Superintendent Steven Keller recently announced that the obesity rate among students in the Redondo Beach Unified School District (RBUSD) has made a precipitous dropped from its 2007 rate of 20% to a present rate of 6.4%.
In 2006, Beach Cities Health District officials and those of RBUSD were alarmed to find out that the obesity rate for elementary school students here was at one in five, which was higher than national average. Both districts came together to develop a plan to reverse the trend. As a result, LiveWell Kids was born.
To start, sodas and candy bars were eliminated from school vending machines and were replaced by low-sugar drinks and water. Plus 400 trained parent-volunteers were brought in to provide instruction on nutrition and physical education for Redondo Beach students K – Grade 5. Preschoolers were added to the program in 2010.
Getting parents on board was a bit of a challenge at first, but this is the kind of situation where a brochure printing service can be especially helpful.
Students were encouraged to walk to school, and the school day started each morning with eight minutes of exercise. Every grade was provided with a garden space, which the students maintained. The children grew their own produce that they could eat when harvested. In addition to learning gardening, students also learned about the sugar content of various soda brands, as well as how food is marketed.
