As you shop, eat rich meals and watch football this holiday
season, take a few minutes to consider the problem of obesity in
Hollister’s children. The California Center for Public Advocacy
released sobering statistics earlier this year: 33.7 percent of
children in the 28th Assembly District, which includes Hollister,
are overweight.
As you shop, eat rich meals and watch football this holiday season, take a few minutes to consider the problem of obesity in Hollister’s children. The California Center for Public Advocacy released sobering statistics earlier this year: 33.7 percent of children in the 28th Assembly District, which includes Hollister, are overweight.
Gilroy’s rate is 31 percent and San Jose’s is 27 percent. Combine these statistics with a recent report showing that only 33 percent of our ninth graders met all six state standards for physical fitness, and it’s clear that no matter how you look at it, Hollister has a problem.
We’ve harped on this subject in the past, but clearly, it’s time to raise the topic again: We want our school boards and community members to get involved in finding more ways to get our kids off the couch, away from their video games and outside running around.
County schools follow state standards for physical education: 20 minutes a day for first through sixth grade, and 40 minutes a day for junior high and high school students, according to County Superintendent of Schools Tim Foley.
In addition, San Benito High School’s P.E. department will this month submit a revamped curriculum that ensures classes are matching state standards.
But there are other good ideas out there that could supplement the exercise we already provide. Foley thinks area schools should work on improving nutrition and consider partnering with agencies like the YMCA to provide students more opportunities to get involved in active lifestyles.
Hollister is proud of its sports programs, and rightly so. But, as these statistics show, there is more that must be done. What we need is a commitment from our leaders and community members to implement ideas like Foley’s – to take them off the drawing board and make them a reality.
To ignore the problem is to fail our children. Childhood obesity has doubled since 1980 and this easily-prevented problem is associated with higher risks of many diseases – including heart disease, stroke and diabetes – and shorter life spans. Clearly, physical fitness – like literacy, math skills and science knowledge – has lifelong benefits that help society.
So, who on our school boards and in our community will champion these ideas? It’s simply too expensive to ignore this problem any longer.
