Running USA Model Programs

Running events provide goal and structure to fight obesity epidemic

By Linda Honikman, Running USA wire

Many students returned to school this fall carrying a few extra pounds, and not just in their backpacks. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this year, "Nearly 32 percent of U.S. children and adolescents are overweight or obese (at or above the 85th percentile of BMI for age)." (JAMA) Recent studies have emphasized the importance of helping youth develop healthy behaviors early in life. One sobering study reported that the number of fat cells one has is set by late adolescence so older children can lose weight but they can't lose their fat cells. (WPost) Another disturbing trend reported by the Associated Press is the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children. (AP) If the condition is not reversed, it can lead to cirrhosis, a condition previously associated only with drinking excessive alcohol or hepatitis. The best way to reverse the condition is through weight loss but typically only 1 in 4 kids that doctors see for this condition are successful in losing significant weight. The patients that are successful are supported by families who make lifestyle changes together.

Changing lifestyles is very difficult and ideally families, schools and communities need to work together. High profile running events with access to many dedicated volunteers and coaches offer an excellent foundation for publicizing the need for healthy habits and for providing low cost fitness programs during or after school. Event members of Running USA, the nation's premier association for the running industry, have worked hard to improve the fitness of their communities by providing turnkey programs for teachers, parents, boys and girls clubs and entire school districts. Six of these organizations - the Big Sur International Marathon, Atlanta Track Club (producer of Peachtree 10K), Michigan's Crim Festival of Races, Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, GO! St. Louis Marathon and the ING New York City Marathon - have earned the designation of "Model Program" for their youth fitness initiatives. Each organization's program has unique components but they all follow best practices for an affordable, effective youth fitness program which can be duplicated in other parts of the country.

The six Model Programs are described below. The "community context" provides state-by-state adult obesity data from "F as in Fat, How Obesity Policies are Failing in America" by the Trust For American Health. (TFAH)

Atlanta Track Club's Kilometer Kids, Atlanta, Georgia

[Community context: 27.5% of Georgia adults were obese in 2007, a significant increase over the previous year. The state also ranked #9 for number of adults with Diabetes (9.2%).]

The Atlanta Track Club's Kilometer Kids Fall Training Program began on September 15. After just a few years the director, Tina Klein, has noticed improved attitudes about fitness as well as actual weight loss. This year, the program has expanded to serve 16 elementary and middle schools via YMCA sites and 8 Boys & Girls Clubs in the Metro Atlanta area.

The 10-week program encourages kids to run 2.5 miles each week with their final mile taking place at the finish of The Weather Channel Atlanta Marathon on Thanksgiving Day. Children track their progress on a running log and receive different incentive prizes along the way. Also included during the ten weeks are optional one mile fun runs as part of Atlanta Track Club races.

Last spring, the ATC's Kilometer Kids Program was inducted into the Atlanta Falcon's Youth Fitness (AFYF) Signature Program Partners. Through cross-organizational learning and leadership in partnerships with the AFYF, YMCA, GoGirlGo, Community Foundation of Atlanta, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, and sponsors Nike, Chick-fil-A and Atlanta Braves, Kilometer Kids will increase the impact of the collective effort of combating childhood obesity.

CrimFit Youth Program, Crim Festival Foundation, Flint, Michigan
[Community context: Michigan has 27.7% adult obesity, a significant increase over previous year and #10 on the nation's highest obesity rate list.]

Year 3 of the Crim Youth Program Expansion, funded by the Ruth Mott Foundation, which takes the popular CrimFit Youth Program Mileage Club to all 23 City of Flint elementary schools, kicked off in Mid-September. Activities included all-school assemblies with appearances by Running Bear, the CrimFit Youth Program mascot, and the CrimFit Youth Program "Book Mobile" delivering copies of our Running Bear and the Crim Kids story book to each school's library.

Student progress and achievement are tracked during the course of the school year and children receive various incentives when they reach certain mileage or time benchmarks as does the school's Physical Education Department. The blending of individual-based and institutional-based incentives helps schools stretch their limited resources while providing students with a structured, results-oriented physical fitness program. A unique incentive structure, piloted in half of the participating schools, is testing the strategy and success of institutional-based incentives. Approximately 7,800 students in grades K to 6 will participate during the 2008 / 2009 school year.

In addition to the programs within the City of Flint, the CrimFit Youth Program Mileage Clubs are also being offered to 15 elementary schools and 6,000 students located throughout greater Genesee County. For more information regarding the Crim Fitness Foundation, the CrimFit Youth Program, or the CrimFit Feelin' Good(r) Mileage Club please contact Charlotte Paul, Program Director, cpaul@crim.org.

GO! St. Louis Read, Right & Run Marathon(r), St. Louis, Missouri

[Community context: 27.4% of Missouri adults are obese, a significant increase over previous year.]

The GO! St. Louis Read, Right & Run Marathon(r) youth program presented by Centene Corporation, gets to the starting line in early October. More than 24,000 area students from 170 schools are expected to participate during the 2008-09 school year. The program, which is open to students from grades K-8, encourages them to Read 26 books, Right the community with 26 good deeds and Run 26 miles over a six month period. The program has also recently expanded to include middle school students who have a more challenging goal of an ultramarathon (50 miles).

The program received a tremendous boost this year, when the St. Louis Public Schools, the largest school district in Missouri, recognized the impact of the program and incorporated it into their core curriculum. The nationally-recognized initiative works closely with physical educators, literacy coaches, principals and parents, who serve as program coordinators and guide the children in their quest to complete the integrated marathon.

