Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three-part series looking at childhood obesity and what schools are doing to combat the growing problem.

With the number of children classified as obese on the rise, area schools are attempting to do their part to promote healthy, active students.

Schools have formed groups to study how the system is handling the issue and different ways to get students involved and some officials have even gone so far as to rewrite board goals and school policies. In the past couple of years, the state education departments are even trying to get in on the act by rewriting the nutrition standards.

“I’m very proud of the efforts we’ve put forth as a school system,” said Bryan Taylor, assistant superintendent of Mount Airy City Schools. “We’ve tried to be very proactive to help address this trend. Clearly there is evidence there is a problem with childhood obesity.”

This trend of trying to get students to be more healthy and active often begins in the cafeteria. By providing nutritious foods that are appealing to students, schools work to encourage students to make the healthier options.

According to the nutrition standards for elementary schools from the NC State Board of Education, food preparation methods are limited to baking, roasting, broiling, boiling and steaming. Four fruits and/or vegetables will be offered daily and legumes will be offered at least one time per week. Also, all milk choices will be one percent or less fat and a minimum of one daily serving of whole grain products will be offered. Surry County Schools has even implemented a new Web site which allows parents to see a breakdown of the nutrition facts for every menu item served.

“I feel like Mount Airy City Schools is doing what we can to offer healthy options. We’ve implemented the nutrition standards for elementary schools and tried to incorporate those healthy options at all the schools,” said Elke Atkins, director of child nutrition for MACS. “We don’t fry foods K-8. We have skim milk and five servings of fruits and vegetables.

“Our job is to provide the most delicious, nutritious foods to children that we can. We have to appeal to children who have lots of other options,” said Sherri Parks, director of child nutrition for Surry County Schools.

Part of that job also revolves around getting students to eat lunch at school rather than bringing a lunch from home. While there are some regulations on what can be brought into the school, there are still unhealthy options making their way in. Some of these regulations include a ban on bags with brand names on them. This means students cannot go out and pick up fast food or have fast food brought in to them.

Schools also are forced to serve a la carte items to help raise money for the program. These items can include things such as ice cream or peanut butter crackers which may not be the healthiest options. Even then, however, schools are working to limit student intake of those options.

In the Mount Airy city schools, to purchase a la carte items, students first have to purchase a lunch. Vending machines also are not turned on in the schools until after lunch and even then, there are more fruit juices and waters in the drink machines than sodas.

In trying to provide healthier options with fruits and vegetables, the schools also are trying to help out the area and state economy by purchasing locally whenever possible.

“We purchase all our produce locally. Being a small system where we are, we’re at an advantage where we can do that,” said Atkins. “We’re also in a buyer’s co-op with 10 other systems so we have more buying power meaning we have the ability to receive foods at the same cost as larger systems.”

“We participate in the far-to-school program through the Department of Agriculture meaning we use USDA entitlement dollars to buy fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Parks. “We also use Fair Share money to buy produce. With Pilot Mountain Pride we hope to purchase Surry County grown fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Part of getting the students to make healthier food choices is teaching them about and exposing them to different options. Through the USDA Fresh Fruits and Vegetables grant, White Plains Elementary has been doing just that for two years. Students receive a fresh fruit or vegetable snack every day in addition to what is being served in the cafeteria. Through the program, students have been exposed to items such as star fruit, mango and zucchini as well as more traditional foods like apples and bananas.

“You develop an acquired taste,” said Chuck Graham, Surry County Schools assistant superintendent. “It’s about being able to put those foods in front of them.”

B.H. Tharrington Primary Schools also is embarking on a project that will allow students to work with fruits and vegetables. Through a partnership with Reeves Community Center, the Surry County Health Department and Lowes Hardware, the school is working to set up a garden in the atrium area near the media center. The garden would allow students to plant seasonal plants including fruits and vegetables. Mount Airy Middle has implemented a salad bar at lunch for the first time this year with great success. Mount Airy High School already had a salad bar.

“We thought it would teach kids the benefits of proper nutrition,” said Lydia Lovell, principal at Tharrington Primary, of the effort spear-headed by Cathy McCluskey, the school’s nurse. “Cathy felt she could work with students to get them to understand what a balanced meal looks like.”

The schools also have created groups such as the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC), which exists in both the city and county schools systems, and the Zone Health Initiative. These groups focus more on the health aspect of the issues facing children today. They try to promote activity among students at a time when a more sedentary lifestyle is becoming acceptable.

“We’re trying to do everything we can as a school system to help them be as active as we can,” said Taylor. “Kids aren’t as active as they used to be at one time. It’s a different culture - this is the age of video games.”

Surry County Schools has implemented SHAC as well as adding Misty Bruner, a physical education teacher at East Surry High School, to the curriculum committee.

“We felt we needed to have a common language in the district,” said Pat Widdowson, Surry County Schools assistant superintendent, of the work of the curriculum committee and SHAC. “We need to make sure every educator and every child is aware of the issues.”

With programs such as Walk, Run for Your Life, which is an incentive program for Surry County Schools sixth graders to lead a healthy, active lifestyle which is tracked through healthy activity logs, the county school system is working to change the culture in which the students are raised. It is more about changing their lifestyles which will create a more permanent change. Some of the elementary schools have walking clubs and Bruner is working with students on a Couch to 5K program at the high school level.

Mount Airy City Schools’ SHAC is getting input from second graders at Tharrington Primary who are part of the Fit Cubs Club. The club also is sponsoring a Family Walk Day May 8. Physical education takes place daily at Mount Airy Middle School this year as an experiment to see if that is a feasible option. Mount Airy Middle School will also have access to the new greenway which could provide opportunities for walkers and runners.

Schools also are working to provide more variety in after-school activity options. Officials are looking to cater to students who may not excel at sports. By finding an activity they are good it, students are more likely to remain active.

“We’ve looked at extra curricular activities to see if we can bring more people in,” said Taylor.

“Our biggest role is to help children make that choice,” said Widdowson. “It’s a balanced, healthy feeling about myself that we’re striving for. It’s not cosmetic.”

Schools believe that with all of the attention childhood obesity has garnered recently, including Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, now is the time for change. They have been working for the past couple of years to implement their own programs and do what they can with what they receive as far as guidelines and food.

“I think this is the year for national nutrition standards from the USDA. That will help the vendors, the Department of Public Instruction and hopefully that will help us,” said Parks.

“It’s like the stars have aligned this year with our board goals, the new insurance guidelines and the revisions in the student wellness policy,” said Widdowson.

Contact Morgan Wall at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.