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November 23, 2005 |
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New SMH Program Helps Area Kids
Build STAMINA
The statistics are sobering:
results from a 2002 National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey conducted by the American Medical
Association indicate that an estimated 16 percent of
children and adolescents ages 6 – 19 are overweight.
This represents a 45 percent increase from a survey
conducted just a decade ago. According to the AMA,
risk factors for heart disease, such as high
cholesterol and high blood pressure, as well as type
2 diabetes, previously considered an adult disease,
have increased dramatically in overweight children.
Childhood obesity and overweight are generally
caused by a lack of physical activity and unhealthy
eating habits, or a combination of both, with
genetics and lifestyle both playing important roles
in determining a child’s weight.
The physical therapists in
Shenandoah Memorial Hospital’s Rehab2Health hope to
take a bite out of these statistics with its new
program STAMINA – Students Taking Action and Making
Improvements in Nutrition and Activity. Alarmed by
the growing medical evidence of the health hazards
related to childhood obesity and sedentary life
styles, Kyla Sine, DPT, and Laura Fogle, PT,
designed and developed STAMINA in collaboration with
Robinson Elementary School’s physical education
department, spearheaded by Karenina Baker. The
program was first introduced last school year at
Robinson as a pilot using a limited selection of
fifth grade physical education students (about 50
participants). Based on the overwhelming success of
last year’s pilot, the program was brought back this
past October as part of National Physical Therapy
Month, but expanded to include all fourth grade
students (about 200 participants).
“Increasing students’ awareness
of healthy habits at this age is critical to
promoting good health and lowering disease risk
later in life,” notes Kyla.
As
the name implies, the primary focus of STAMINA is to
help children increase their physical endurance. To
achieve this, Kyla and Laura incorporated three
elements into the program: the Mile Test, where
students try to walk or run a mile as quickly as
they can and improve their record each time; the
Pace Test, where students run at different levels to
different beats of music; and Rate of Perceived
Exertion, where students assign a number value based
on how hard they perceive they are working. “If they
can decrease the amount of time it takes them to run
or walk a mile and lower their RPE, then they know
they have increased their endurance,” explains Kyla.
This year, Kyla and Laura have also taught the
students how to take their own heart rates. The
program, which focuses not only on exercise but also
nutrition and good personal habits will be conducted
by PE teachers throughout the year, with Kyla and
Laura making two more site visits for progress
checks and reinforcement. “It’s so exciting to see
the interest of the students and faculty in this
program,” expressed Laura. “We hope to eventually
offer it county-wide,” she adds.
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