At the annual kickoff event held in early November, students will be introduced to the 3 components of the program with a storytelling area which includes book suggestions, an informative presentation from community partner REI which teaches them the importance of protecting the environment and a one-mile trail run. Every participating student receives a colorful 40-page journal to chart their progress throughout the year.

The GO! St. Louis Read, Right & Run Marathon program began in 2001 and has impacted the lives of thousands of local students. It is one of the various youth initiatives GO! St. Louis coordinates on a year-round basis to fight youth obesity and build strong character.

JUST RUN(r), Big Sur International Marathon, Monterey, California (and elsewhere)

[Community context: California had "only" 23.1% obese adults in 2007 which was not a significant increase from the previous year. The target group that the original Just Run program serves is predominantly Hispanic. Hispanic adults in the U.S. have a 36.9% obesity rate compared to 29.7% of whites.]

Registration for the JUST RUN(r) youth fitness program is open for the 2008 - 2009 school year. The organizers were busy during the summer, updating the website and adding exciting new features. Students may now track their mileage in a new, virtual run across Europe as well as in a journey across the USA. JUST RUN is also proud of an entirely new addition to the program - JUST TASTE. This is an educational feature that focuses on healthy eating as a vital compliment to physical activity.

At the end of the 2007-08 academic school year, Big Sur International Marathon's JUST RUN reached many new milestones. Nearly 6,800 children logged over 225,000 miles and 25,000 JUST DEEDS (acts of good citizenship) were completed, far surpassing all expectations. Statistics compiled from the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District from 2005 through 2007 revealed a significant improvement in aerobic capacity for the schools who participated in JUST RUN compared to those that didn't. In fact, all other fitness categories tested showed improvement in the JUST RUN schools whereas students in the non-JUST RUN schools showed a decrease in performance in most categories. Also, 96% of the students surveyed at the end of the 2006-07 school year wanted to continue the following year, 93% of the students indicated they were making healthier food choices and 70% of the students said that their entire family became involved in running and physical activity because of the JUST RUN program.

This successful program continues to expand rapidly. In just its fourth year, programs targeting high school students are being added and because of extensive online resources, organizations in 14 states and 67 schools throughout the country have been able to join the supportive JUST RUN community.

Medtronic TC Kids Marathon, Minneapolis, Minnesota

[Community context: 24.8% of adults in Minnesota are obese, a significant increase from previous year.]

On October 4 more than 2,500 kids coming from 35 schools will take part in the fall culminating event of the Medtronic TC Kids Marathon, a year-round, online training program. All of the Medtronic TC Family Events which include the Diana Pierce Family Mile presented by Medica, Half Mile presented by ING, Diaper Dash presented by Pioneer Press, Toddler Trot presented by Flint Hills Resources and Harry and Shelly's Mascot Invitational occur the day before the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and will have a total of 5,000 participants. Registration is open online through Friday, September 26 at: MTCMarathon.org

Helpful online materials which encourage fitness and multi-week training are available to anyone, anywhere on MTCMarathon.org. In fact, many international visitors come to the site each month. The Medtronic TC Kids Marathon website community has 1,637 registered members. Since February of 2007 to-date, 111,208 miles have been logged by 134 entities which include both schools and families and over 10,000 incentives have been given to participants. In two or three months, a new nutrition section will be added to the site that is a result of a partnership with the American Heart Association.

Mighty Milers and Young Runners, New York Road Runner Foundation, New York

[Community context: 25.3% of adult New Yorkers are obese, a significant increase over the previous year.]

In this new school year the New York Road Runners Foundation has ambitious plans to increase the service population from 50,000 to 100,000 children a week in New York City, nationally and internationally. Other impressive goals for the school year include:

• Establishment of at least one Mighty Milers program in each of the 50 states.
• Continue refining the award-wining Mighty Milers database, which provides every child, teacher and school with their own personalized web page so as to further enhance each participant's and provider's program experience
• Complete and disseminate a new "How to Run" video, a grade appropriate tool for teachers, coaches and any adults seeking to motivate and instruct youth to run enjoyably and healthfully
• Complete and disseminate their nutrition curriculum for grades K-8 which will provide detailed instruction in the delivery of short lessons combining physical movement with top line nutritional information.

The NYRR Foundation provides incentives and instruction to teachers to make Mighty Milers easy to integrate into daily school life. Kids of all fitness levels and abilities learn to walk or run a half-mile, two to five times a week. Students set goals and the online database makes it easy to record and tally the total distance each student accumulates. When students reach milestones, they earn incentives provided by the NYRRF. The Mighty Milers is free to qualifying schools and community centers around the country. Teachers, principals and administrators can complete a short online application and learn immediately if they qualify for a free Mighty Milers program. Schools that don't qualify for the free program can still apply, but would be required to pay a fee if they are accepted. All schools that are accepted will receive everything they need to implement a program. See NYRRF.org for the online application form and more information.

SOURCES
JAMA - "High Body Mass Index for Age among U.S. Children and Adolescents, 2003-2006", Journal of the American Medical Association 299, no. 20 (2008): 2401-2405.

WPost - Levine, S., B. Maloney, B. Schulte and R. Stein. "How Obesity Harms a Child's Body." The Washington Post, May 18, 2008.

AP - Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press, September, 2008.

TFAH - "F as in Fat, How Obesity Policies are Failing in America" by the Trust for American Health. Data is from CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a state-based annual survey of 350,000 adults. Individual state trends were tracked and NO states saw a decrease in adult obesity last year. For more information see http://healthyamericans.org.

For more information on obesity trends, including an animated map, visit: www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps. To learn more about CDC's efforts in the fight against obesity or for more information about nutrition, physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight, visit: www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa

For more information on these and other successful Youth Running Programs, see www.RunningRocks.com which will be officially launched in October.