A school that is selected to enter the School for Healthy Lifestyles program will focus on four key areas which are related to reducing the leading causes of poor health among Oklahoma residents:
- Promoting physical activity and fitness
- Nutrition education
- Tobacco use prevention
- Injury prevention
Principal Cunningham
getting ready to take on
Oisin Fagan
- Adopting healthy lifestyles and making healthier choices
- Improving health knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviors
- Increasing physical activity and fitness levels
"Exercise and recreation... are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary, because health is worth more than learning."
Thomas Jefferson
The problem of childhood obesity in the United States has grown considerably in recent years. Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but the most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion. Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise.
The Physical Education Department at Columbus is trying to do its part to help combat this problem. Currently a walking/jogging program is offered and incentives in the form of foot shaped tokens are given for the completion of 5 miles walked/jogged. Since weather has not been cooperative each day students check out a pedometer at the beginning of Physical Education class. The pedometers are used as motivation for students to optimize their P.E. time by putting as many steps as they can on the pedometer during their indoor class session.