Teaming up to Fight Child Obesity by Chris Lineberry

Posted November 9, 2009 on www.weplay.com

As parents, we are collectively raising the first generation of children in over 100 years that may not outlive their parents. This potential decrease in lifespan is directly related to the epidemic of obesity in our children. This statistic, coupled with extensive related research on the topic, has led many schools and school districts to begin to address the issue of childhood obesity. The pressures of No Child Left Behind, coupled with local and state standards leaves many educators asking, “Why should schools address this issue?"

In 2001, No Child Left Behind was signed into law, mandating that all children perform on grade level. According to No Child Left Behind, by 2014 all children in America will pass mandated, standardized tests at the end of every school year. Failure to do so may result in the government taking those schools over, firing administration, or in some cases, closing schools. With this push to assess and mandate student achievement, many schools have dropped Physical Education, the Fine Arts, and other electives, favoring math and reading instruction for low achieving students in order to promote higher levels of performance on state standardized tests. Although the goal of educators to limit these choices in favor of math and reading is well-intended, research has demonstrated that the contrary may very well be true. A 2009 study done in Texas involving 2.44 million students determined a direct relationship between cardiovascular fitness and student achievement. In other words, the better the cardiovascular condition, the higher the test scores.

The question has then become, how do we add recess or PE time without adding time to the school day or taking away from core subject areas? We do this by advocating for the education of the whole child, by incorporating health and wellness into the general curriculum, through strong instructional leadership in our schools, and by advocating for mandatory Physical Education and the fine arts in our schools. In my school here in Arizona, my students all are physically active for a minimum of 45 minutes every school day. We do 15 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of calisthenics, and 15 minutes of free play everyday. My staff walks and exercises with our students every day. Additionally, my students participate in a Physical Education curriculum with a certified PE teacher at least one time per week.

I am proud to say that our levels of academic achievement and performance are higher than they have ever been in our school’s four year history. We have been able to do this because as a staff we believe that educating the whole child is important, that if we get kids up and get them moving we will see higher levels of academic performance, improved health, and enhanced learning. We do this because we believe we must educate the whole child.

Many organizations have stepped up in recent years to help schools address this issue. I would like to share with you the creation of one such organization that incorporates the starpower and passion of many of our country’s most prominent athletes to advocate for the reversal of childhood obesity. The organization is called ‘nPLAY. ‘nPLAY is a movement of professional athletes to unite the sports world to reverse the trend of childhood obesity. Many of you may have heard of our Chairman of the Board, Paul “The Truth” Pierce of the 2008 NBA World Champion Boston Celtics! Mr. Pierce believes that this is an important issue and has committed his efforts to this movement.

Mr. Pierce is not alone in this endeavor; in fact, he has successfully started uniting his fellow professional athletes. Both Jennie Finch and Summer Sanders, athletes associated with weplay.com, have joined Mr. Pierce in this fight and have assumed active roles in ‘nPLAY. Additionally, Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns, boxing legend Evander Holyfield, basketball greats Jerry Stackhouse and Kenny Anderson, as well as Olympic gold medalists Nastia Liukin and Cullen Jones are also valuable forces in the ‘nPLAY organization.

The mission of ‘nPLAY is to ensure that all children have the opportunity to stay healthy and fit while having fun. ‘nPLAY’s primary focus will be to fund effective, curriculum and activity-based programs that will address the issue of childhood obesity in schools and community centers. ‘nPLAY will also launch an extensive media campaign, encouraging children and parents to get moving and stay active. In order to support schools, ‘nPLAY has also partnered with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). Through this partnership, ‘nPLAY will support and aggressively advocate for 150 minutes per week of physical activity for elementary school students and 225 minutes per week for high school students. These great athletes have joined forces to help raise awareness, improve the health and wellness of children, and reverse this epidemic. For those of you interested in joining Paul, Jennie, Summer and the rest of these all stars your chance is here. The ‘nPLAY site is up and functional at www.nplayfoundation.org. Take a look and see how you can get involved.

Chris has been an educator since graduating from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1994. Chris has taught high school English, Sports Medicine, and Physical Education. In addition to teaching, Chris has coached swimming and worked as an athletic trainer on both the high school and college level. Currently, Chris is the principal of Jack W. Harmon Elementary School in Queen Creek, Arizona where he and his staff are working together to improve the lives of children, academically, physically, and emotionally. Chris lives in Queen Creek with his wife, son, and two step-daughters.