Keeping students fit, trim, healthy

Bill would require public schools to measure the heights, weights of a sample of students

Steve Marcus

Ryan Spence, center, shows off his Hula Hoop skills during a Smart Heart program at the Children’s Heart Center of Las Vegas.

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Smart Heart

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Teen obesity, use of surgery as treatment, growing

Play's the thing (10-02-2008)
Letter to the Editor: Schools give physical activity short shrift (7-23-2008)
District improves kids' lunches (8-19-2004)
School Board offered ideas to help battle youth obesity (1-26-2004)

When her 8-year-old son stepped on the scale at his doctor’s office, Nikki Sobotka was expecting to hear that he had gained some weight.

She wasn’t prepared to hear Nathan’s weight had jumped 30 pounds in seven months.

“We were eating out a lot more, he was watching too much TV — I knew that,” Sobotka said. “But still, it really shocked me.”

After determining Nathan had a heart murmur and high cholesterol, the pediatrician referred him to a cardiologist.

Medical professionals, education officials and lawmakers believe that like the rest of the nation, Nevada is dealing with a sharp increase in childhood obesity. Patients such as Nathan provide anecdotal evidence, but reliable statistics on the size of the problem are scarce.

Assemblyman Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, said without the data, Nevada organizations and agencies have difficulty qualifying for research grants. State and school leaders also lack information needed to develop policies to fight childhood obesity.

Denis has authored a bill that would make permanent a two-year-old pilot program that required public schools to measure the heights and weights of a representative number of students. The measurements — used to calculate students’ body mass indexes, or BMIs, considered an important indicator of overall health — would be provided to the Nevada State Health Division, where researchers would track the trends.

Supporters acknowledge that the bill is a small step forward. Assembly Bill 191 would merely make the pilot program permanent, rather than expanding the scope of the data-gathering.

But previous efforts to require that all students enrolled in Nevada’s public schools be weighed and measured drew strong opposition from school district representatives, who argued it would be an impossible task for overburdened campus nurses.

Still, supporters said the bill represents the beginning of an important public health fight.

The 2007 Nevada Youth Risk Behavior Survey found among the 7,000 students who took part, nearly half were trying to lose weight. About 30 percent of high schoolers and 25 percent of middle schoolers described themselves as overweight. Almost half of the adolescents surveyed said they spent more than three hours a day watching television, playing video games or using a home computer. Nearly a third said they hadn’t participated in physical activities on more than three days in the preceding week.

Dr. James McGhee, a Henderson pediatrician, said it is evident to him childhood obesity is growing in Nevada. About 20 percent of his patients are overweight, and another 10 percent are obese. Those numbers have doubled in the past seven years, he said.

“They don’t exercise enough, they aren’t fed well and they aren’t learning to choose correctly for themselves when they get older,” McGhee said. “We’re failing children on all these fronts, so how can we expect not to have a rapidly increasing obesity problem?”

Children who are severely overweight miss four times as much school as their healthier peers, and are four times as likely to struggle academically, according to national studies.

In recent years the Clark County School District instituted several health-related initiatives, including banning junk food sales to students in 2004. The contents of campus vending machines must meet a host of nutritional requirements. Carbonated beverages, even diet drinks, are forbidden.

Many Clark County schools have added extracurricular activities aimed at boosting fitness, citing the connection between student health and performance on standardized tests. But when it comes to setting daily schedules, recess and physical education classes continue to take a back seat to academic demands.

McGhee said in addition to gathering data on students’ height and weight, schools should be required to notify parents of the results. Patients move, change doctors or skip annual physicals, making it difficult for physicians to keep track of them.

“It’s left in the hands of the pediatricians to try and monitor our patients,” McGhee said. “But sometimes they don’t come back.”

Denis said he would have required parental notification in the bill — a requirement other states are using to fight childhood obesity — if the state weren’t facing a massive budget shortfall. But “this legislative session isn’t the time to come up with big plans that cost a lot of money,” he said.

Denise Tanata-Ashby, executive director of the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research and Policy at UNLV, said if there is a cost-efficient way of notifying parents of their child’s BMI, her organization would support it.

“Parents need to know,” she said. “Their child’s health, fitness and nutrition are going to impact their ability to learn.”

Schools conduct mandatory hearing, vision and scoliosis exams and must notify parents if an examination reveals a problem, said Diana Taylor, director of health services for the Clark County School District. If a student is significantly underweight or overweight, school nurses will sometimes reach out to families — even though it’s not required by statute, Taylor said.

But Denis said it’s not just the cost and burden that kept him from requiring parental notification. Some people believe it’s not schools’ role to tell parents their child is overweight, said Denis, who is also president of the Nevada PTA.

“I don’t think we’re quite ready” to notify parents, said Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell, one of the bill’s co-sponsors. “But we’re moving closer.”

Parnell, D-Carson City, said as public awareness increases, more people will realize in-school BMI exams are intended to help students, not stigmatize them.

As for 8-year-old Nathan, early intervention is yielding positive results.

Nathan’s cardiologist at the Children’s Heart Center of Las Vegas enrolled him in the clinic’s 12-week education and fitness program.

Following the program’s recommendations, Sobotka began replacing the high-sugar drinks in his lunchbox with a 10-calorie version, and scaling back the size of his meals. There are more bike rides and fewer video games. Nathan must wait 15 minutes after finishing a meal before requesting a second helping — how long it typically takes for a person to begin feeling full.

Sobotka said learning of Nathan’s problems has prompted improved eating and fitness habits for the rest of the household, as well.

“We decided we should do it as a family,” Sobotka said. “It’s not just him being asked to make the changes.”

Family involvement is the key to the young patient’s success in the program, said Lorie Coviello, an exercise physiologist supervising Nathan’s treatment.

