By Sarah Green
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, Oct. 15
Lawmakers worried about the consequences of childhood obesity are planning to introduce at least two bills in the 2008 Kansas Legislature aimed at better school nutrition and increased emphasis on physical education.
Bills were introduced in the 2007 session meant to measure the scope of the problem in Kansas.
One, sponsored by Rep. Pat Colloton, R-Leawood, would have required school officials to collect the height and weight of elementary students to determine their body mass index, or BMI. Another bill championed by Colloton and Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, would have created a task force to study the health and wellness of Kansas children.
Neither bill was passed.
Mandatory BMI measurements have been controversial in some states where some parents have said they were an unnecessary government intrusion into private, family matters. But in other states and in some Kansas school districts BMIs have been taken and warmly received by parents.
“I was really surprised at the resistance,” Colloton said. “It wasn”t that the one (BMI) bill needed to be the way to go, but even the task force, which is harmless, didn”t make it.”
Since then, Colloton learned that several schools across the state have obtained grants to capture BMI information about their students.
And some of the results have shown that middle school students are gaining too much weight.
As a result, Colloton said for 2008 she will propose a bill that would require physical education for all middle school students. Kansas currently requires physical education in elementary and high schools but not for grades 7 and 8.
The Legislature isn”t the only body that could create the requirement. The Kansas State Board of Education has the power to set requirements for students. And though the board hasn”t talked about requiring physical education for middle school students, vice-chairwoman Carol Rupe of Wichita said if anything is to be done about it at the state level, it should come from the board, not the Legislature.
“I certainly think they”re on the right track, but I think this is an issue that should be for the school board rather than a state law,” she said. “There is a state law that requires students to take a Kansas History class. Now, all of the sudden, there will be another law that requires middle school students to have PE? It seems to me that they might have better laws to pass.”
The Legislature could help by establishing guidelines for middle school physical education standards, Rupe said, but ultimately, the decision to require the classes should remain local.
“Most of us on the Board believe pretty strongly in local control, and that the decision should be left to local school boards,” she said.
Seventh- and eighth-grade students at Scott City Middle School already take physical education classes every day for 45 minutes, including strength training and cardiovascular exercises.
But because of scheduling conflicts, the fifth and sixth grade students at the same school only have PE classes two days a week.
“I think it would be good if they were in the gym more,” said Kyle Carroll, a PE teacher at the school. “Everybody else realizes that as well, but we can”t seem to figure out a way to get it to work.”
Carroll said if policymakers in Topeka put a stronger emphasis on physical education statewide that might help remedy the problem.
“I think it should be a requirement,” she said.
Three bills introduced but not passed
in the Kansas Senate this year
would have required healthy drinks to be sold in vending machines; promote fresh fruits in vegetables in school lunches; and set requirements for the amount of time students should be physically active in schools.
Obesity education
Colloton said she also plans to introduce a bill that would create a grant program to provide obesity education materials that middle schools could use in tandem with physical education classes.
“We should at least allow school districts to get the programming and materials and show what they can do with a little time and some focus on this issue,” she said.
Bernie Hartig, a PE teacher at Great Bend Middle school, said she keeps the students “as active as possible” during class. But she has reservations about including obesity education in her curriculum because she fears it could inadvertently encourage eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
“I”m all about eating healthy and watching your weight,” she said. “But the girls I”ve had that would have a problem are not the obese ones, but the girls who think they are. They go on the other side of it. There is a problem. I”ve noticed girls” waistlines have gotten bigger, with all the chubbiness hanging over, and I”ve never noticed that before the last four years. But I think you need a qualified person teaching about obesity. I don”t think we as teachers have the right to do that.”
Some, such as Rhonda Holt, a senior PE teacher in Wichita, said more attention needs to be given to professional development so that the fears of teachers like Hartig can be allayed.
Healthier choices for students
Rep. Jason Watkins, R-Wichita, also supported the creation of an obesity task force last session.
For 2008, he said, he plans to introduce legislation to improve the nutrition and quality of school lunches.
The details are still being worked out, he said, but he would like to address the problem he perceives of unhealthy food served at schools.
“If we all have the same goal of providing the best possible education environment for our children, we should go beyond the textbooks and look at everything that affects a child”s education environment,” he said. “What they put into their bodies during the school day has to be a part of it.”
A
2006 survey of school officials
by the Kansas Health Institute showed that approximately 58 percent of students in grades K-12 have access to vending machines during the school day.
The survey also revealed that student participation in physical education drops off dramatically in high school when their access to vending machines is at its highest.
Watkins said he also plans to introduce legislation banning trans fats from school breakfasts and lunches.
“There”s no nutritional value in trans fat, and there are plenty of alternatives,” he said. “As we continue to learn from science and nutrition, I think the government has to look at the data, figure out what the facts are and evolve with its nutritional standards.”
Trans fat, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, results from hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is used in many foods to extend shelf life. But trans fat can contribute to raising LDL or “bad” cholesterol, which in turn can lead to chronic heart disease. The FDA in 2006 began requiring manufacturers to include trans fat content on food labels.
Building consensus
Colloton said she met this summer with various legislators and health experts, attempting to build consensus on bills for the coming session.
“I think we”ve gotten to a point where we need to realize that this is a problem, and that the problem needs to be addressed at the state level, maybe in assistance to the local level,” Colloton said. “We need to move something along here.”
Watkins said he was aware of the many other issues schools, teachers and food directors already face, and didn”t want his proposed legislation to create more problems for them.
“We”ve tried to let people know that we are aware of their restricted budgets and time restraints and that they”re doing the best they can,” he said. “If we put regulations in place that they can work towards, I think we can all work together to improve the situation.”
-Sarah Green is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. She can be reached at
sgreen@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 118.