Obesity is today's public health crisis -- something on everyone's mind. The media overflows with advertisements for new weight loss programs and diet fads.
But even amidst this craze, childhood obesity is sometimes overlooked.
Experts say that the number of obese children in America is rapidly rising. According to the American Obesity Association, from 1976 to 1980 approximately 7 percent of children (ages 6 to 11) were obese. From 1999 to 2000 this number increased to 15.3 percent. This growing problem is leading researchers -- including those at Tufts -- to try to curb childhood obesity.
In efforts to combat obesity, Dr. Christina Economos, a professor at Tufts' Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, started an environmental strategy program for children based in Somerville. In September of 2002, the Center for Disease Control awarded Economos a grant to fund her program, "Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart Play Hard."
The project, though still rather new, has been successful. Economos said she never dreamed that her project would succeed so quickly over a two year span. "I was hopeful,"she said. "Whenever you write a grant you invest a lot in it and you have big dreams. But I don't think I ever expected in the short period of time for people to latch onto the concept so fast."
According to Economos, the aim of Shape Up Somerville is to better the community itself. "It's a community based environmental approach to childhood obesity," she said. "Our interventions are going on at the homes, before school, during school, after school, the community, and we're really making an attempt to work with the restaurants."
Shape Up Somerville's main focus is children -- specifically first to third graders in public schools. After extensive research in May 2003, Economos and her team gathered preliminary data showing that over 40 percent of children in Somerville were overweight. Thus, the program divides child intervention into early morning, during school, and after school to influence every part of the children's days.
This intervention includes encouraging children to walk to school. In an effort to augment the level of physical activity in the community, Economos implemented a "Safe Routes to School" project. "We're trying to get parents to walk their kids to school and make the environment safer," Economos said. "We're working with police, with urban planners, etc. We're not just telling parents to do it [walk their kids to school] but making it safer so they will do it."
Economos, who also teaches the undergraduate introductory Nutrition course at Tufts, involved her students with the "Walk to School" campaign. Students visited Somerville schools to inform parents about the importance of walking to school. The students held signs advocating walking to school. "It was interesting to see drivers' responses to us," sophomore Lea Napolitano said. "Some people responded positively -- nodding their head in approval or giving a thumbs up; others just read the sign. But I think the few times we did it, it has brought awareness to drivers."
During school hours, Shape Up Somerville is divided into two components: the classroom and food service. Economos attributes the success of the program to the way the two components work together. "I think the curriculum the children are getting in the classroom supported by the changes of food service have showed the children how education and practice work together," Economos said.
Shape Up Somerville works with the school to make menu changes to try to implement healthier food and train staff in nutritional education. This has had positive results.
Helen Berry, whose daughter attends Somerville's Kennedy School, believes that Shape Up Somerville's change of food service has been beneficial. She had always packed her daughter healthy snacks -- a rarity among elementary school students. "It's positive reinforcement," Berry said. "Now when she [her daughter] brings healthy snacks to school, kids don't think she's different."
In the classroom itself, teachers implement a nutritional curriculum created by Shape Up Somerville. In September and January, over 90 teachers endure training then use what they learn in a weekly 30 minute interactive lesson. "It's the classroom teacher's responsibility to teach health education," Economos said. "So we wrote a curriculum for them that focuses on healthy eating and active living."
Teachers who have gone through the training say that it was helpful "I thought they were fun, interesting, and very informative," said Julie Spector, a kindergarten through second grade teacher at the Kennedy School. She added that the nutritional curriculum benefits the students. "My students loved this program," Spector said.
Another goal of Shape Up Somerville is to work with restaurants in order to encourage them to offer healthier food. "If kids are going out with their parents and getting this meal that's big they're going to replicate it at home," Economos said. "That's what they're expecting to be a meal. Because we eat out so much in this country we need to have healthier options available."
The restaurant project is led by Citizenship and Public Service Scholars junior Zach Baker and senior Corey Probst. The two students have tried to get restaurants to offer healthier options and join the Shape Up Somerville program -- offering lower-fat options and reasonably-sized portions. In the past two years, they have succeeded in getting four restaurants to become Shape Up Somerville approved: Picante Mexican Grill, Soleil Cafe, Mt. Vernon Restaurant, and What's Cookin'.
Despite these accomplishments, this aspect has proved the toughest for the Shape Up Somerville team. "We have not been able to show the restaurant owners that the demand exists in Somerville for healthier menu options," Baker said. "If we could involve students, faculty, parents, children, and other community members in asking for healthier options whenever they eat at a restaurant in Somerville, restaurant owners may be more willing to participate in Shape Up Somerville."
Baker, however, does believe that the future is promising. "We have laid the foundation for about two years at all of these restaurants and I think next year will be very successful," he added. "We also hope to involve the community members themselves in a grassroots movement to create a demand for healthier menu choices."