“We still expect the children to play a role,” Coviello said. “But the parents buy the food and take the initiative.”

Discussion: 11 comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

By starrynite7

March 26, 2009

6:13 a.m.

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How can you not realize you child has gained 30 pounds! The state should not add another program at this point in time. Parents need to wake up and raise their children! Anyone that has half a brain knows that feeding your kids take-out and giving them soda is not going to be a positive move. Of course kids are overweight right now because parents are not taking very good care of their children. They expect the schools to do everything except wipe their children's butts!
I am really glad the family of this over weight boy are finally providing healthy food choices at home, but I think it is really sad that it took the mother seeing her child overweight and in bad condition before she finally did something.
I just don't understand how you can buy fast food for kids and watch them gain weight and be so oblivious to the fact that the kids are getting fatter by the minute? Do you really believe that fast food is good food?
It all boils down to lazy parenting. Buy fruit and veggies at the store. Put them in little containers and don't buy junk! When the kids get hungry enough they will pick up some fruit. Also, children do not need A SECOND helping of anything. Set some boundaries with your kids!
Parents should have to take a class before they are allowed to procreate. Oh and by the way, fast food is not good for your kids. Now that you know this maybe you could get off your butts and cook some veggies for dinner.
By Vinolicious

March 26, 2009

9 a.m.

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Dear Starrynite7,

I hate to tell you this, but fast food is not the only factor with children's weight. Portion size needs to be considered more seriously with high fat meals. Let's not forget that exercise doesn't mean going to the gym either. Its easy to incorporate exercise into everyone's daily routine, park at the far end of the parking lot, take the stairs (or at least walk on the escalator), and don't forget to turn off the TV in order to encourage alternative activities.

I will use myself as an example for you. My father had health problems when I was in grade school and took me out for fast food for breakfast and dinner every weekday for about three years. I was always considered underweight as child and continue to have BMI that is on the low side of "normal". I promise that I am not a freak of nature. I just at small portions and exercised regularly (ballet, walking to school, etc . . .).

I am okay with the schools needing statistical information for State and Federal programming. It has been going on in other states for decades.
By vc

March 26, 2009

9:52 a.m.

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I think it is absurd to expect the schools to keep track of your kids weight. Gimme a break. Next you will want the school to make sure they brush thier teeth.
By Rocco

March 26, 2009

10:54 a.m.

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Problems
1) Parents too scared to let there kids go out and play
2)video games/ computer.. no kid under the age of 12 should have one period
3)Learn how to cook...How many parents dont even know how to cook they by fast food and frozen crap and feed the kid with a microwave
4)Parents have to work too many hours
5) cheap food is bad food
6) walk to school
8) have you seen what schools offer for lunch

When i was a kid you had to track me down to get me to come in the house.. Pop warner taught me to work out my whole life I'm 41 and I train MMA I have worked out my whole life.. becuase of what i was taught when i was young when POP warner hell week got hard and i wanted to quit my mother would not let me.. My kids will never have this problem.. no video games... they have to use there own imagination....
By 2zero

March 26, 2009

2:26 p.m.

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Mo and his friend Curly?

This guy is a joke. He is the AV guy for the State Public Utilities Commission. He sits on the committee that over sees technology at public schools.

Maybe he should get engaged in the complete lack of accountability for individual student performance, I suggest he get involved and show some leadership when it comes to parentlink and SASI that are simply failing to perform.
By 2zero

March 26, 2009

2:38 p.m.

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CCSD to parent..."the good news is you child is not fat, the bad news is he is stupid"!
By starrynite7

March 26, 2009

6:54 p.m.

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2zero: Hahhahah that is so funny! I needed a good laugh. If the kid is fat and stupid maybe they will win a prize? Storm
By chengold

March 27, 2009

1:18 a.m.

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The key is balance.
Balance the food you eat, balance the food intake and the amount of activity that you have in one day. You should not cut some food completely and equally you should not only eat certain food. Once a month fast food won't make any one fat. Too large a portion is bad for an inactive child. But if your children do a lot of sports they would need to eat more as they burn off more. Mother dsen't cook is not a crime if she knows what to buy to feed her children. If mother can't even pick the right food and then her children's health is doomed. Parents need to learn some basic nutrition to make sure their children are properly fed. Any one can get on internet to find nutritional information. You don't even need to spend money to buy books.
Cook your own food is the best idea. It's not hard and time consuming it only needs some planing.
By chengold

March 27, 2009

1:38 a.m.

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It is not fair to call the child stupid. You can say the mother is oblivious, neglecting and or stupid but not the child. I had similar experience to realize my teenage son gain more than 10 pound during one summer vacation. He was on the borderline been obese before based on BMI. With that 10 pounds he was in that category. However he is a well proportioned kid and no one can see that extra weight if he doesn't step on the scale. I took him to the doctor and had all the tests done to make sure there was no other medical problems. The result was simple obesity. Then we had a plan to help him lose that weight little by little. After a couple of months it was pretty successful. He lost that extra weight. Now I do all the cooking myself and he makes sure not to over eat. I won't serve him extra either. When he played a lot of sports in one day I will give him some treat. All works out OK for now. Hope it can last.
By starrynite7

March 27, 2009

2:51 a.m.

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chengold: It will last because you are a committed, caring parent. Ten pounds can easily creep up on the best of us, but 30 pounds on a teen is way out there in left field.
By windydaze

March 28, 2009

12:04 a.m.

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2Zero:

Assemblyman Denis has been an outspoken advocate for the children of Nevada for over 20 years. He is highly involved in the community, the school district and many, many committees for the state. He regularly visits schools and volunteers within them.