Fighting obesity starts with getting physical

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

The obesity rate of Hawai'i's schoolchildren is twice the national average, a new study has found.

Academy of the Pacific students run through workout cycles to keep fit. Many Hawai'i students are virtually off the obesity charts on the high side, a UH-BYUH study shows. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Private school children aren't much leaner: More than 19 percent of them are obese.

"There's a problem here in Hawai'i, and we need to do something about it," said Dennis Chai, associate professor of kinesiology and leisure science at UH and one of the authors of the study. "Kids are getting more and more obese. What kind of citizens are we going to have?"

Chai said efforts to lower the obesity rates are complicated by what he called the state's weak physical education requirements, along with poor nutrition, medical and lifestyle habits. Chai said schools need to do more to encourage kids to be active. To do something about it, researchers have started a pilot program to help teach children how to be fit.

"We feel it's not one factor or one element that's going to take care of the problem entirely," Chai said. "There's physical education and health education and nutrition information. Parents have to be involved and the medical people have to be involved. Several factors need to come together. But we're attacking the problem from the physical activity perspective."

The UH-BYUH study looked only at obesity rates — not those who were overweight — and did not distinguish between girls and boys or among different ethnic groups. Children are obese if they are in the top 95th percentile of the height and weight charts used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overweight children have an increased risk of developing a multitude of diseases, including diabetes, and are more likely than other children to become overweight adults, Chai said.

Hawai'i's Department of Education recommends 110 minutes of P.E. each week, or 22 minutes a day, from kindergarten through third grade and 90 minutes a week for fourth through sixth grade.

Academy of the Pacific students practice hand-eye coordination on their outdoor basketball court. State education officials acknowledge that many public schools probably do not meet physical education goals. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

However, with the increasing pressure to improve performance in subjects such as math, science and reading, DOE officials say that many campuses probably don't meet those goals.

Dan Yahata, physical education and health specialist at the DOE, said 70 percent of public elementary schools in the state also do not have a teacher dedicated exclusively to teaching P.E.

"We're in a fight right now to save what we've got," Yahata said. "The data is validating that this is important. We've got a dedication to the entire child. Yes, reading is important, math is important. But you know, life is important. It's something that we have to sell. There are quite a few studies that link physical activity to academic performance, and we're advocating for a balance."

Hawai'i isn't alone, though.

A study by P.E.4Life, a national nonprofit organization, showed that less than 50 percent of U.S. schools offer physical education. And P.E. requirements nationwide have been dropping for the past 20 years.

According to the CDC, nearly half of young people 12 to 21 years old do not regularly engage in vigorous physical activity. Participation in physical activity declines as children age.

Both the CDC and the U.S. surgeon general have called for daily P.E. from kindergarten through high school graduation.

But most high school students take P.E. for just one year, according to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Hawai'i is one of 18 states that have the one-year requirement.

Only two states, Illinois and New Jersey, required students in every grade level to have daily P.E. Six states and the District of Columbia require two years and 12 states require a half-year to 1 1/2 years of physical education. And 12 states do not require physical education and leave it up to local school districts.

Kamehameha Schools more than two decades ago started requiring students to take P.E. every year through graduation. All high school students are required to complete events as rigorous as a 10K run or a 3K swim, and must compete in community sporting events such as the Great Aloha Run as juniors and seniors.

Theone Chock, a P.E. instructor there since 1974, said the P.E. requirements are meant to help combat the health problems common in Native Hawaiians. "It's not only obesity, but asthma," Chock said. "There's a real need for cardiovascular fitness."

Dennis Chai is attacking obesity through physical education. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We want to start to connect the dots for people," Flannery said. "Parents are unaware of the problem. Everyone is busy, but busy doesn't mean that you're physically active. People need to see the difference."

Yahata said the DOE is creating more professional development courses so that elementary school teachers can learn how to teach P.E. Yahata also wants to create an interactive fitness database that would link parents and students with a variety of sports activities in their area. It would include information about sports available at school but also connect them with things such as nearby hiking trails and karate classes or league football and soccer.

To help find a solution to the state's obesity problem, the researchers in Chai's group — Kwok Ho and Coop Derenne from UH and Norman Kaluhiokalani from BYU — have brought a test program to Kahuku, Hau'ula, Sunset Beach, La'ie and Ka'a'awa elementary schools this year.

At the beginning of the school year they measured students' height, weight and skinfold, and tested motor, social and fitness skills. Several teachers have gone to workshops paid for by the HMSA Foundation to learn how to teach a P.E. curriculum that was developed at the University of Michigan. They also received P.E. equipment.

Rexann Dubiel, a third-grade teacher at Sunset Beach Elementary, said the curriculum breaks down P.E. into various skills: learning to throw properly, balance or kicking a ball. "I took a few P.E. classes in college but never felt qualified to teach P.E.," she said. "The program is easy to understand and comprehend."

Sunset Beach Principal Ruth Holmberg said that even though she thinks her school's children have a pretty high level of fitness already, they've refined their skills.

Yahata said that's the future of P.E. The newer curriculums focus on skills and fitness instead of learning specific sports. It also encourages kids to stick with in-line skating, skateboarding, surfing or riding bikes if that's what they enjoy.

"It's having enough knowledge so you can find something and do your own program of physical fitness," Yahata said. "You need some knowledge and a little education."

Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.