Healthy Schools Campaign

Study Links Exercise in Adolescence to Lower Rates of Breast Cancer

by Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director

We all know that exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.  At HSC, we are strong advocates of incorporating physical activity into the school day. 

It was interesting to see a new study which documents that women who were physically active as teens and young adults were 23 percent less likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than women who grew up sedentary.

As research continues to document the many, many benefits of physical activity, it’s our work to ensure that all students have the opportunity to be active.

Running Clubs Recruit for Wellness

by Allie Krass, Charity Athletics Manager

A recent article in Crain’s Chicago Business highlights the role that running clubs play in shaping the corporate culture and employee satisfaction at organizations around Chicago, from hospitals to financial institutions.

At HSC, we love to hear about efforts to instill a “culture of wellness” in the workplace, much as we work to make schools healthy workplaces for the millions of adults who spend their days there.

Our Charity Athletics Team offers the chance for running clubs to make races more meaningful by supporting HSC’s work to create healthy school environments. Right now, we are recruiting runners and running clubs to join our teams in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in Oct. 2008 and the ING New York City Marathon in Nov. 2008.

Individual runners or groups of runners may join HSC’s team. Corporations may sponsor their employees’ participation, match their gifts, or sign on as an official corporate sponsor, with all the accompanying benefits.

As the weather gets warmer and runners begin to prepare for these Fall races, a few are taking the opportunity to share their passion with co-workers who may never have defined themselves as runners. The article profiles one devoted runner who makes it his mission to recruit teammates:

As companies around Chicago sign up workers for races . . . other Dr. Shalhavs likely will be sticking their heads in cubicles and trying to give non-runners a taste of their addiction. Aficionados expect that at least a few of the runners who try a race for the first time this summer or watch from the curb might find themselves inducted into the runners club. Before long, they'll be throwing around lingo like "fartleks" as they talk about doing speed work, and logging the miles they've run in a particular shoe.

Co-workers are "initially like, 'What do you want? Leave me alone,' " Dr. Shalhav says. "Then slowly but surely they're getting into running."

He's persuaded a number of residents, fellows and other co-workers to join him in races, recently taking a group to Indianapolis for the half-marathon that is part of the Indy 500 festival.

One of the best parts about this story is the way it captures the contagious zeal of “obsessed” runners who recruit co-workers to join them on the trail. We invite runners around the U.S. – “obsessed” or not – to grab a few friends and run this Fall for healthy schools.

You can learn more or register online at our Charity Athletics Team page.

Young Lives at Risk: Series Explores Perspectives on Childhood Obesity

by Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director

Beginning on May 17, The Washington Post launched an extensive five-day series on childhood obesity.

The series explores the issue of childhood obesity from many perspectives, ranging from the latest medical research to public health information, efforts to address the problem, and policy solutions including responses from Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama. A number of stories in the series discuss the role of schools in addressing childhood obesity.

One of the articles quotes acting U.S. Surgeon General Steven Galson, who labels childhood obesity nothing less than "a national catastrophe." The article goes on to document the alarming fact that if the obesity epidemic is left unchecked, obesity related illness will cause this generation of children to be the first to live less healthy lives and to die younger than the previous generation.

We commend The Washington Post for giving this issue such serious and comprehensive treatment and encourage you to take a look at the series of articles. Click here to view the series. (A free registration to the Washington Post is required.)

Examining the Socio-economic Determinants of Health

by Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director

Last week someone gave me a copy of Reaching for a Healthier Life, a report that examines the socio-economic determinants of health.  The report points out that we generally think about health as something fixed by our genetic heritage while in fact health is greatly shaped by a person’s socio-economic status.

Several points of particular interest stood out to me.  First, the authors point out that those disparities between socio-economic groups and the impact that these differences have on health vary from country to country.  In the U.S., the gulf between the rich and poor is large and the impact on health is great.   After listing a number of statistics, the authors reach the conclusion that “the power of social status to impact the most precious resource we have--life itself--is enormous and pervasive.”   

The report goes on to identify policies that we can adopt that buffer the adverse conditions of being lower on the socio-economic ladder. Improving the nutrition of school lunch programs, a key goal for the Healthy Schools Campaign, was identified as an important policy to address the health disparity problem in this country.

Many of us who advocate for healthier school food are often marginalized  for trying to make healthy school food a priority for our country.  This report makes an important statement on how important this work is.  Click here [pdf] to view the full report.

USDA Report Highlights Need for School Food Funding

by Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director

For almost seventy years, the federal government has been providing school meals to low-income students.  Last month, the USDA released a report [pdf] examining the cost to schools of providing a school meal to students. They found that the federal programs only paid 82 percent of the full cost of the meals during the 2005-2006 school year.   

This brings up several important points. First, this is particularly burdensome for school districts, such as Chicago, where the vast majority of students participate in the federal school food programs.  The district is not able to offset this deficit with revenues from other students paying for school meals.  Second, this study was completed for the 2005-2006 school year—before the steady increase in food prices. 

Next year Congress will be taking up the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which includes the school food program. I hope that our political leaders will take note of this study and provide school districts with the funding that they need to provide students with healthy school meals.

Celebrate School Nurse Day

Today we have a guest blog from Donna Fishman, HSC’s School Nurse Program Director

Today, May 7, 2008, is School Nurse Day.  I would like to take the opportunity to send best wishes to all the school nurses making a difference for the health of their students.  I especially would like to thank the school nurses that have and are currently participating in our School Nurse Leadership training.  We at HSC are constantly amazed by the intelligence, commitment, energy and wisdom of the school nurses we meet in our trainings—not to mention the phenomenal school nurse educators and leaders that comprise our School Nurse Advisory Committee.  I wish everyone knew how important school nurses are to the health and education of our children.

I hope the sun shines everywhere over school nurses today, and that you enjoy the day!

California Assembly Considers Green Clean Schools Legislation

by Claris Olson, HSC Environmental Health Manager

California may be the next state to bring green cleaning to schools, following the lead of New York and Illinois. In April, the Green Schools: Environmentally Sensitive Cleaners act (Assembly Bill 2808) was approved by the education subcommittee.  It will now be going through appropriations and then to the full assembly.  You can track this bill on the California Legislative Information site.