Central Mass. organizations fight childhood obesity

Matt Volpini An instructor at the YMCA coaches a Zumba class as part of the educational program to teach children proper diet and exercise.

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By Taryn Plumb

As the old adage goes, it takes a village to raise a child.

Adopting that philosophy, numerous area organizations are pooling resources and joining forces to combat youth obesity, which affects more than a third of local children and teenagers.

“The case against obesity has been made,” said Jennifer Madson, associate director of programs at Girls, Inc. of Worcester, noting the increased risk of health problems in obese kids, such as diabetes and asthma, as well as impacts to mental health. “We are trying to find as creative and engaging ways as possible to address it. There’s never enough that can be done.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. children aged 6 to 11 who are classified obese increased from 7 percent in 1980 to 18 percent in 2012, while the rate of obesity in those aged 12 to 19 jumped from 5 to nearly 21 percent over the same period.

Youth from lower-income households – inner-city areas, for example, or, at the other end of the spectrum, isolated rural areas – are at an even greater risk of becoming obese.

“Poverty and obesity go hand-in-hand,” said Kelsa Zereski, director of philanthropy for the Reliant Medical Group Foundation, which gifts annual grants to local organizations that dedicate resources to batting obesity.

Community effort

In 2015, Reliant provided $150,500 to 30 local charities, funding is made possible largely through two major fundraisers, a charity auction and golf classic in the spring and a 5K in the fall.

“It is cheaper to order off the dollar menu at a fast food restaurant,” Zereski said, “than to go into the grocery store and purchase fresh food to make a healthy meal for your family.”

In the inner city, particularly, children have limited access to sports fields and open areas, said Madson, and many are simply deterred from going outside because they live in high-crime areas.

“It screams all the more that we need to do these types of programs,” she said. Many of the 1,800 girls served by Girls Inc. fit into this high-risk category.

Girls, Inc. threads the themes of health, fitness and nutrition throughout its daily initiatives.

Through its Fit Girls program, participants are involved in 100 hours of healthy activities over the school year, such as swimming or dance-offs – or hiking or boating in the summer – and are given healthy snacks daily. Various nutrition programs, meanwhile, inform them about reading and understanding nutrition facts or different ways to get the recommended amount of calcium.

“Nutrition can be incorporated into everything,” said Madson. “Fitness can be incorporated into everything.”

One program that organizations have found to be particularly effective is “5-2-1-0 – Let’s Go!”

Initially developed in 2006 in Maine, the effort stresses a numbers approach: 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, 2 hours or less of screen time, 1 hour or more of physical activity, and 0 sugar drinks.

“We did see an increase in healthy eating choices and physical activity,” said Cindy Landry, school age director at YWCA Central Massachusetts, which held a 5-2-1-0 pilot last year at Worcester’s Roosevelt and Wawecus Road elementary schools.

As part of that, 91 students from 14 local schools spent two days a week doing physical activities, learning about nutrition, and making snacks such as guacamole and dairy- and nut-free pesto.

Liking broccoli

Reliant Pediatrics has teamed up with YMCA Central Massachusetts to offer a similar initiative at its Central Community Branch in Worcester and Boroughs Family Branch in Westborough.

According to Dr. Martha Waite, a Spencer-based Reliant pediatrician, over the course of eight weeks, children work with nutritionists and personal trainers and do daily fitness activities. Participants establish their own goals to eventually work up to the 5-2-1-0 standard; for example, decreasing their soda drinks from three a day to one (and eventually none), or slowly increasing physical activity to 20 minutes a day (and gradually up to an hour).

So far, 110 children have participated in seven sessions of the program (through which they are required to bring at least one family member) and can maintain momentum with an alumni class.

“We really encourage an entire family to undergo a lifestyle change,” said Waite.

In YWCA Central Massachusetts’ Learning 4 Fun After School program children do 45 minutes of physical activity a day, learn ways to wean themselves off candy and soda, and plant, taste, smell and study the elements of fresh vegetables and herbs.

“Maybe they didn’t even realize that they would like something like broccoli,” said Landry. “It’s opening their minds.”

This is a key emphasis of the Community Harvest Project’s Sprouting Minds initiative. Launched in 2013, the nonprofit based at Brigham Hill Community Farm in North Grafton offers various iterations of the program for different ages (pre-k through 12th grade) throughout the year.

Ranging from an afternoon to a full week, Sprouting Minds incorporates a farm tour, seedling plantings, nutrition education lessons, vegetable taste tests and cooking demonstrations. Older students can also “adopt-a-row” of vegetables that they care for from planting to picking.

“We see the excitement build. They change their attitude toward trying new things,” said program manager Alicia Cianciola. She joked that parents will sometimes ask, “What did you do to my child? I can’t believe they’re asking for produce!”

The goal is to ultimately get them to not only eat fruits and vegetables, but like them so it isn’t some sort of burden, said Tori Buerschaper, Community Harvest Project’s education and outreach coordinator.

“It’s getting kids more involved in cooking and tasting and trying all sorts of different vegetables,” Buerschaper said. “Too often you try something once as a kid and you think ‘Oh, I don’t like that.’ Those prejudices follow you into adulthood.”

And other unhealthy habits can, as well.

“Childhood obesity can become a lifelong struggle,” said Gabrielle Alan, resource development associate at the YWCA Central Massachusetts. “With a healthy start, we can make a much healthier future, make it less of a battle for them when they get older.”