Elementary students walk it off

The latest approach for battling the bulge is to give schoolchildren pedometers.

Regence BlueShield of Idaho, a health insurance company, is piloting a program with fourth- and fifth-graders at Coeur d’Alene and Pocatello schools. For 11 weeks, the students will record the number of steps they take in a week, competing with teams at their school and other schools. Cash prizes, ranging from $500 to $2,500, will be awarded to the most active schools.

About 16 percent of children and adolescents are overweight, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. It’s a statistic that worries political leaders, health practitioners and teachers. In recent years, school leaders have curbed the amount of junk food and sodas that may be sold in schools, and policymakers are discussing increasing physical education requirements.

For Todd Davis, a physical education teacher at Atlas Elementary School, the pedometer program gives all students, not just those who are athletic, the opportunity to be active. Some kids have reacted to the idea by saying, “All I have to do is walk? I can do that,” Davis said.

Though the program puts students in groups based on number of steps they take per week, Davis de-emphasizes that aspect.

“I’m not encouraging numbers,” Davis said. “I’m encouraging them to move and be active.”

Does the program succeed in doing that?

“Sort of,” Taylor Stinson, 9, said. “For some kids, yes. For some kids, no.”

For Taylor, curiosity is driving his participation. “It’s fun knowing how many steps you’ve done,” he said.

So far, two weeks into the program, he’s racked up 5,880 steps. But Taylor concedes that the number isn’t completely accurate because some days, when he’s been in a rush to get to school, he’s forgotten the pedometer at home.

That’s one of the things that Davis would change next year: He would have students leave the gadgets at school at the end of the day. A handful of kids in Taylor’s class already lost or broke their pedometers.

Davis said he would also adjust the number of steps suggested by the program, to make them more attainable by fourth- and fifth-graders.

He believes they’re too high right now.

The program classifies students who walk up to 4,000 steps as explorers, up to 7,000 steps as scouts, and more than that as trailblazers.

But Davis likes the fact the program is linked to the kids’ study of famous explorers such as Lewis and Clark.

Overall, he said, the program is a great tool to encouraging physical activity.

Some kids don’t need that much encouragement.

Kyle Green, 10, took up Davis’ suggestion to run up and down stairs during commercial breaks. So far, he has compiled about 10,000 steps.

Kyle and his friends are increasing their activity during recess in an effort to add additional steps.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “we see who has the most.”