Highland Springs sponsors The Cooper Institute’s health initiative for kids

By Anita Curtis
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Highland Springs recently responded to the Surgeon General’s initiative to combat childhood obesity by supporting the Our Kids Health event presented by The Cooper Institute of Dallas. Funds raised will provide area schools in need with the Fitnessgram program instigated by Dr. Kenneth Cooper, a worldwide leader in fitness and health research and education.

Fitnessgram
The new software program, Fitnessgram, is designed as a tool for schools to assess students in aerobic capacity, body composition, muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility to determine a student’s overall physical fitness rating. The software is already in place in some Texas public schools and training is underway; but more funding is needed, says Cooper, so more schools can participate.

Elise Tyler, program manager of the LEAN Families Program at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, is enthusiastic about the Cooper Institute software now available. “It will give physical education teachers a baseline to target kids in the right way and adjust the exercises and workouts to accommodate body size and endurance capability,” she says.

A call to action
Last year, the Senate mandated structured physical activity in all public schools, reversing a decadeold bill allowing schools to eliminate physical education so students could focus more on math, reading, and science. The new mandate was unfunded, says Cooper; thus he began the Our Kids Health program as a grassroots wellness movement. He hopes more funding will expand the program across the U.S. so that more schools will have access to the Fitnessgram software.

‘About our grandchildren’
Most importantly, children need good role models, to see the adults in their life eating healthy foods and being physically active. Society has become sedentary—with TV as well as computer and video games replacing physical activities.