Jessica's Reflection

Since beginning this blog and researching childhood nutrition and obesity I have learned a lot about it.  Although I think that the Healthy Kids Act is a great way to try and fight the growing epidemic of obesity in our country, I don't think that it will completely change the problem.  I believe that more adults and parents need to be educated on the issue so that they can help their children choose healthy  foods.  I also think that in order to fight obesity we must emphasize healthy lifestyles, not just healthy eating.  There is so many factors that play into why children are obese that we must make an effort to target all of them.  I believe that physical activity and exercise is a major way to combat the epidemic.  Too many kids today are spending their afternoons and weekends inside playing video games.  They no longer go outside to play and run around.  I personally believe that this plays into the obesity epidemic just as much as the prevalence of unhealthy foods in our society.

In our elementary schools children should be taught about the value of being healthy.  I think that there could be a complete unit that deals with nutrition, healthy food choices, and exercise.  This unit could speak to all subjects and may only need to be a week long.  It could also be something that is school wide and that everyone participates in together.  Thus, it would promote community among all the children and encourage healthier living.  The topics discussed could be how fruits and vegetables are grown, such as organic or on farms that use pesticides for science.  For math children could do research to determine how many hours a week children in their class spend outside or doing sports and then make a graph of it.  They also could read stories on healthy lifestyles and learn about the food pyramid and how to read a nutrition label.  Another topic that could be related to this is also malnutrition and how that is just as dangerous as obesity.  There are so many different ways that you could incorporate this into the curriculum that it seems silly not to take the time to teach our children how to live healthier lives.

For my service learning project I am actually going to be working with the students in the classroom that I am in.  Every year they do some sort of service learning project.  This year the teacher would like to set up a relationship between the River Valley Charter School and the Newburyport Rail Trail.  For my project I am going to make the phone calls to the women who is responsible for all volunteering with the Rail Trail.  Then, we are going to teacher the students about what exactly the Rail Trail is, what it's history is, and where people plan to bring it in the future.  For our actual service we are going to volunteer to clean up litter along the trail or plant flowers or shrubbery along the trail.  This will make the area more enjoyable for people who want to walk, run, bike, or bring their pets along the path.

If I was to do a service learning project along with this topic with elementary school students I would do something very similar to this.  Working on cleaning the trail will make it a more pleasant place for people to exercise and get some outdoor physical activity.  This promotes a healthy lifestyle and healthy living.  Another project that you could do with elementary school students would be to volunteer at a farm helping with the fresh vegetables.  This project would show students where produce comes from and what kind of healthy foods you can grow in your backyard.

Here is the link for information on the Rail Trail...
Clipper City Rail Trail