A Message from Now, more than ever before a fresh approach in the fight against childhood obesity, eating disorders, and steroid & supplement abuse is needed. is a unique and nontraditional program that promotes collaboration between all school programs that impact a student’s health. is needed to promote a healthy school environment in order to rally the students, teachers, coaches, administrators, counselors, and food service workers to take an active roll in reducing the prevalence of obesity, eating disorders, and steroid and supplement abuse. Each year our children are setting records for the heaviest generation to ever live in North America. In 1999, more than one in five children ages 10 to 12 who received physicals through the Fresno County Child Health and Disability Prevention program were obese. This number has been increasing year after year. Our children's eating habits are poor. Current surveys show there is a significant decrease in the consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. We are also seeing an increase in selection of high calorie, sugar packed and fat loaded foods/beverages. Research shows that a well-nourished child learns more, performs higher on academic tests, is absent less often, and is better behaved. According to the 1998 California Teen Eating, Exercise, and Nutrition Survey (CalTEENS), 60% of adolescents have candy or soda or both daily. Recent research indicates that America's kids are failing to meet even modest nutritional goals. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), only 2% of youth meet all the recommendations of the Food Guide Pyramid. Physical fitness levels keep dropping due to the increase in sedentary hobbies and decrease in the emphasis of high quality physical education curriculum delivered by credentialed PE specialists. Lack of physical movement continues to hinder the energy balance equation equaling larger fat stores for our youth. CalTEENS reported that adolescents spend twice as much time watching television or playing video games as being physically active. Our youth are victims of poor social skills ill-equipped to handle childhood conflicts, deal with difficult emotions, develop skills to cope with life challenges and fit into social situations. Unskilled social/emotional habits inevitably lead to unhealthy emotional patters. Emotional eating is the precursor to life-long addictive patterns. The number of teachers reporting disruptive behavior in class is at an all-time high (47%). Eating disorders are increasing by record numbers in both female and male students mostly due emotional and psychological troubles. Unlike the popular belief that they are caused by media pressure and food issues, eating disorders are multifaceted and complex. Creating awareness for the factors that contribute to eating disorders is crucial to prevention. The sooner the person recognizes the symptoms and receives help the greater their chances of avoiding or recovering from this destructive addiction. The ideal of thinness and body perfection presented in the media is only attainable by about 3 percent of the population. Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, and Compulsive Eating effects seven million women and one million men in the United States. The use and abuse of steroids and supplements is more prominent in athletics because of easy access. This is teaching our kids that its ok to take a pill, powder, or potion to get ahead—instead of using hard work and dedication. 11% of high school senior boys and 2% to 3% of high school senior girls have taken steroids. Our children are falling into irresponsible attitudes that are affecting their ability to make responsible healthy decisions. Young adults are becoming followers to trendy patterns that promote unhealthy decisions instead of taking a leadership stand and committing to make healthy decisions, including what they eat and how they stay physically fit. aims to impact students and their communities in three areas: nutrition, physical activity and social/emotional wellness. Our hope is that we can be the catalyst that equips students with the to ake ndividual ecisions for better health. Linda Shelton, Coordinator Powermid Fresno County Office of Education Phone: 559-497-3866 E-mail: lshleton@fcoe.k12.ca.us "An eating disorder is a behavioral tip of an emotional iceberg." Author Unknown "Behind the fear of being fat is another emotion lurking in darkness." Michael C. Pouliot, R.D.

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