Twenty years ago children spent most of their free time outside. If you are a baby boomer you will remember those summers spent with your friends riding bikes or playing baseball in a neighbor’s yard. Television was limited to four stations, none of which played anything of interest to kids. It was a time of being constantly active, and as a result, childhood obesity was a rarity. There were no large screen televisions, Nintendo, Gameboys, or IPods, much less personal computers. Back then, who dreamed these gadgets would even exist!

As for nutrition, the fast food era began in the early 1970’s, with the first McDonald’s Happy Meal being sold in 1979. The Centre for Science in the Public Interest performed a study in 1999 that claimed in 1978 the typical teenager drank about seven ounces of soda daily. Today they drink nearly three times that amount, getting 9 percent of their daily caloric intake from soft drinks.

In 2004, the National Center for Disease Control performed a Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that concluded an estimated 17 percent of this nation’s children and adolescents ages 2-19 years are overweight. In the past 20 years the prevalence of childhood obesity has doubled. Mississippi recently surpassed every state in the nation with
an astounding 30 percent of the state’s population being considered obese.

With the help of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, the Mississippi Arts Commission has implemented a pilot program to support the fight of this epidemic in our state. Moving Toward the Art of Good Health was created to help sixth grade students at Bay-Waveland Middle School develop a healthier lifestyle. The program focuses not only on improving their food choices, but their overall health and wellness. As for the physical activity component…what better way to burn calories than by ballroom dancing! With the recent popularity of this dance form, this seemed the perfect way to get the kids off their feet and moving toward a healthier lifestyle.

There are 120 sixth grade students participating in the program. They meet twice weekly for ballroom dancing classes and once each week for instruction on fitness, nutrition and wellness. “Since the start of the program, I have found that the students have not only acquired some very technical dance skills, but more importantly, they have learned to be more considerate, respectful and disciplined in all areas of their life,” stated their instructor Kim Mangerchine. One of her students has even lost 21 pounds since the beginning of the school year. The school’s principal, Carolyn Barcelona, says, “It has long been understood and well documented that involvement in the arts has a positive impact on student achievement and their overall success.” She adds, “Our school has richly benefited from this partnership with the Mississippi Arts Commission, and this program supports the notion that the arts play a pivotal role in contributing to a student’s social and academic skills.” Students are also learning how to work together effectively as part of a team to achieve group goals.

This school year, Bay-Waveland Middle School has also seen an increase in parent participation. “I genuinely fee this program has had an impact on parental involvement. In the past we have had low attendance at our school activities. Now we have a packed house,” said Carolyn Barcelona. The program evaluator, Dr. Wayne McLeod includes, “it is refreshing and encouraging to see parents and students truly excited about something at school. That is the essence of what I see with this program.” Children certainly can’t change their exercise and eating habits by themselves, so having this buy-in from the families helps to ensure the students continued success and may even benefit other family members.

The program was conceived after the Mississippi Legislature passed the Mississippi Healthy Students Act in the 2007 legislative session, requiring public schools to provide increased amounts of physical activity and health education instruction for K-12 students. The Act, effective for the 2008-2009 school year, mandates 45 minutes per week of health education instruction and 150 minutes per week of activity-based instruction in grades K-8. The Mississippi Arts Commission’s goal in the creation of Moving Toward the Art of Good Health was to have a highly successful program in place to serve as a model for other schools to adopt.

The Mississippi Arts Commission hopes this pilot program will offer schools a new avenue in the journey to more creatively fit and healthy children in Mississippi!

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