Weight and fitness issues dog both adults and children. The challenge is to cast the problem in a way that helps people see that they can change.
This piece first appeared in The Vermont Standard.
When Woodstock physician Steven Smith consults with adults who are overweight or out of shape, “every one of them already knows it’s a problem,” he says, “the challenge is to try to cast it in a light where they can see it’s possible to change.” Weight and fitness issues unfortunately dog children as well. Pediatrician Mike Kilcullen has learned over the years that “ease of access to higher calorie foods and the fact that people don’t eat meals together at home very often any more” spawn an environment that works against healthy living.
That’s why the Ottauquechee Community Partnership (OCP), a Woodstock-based community coalition, is collaborating with other local organizations to offer the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Challenge. The eight-week program, which begins August 18, is designed to showcase the diverse opportunities for fun exercise and nutritious eating in the Woodstock area. Participation is easy. Pick up a brochure at the Market on the Green or find one on-line at www.ocpvt.org. Complete at least five HEAL Challenge activities and send in an entry card with some simple documentation, like a photograph, recipe, or short story. As added incentive to participate, there will be weekly drawings at the Market on the Green for $10 gift certificates, and one final grand prize drawing on October 6th for a $400 Start House Ski and Bike gift certificate.
Jackie Fischer, Executive Director of OCP, hopes that children and adults of all ages will get involved in the HEAL Challenge.
Too many of us “spend too many hours working at a computer, watching television, playing video games and eating junk food,” says Fischer, and eventually, “we wonder, how did we get to this point?”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 42% of Vermonters are too sedentary, and 58% are overweight or obese. The consequences can be grim: nearly 17% of deaths in the United States are caused by physical inactivity and poor diet.
The good news, though, is that moderate exercise, with or without weight loss, has a healthy impact on people of all ages and sizes. Multiple studies show that physical activity extends life, and decreases the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some cancers. There is also evidence that exercise diminishes anxiety and stress, and, in children, helps increase capacity to learn. Activity needn’t be intense or sustained to satisfy the government recommendation of 30 minutes of exercise five times a week; two 15-minute walks a day or even three 10-minute walks produce benefits.
The HEAL Challenge draws from on-going and in-the-works programs developed by several organizations. The Ottauquechee Community Health Center and OCP, for example, co-sponsor a walking group that meets outside their 32 Pleasant Street location at noon on Wednesdays through the fall. It’s for walkers of all fitness levels; distance and route are selected by consensus of the group that assembles. The physicians at the center plan to further reinforce the benefits of physical activity by introducing a Prescription Walking program. Rather than simply telling patients to “get more exercise,” doctors will pass out trail maps and use prescription-like forms to write detailed instructions for walking distance and frequency.
To get kids moving, the Woodstock Elementary School offers a walking club. Three mornings a week before class begins, kids walk laps around their playground while parent volunteers track distance. Students use their miles to progress across the Long Trail or the Appalachian Trail or even the Great Wall of China. Last year, in six-week fall and spring sessions, they racked up nearly 400 miles.
Long established eating habits can be particularly difficult to change, but Woodstock Farm to School programs, which teach kids to grow food and understand its value, have demonstrated that it’s possible, and even fun, to incorporate fresh, healthy foods into a daily diet. During a few weeks last spring, Elementary School students worked side-by-side planting a pickle garden with cucumber and dill, and beds with tomatoes, basil, corn, beans, and squash. Students will taste the result of their work when the produce is harvested and used in the school’s lunches this fall. The Farm to School curriculum includes many activities, but for Principal Karen White the most fun came from cooking with the kids.
“They’d be making yogurt, or flat bread, or cutting for salsa,” says White, “There they were with their sleeves rolled up, talking about it, asking questions. It was so obviously more than just cooking.”
With help from cafeteria staff and the Farm to School Committee, White also took on the additional challenge of incorporating local foods into school lunches. Now the menu features entrees like vegetable bulgur, black eyed pea stew, and onion basil quiche. Not all kids love every offering, but participation in the program has increased. White is hopeful that the reinforcement students get from planting and cooking together, and routinely experiencing fresh foods will, in the long run, engrain healthy habits.
HEAL Challenge partners want to help everyone, adults and children, find what they need to be healthy. The Market on the Green brings Windsor County farmers to Woodstock on Wednesday afternoons, giving residents the opportunity to conveniently buy nutritious, locally grown vegetables and proteins. And every week through mid-October, featured vendors from the market will demonstrate preparation of delicious recipes. The Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park provides 20 miles of trails for walkers of all abilities. There’s a bike club at the Start House that offers a variety of weekly rides. The Farm to School Program sponsors on-going events in the schools and the community at large. In September, the Woodstock Elementary School will restart it’s walking club, and rev up a “Walking School Bus” to get students legging it to school with teachers and volunteers. There’s something for everyone in the HEAL Challenge, so plan on joining friends and neighbors for eight weeks of healthy fun. It might just get everyone into the habit of healthy eating and active living.