From League of American Bicyclists: Federal Safe Routes to School Program Under Attack
June 15, 2010Mark your calendar for Sept. 24: Leave No Child Inside unveiling of plans, media event, more!
June 15, 2010Childhood obesity: battling the bulge
BY JESSICA ALAIMO ‘¢ CentralOhio.com ‘¢ June 7, 2010
LANCASTER — Sure, he feels healthier, can focus better when he first sits down in class and can run a mile in less than seven minutes. That’s not why third-grader Cameron Collins has walked 120-plus miles before school this year. It’s the prizes. Simple, cheap prizes. There’s not a lot of extra money in the school budget, but this program found an unlikely backer: Buffalo Wild Wings. The crowning achievement in the Feelin’ Good Mileage Club at West Elementary in Lancaster is one Collins has long surpassed. On Friday, 111 students who topped 26.2 miles got to throw a pie in the faces of the gym teacher and principal. Like West Elementary, many schools have independently found ways to tackle childhood obesity. In Fairfield County, 15 percent of third-graders were obese, and 31 percent were overweight or obese in 2005, the most recent data available, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Ohio is one of 16 states that did not enact statewide legislation to combat childhood obesity in 2009. This changed Thursday, when the Ohio General Assembly passed the Healthy Choices for Healthy Children Act. A spokeswoman for Gov. Ted Strickland said the bill will be signed when it reaches his desk. The bill passed is a significantly watered-down version of what was proposed’¦
