Louisiana kids get a 'D' on health report card
POSTED: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - 4:30pm
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - 4:49pm
BATON ROUGE, LA (NBC33) — Kindergarteners and first graders from Northwestern Middle School in Zachary spent Wednesday morning taking part in the "Body Walk." They learned about different parts of the body and why they needed to eat healthy and exercise.
"What food do you like to eat? Vegetables, fruits and pickles."
This comes as Louisiana received a "D" grade for the fifth year in a row when it comes to physical activity and health for the state's children. One of the main causes of the problem was a lack of what researchers called "built environments." These are places like parks and sidewalks where kids can leave their homes and get some exercise.
"We need programs which will allow kids to be physically active and we need the parent to support the kids in that and we also need the environment to change where we have the ability for children to play outside, to have sidewalks along with streets to get them back outside," says Peter Katzmarzyk.
And this is badly needed with one in four Louisiana kids considered physically inactive.
"We learn about keep our healthy stuff and brush our teeth and eat our food."
And these are benefits that can help students in the classroom too.
"Unhealthy eating habits are known to affect grades, school levels. If kids have a healthy lifestyle will in a nutshell make a stronger student," says John Albarado of the Support Bodies program.
"And what's not good to eat? Junk food, junk food, junk food."