By Sarah Green
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, Oct. 15 There are a lot of ideas about how to prevent and control childhood obesity in Kansas.
The Legislative Educational Planning Committee on Monday heard testimony from supporters of legislation to improve physical fitness standards and track the scope of the “obesity epidemic” across the state.
Rep. Pat Colloton, R-Leawood, who earlier this year introduced a bill to collect body mass index information from Kansas students, asked the committee to recommend comprehensive legislation that would have broad support and begin curbing the growing problem.
Several bills aimed at reducing childhood obesity were introduced in both the House and Senate in the 2007 session,
but none were approved
.
“I hope that now we can tie all these little ends together into a package we can all get behind,” Colloton said. “I think a lot of us are waiting to follow your lead.”
Colloton said she would like to see a grant program added for the state Department of Education to provide obesity education materials to physical education instructors. She said she would also like to see physical education made a requirement for middle school students. It is now a requirement for elementary and high school students, but not grades 7 and 8,
“What gets lost at the middle school level is the opportunity to enjoy being active,” said Kim Morrissey, an elementary school physical education teacher at Dodge Elementary in Wichita. “It”s a time when there”s so much going on
their bodies are changing, they begin taking risky behaviors if they haven”t already. They need to learn to love to move.”
Marcia Nielsen, executive director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority, told the committee that the health policy authority board would discuss several different strategies to reduce childhood obesity, including the possibility of adding the secretary of education on the authority”s board. Later in the day, when the board met,
it endorsed that plan
along with increased PE requirements, healthier food choices in schools and voluntary BMI measurements of students. The board also endorsed expanding the state”s Coordinated School Health program. All those ideas were described to the committee.
“If you aren”t keeping score, it”s just practice,” Nielsen said, explaining the need to collect fitness data on school children.
More than a quarter of all Kansas high school students are overweight or obese, said Dr. Howard Rodenberg, director of health for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Pediatricians are now finding typically “adult” diseases among their young patients, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, Rodenberg said, and will likely need to receive additional training to help patients manage those diseases.
“Obesity is not a phase,” he said. “Obesity persists into adulthood for 70 percent of obese adolescents.”
The committee will meet again before the session to discuss possible anti-obesity legislation, said Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, the committee”s chairwoman.
-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.