Weight problems for children in Illinois have reached an alarming number.

About 35 percent of children ages 10-17 are considered overweight or obese, according to a report by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Children are classified as overweight if their body mass index falls between the 85th and 94th percentile for their age. Additionally, children deemed as obese have a body mass index above the 95th percentile.

In an effort to raise awareness and teach children a healthier lifestyle, Illinois has implemented the Coordinated Approach To Child Health Program in 152 elementary schools across the state.
“It’s been awesome here,” said Nancy Davis, physical education teacher at Southeast Elementary School, 718 S. Locust St.

Parents have been “very positive” about the ongoing process and the growth from the program, Davis said.

Davis became a certified trainer and has trained other P.E. teachers from Plainfield, Marengo, Rockford and parts of Chicago’s school districts to use the CATCH program.

The CATCH Program teaches children how to be healthy by bringing schools, families and communities together. As stated on the CATCH Web site, “CATCH is effective because healthy behaviors are reinforced through a coordinated approach in the classroom, in the cafeteria, in physical education, at home and after school.”

According to a news release by the Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois enacted its CATCH Program back in January 2004. At the time, only 19 schools were selected to conduct the program as a trial experiment. After a 2005 follow-up evaluation, physical education increased its moderate to vigorous physical activity from 46 percent to 61 percent of the class time allowed, according to the release.

“CATCH is a really nice program that incorporates all aspects in a fun way,” Davis said.
One way that the program has made it fun to learn about healthy foods is the slogan Go, Slow and Whoa foods, Davis said.

The “Go” foods are foods that they can eat anytime they want. “Slow” foods are good fats and sugars that children can eat sometimes, and the “Whoa” foods are fried foods that should be seldom eaten, Davis said.

Southeast Elementary School is one of the many schools involved in the CATCH program statewide. The DeKalb County Health department gave Southeast Elementary a grant of $5,200 to implement the CATCH program into the physical education.

The school has been able to use the money to offer better nutrition options for students, adding a fruit and veggie bar to its cafeteria, and now offering skim milk as an alternative instead of 2 percent milk.

All comments are moderated before being published. We will not edit your comments, but we also will not approve those that are abusive, off-topic, attack another poster or contain information we know to be libelous or false.

During peak weekday viewing times, most comments will be reviewed within six hours. For more detailed information, click here.

After submitting your comment, check below for a confirmation message.

• Your name:
• Enter text from image:
  

• Your comment:

* 300-character count. HTML formatting will not display.