll also be graded," says Beth Ivey, a Physical Education teacher at St. Francis de Sales. "More than ever, taking responsibility for your health is a critical subject kids must learn while they're young."
With child obesity on the rise, and nearly 12 million children in the U.S. significantly overweight*, improving the health of young Americans is a growing national emergency for powerful influencers like First Lady Michelle Obama. In a recent interview with Women's Health magazine, Mrs. Obama declared combating childhood obesity as one of her top health-related issues: "We need to educate children in particular about how to live a healthy lifestyle. If we provide kids with [that] foundation, they are much more likely to become healthy adults."
Also on the roster in the nation's fight to improving children's health is former President Bill Clinton and his Alliance for a Healthier Generation where he actively encourages schools, non-profit organizations, and most importantly, parents to step up and act as role models. Clinton's organization states that today, 1 in 3 children or youth (age 2-19) are either overweight or obese and that number is expected increase by 20 percent over the next five years if the current trends are not reversed.