$50,000 grant to help fight obesity in kids

[Guest guest]

$50,000 grant to help fight obesity in kids

Friday, November 17, 2006

FORD CITY -- A few years ago, Dr. Kirin Baht began to notice

something about the children who came to his pediatric office.

" I began to notice not only the high number of children that were

overweight, but also the high number of complications (from being

overweight), " he said.

Two years ago, Armstrong School District and ACMH Hospital formed a

partnership to combat the problem. The district and hospital

received a $50,000 grant Thursday from University of Pittsburgh

Medical Center Health Plan to continue their efforts.

The grant will be used to enlarge programs already in the district:

from physical activities such as walking contests to nutrition

information being provided for parents.

" We understand that this isn't an isolated pediatric problem, " said

Dr. Harold Altman, ACMH Hospital's medical director. Child obesity

is often influenced by family factors, such as unhealthy eating

habits and " too much screen time in front of televisions and

computers, " he said.

The partnership to fight child obesity started after a state mandate

for schools to begin measuring the body mass index (BMI) of

students. Altman said it was " a unique opportunity " for schools and

health-care providers to do something about the problem.

" Examining the BMI rates for Armstrong County has been very

illuminating, " he said. The county is below national averages when

children enter school in kindergarten, but by fifth grade, half are

at risk to be overweight or are already overweight.

UPMC became involved after a discussion between Altman and Dr. Mike

Culyba, vice president of medical affairs for UPMC, about the

partnership between the school district and ACMH Hospital.

" It just sounded very intriguing to me, " Culyba said.

" We are very, very pleased to be able to participate (in the

partnership's efforts), " said Diane Holder, president of UPMC Health

Plan. " It's in our hands to try to fix this now. "

" We believe Armstrong County's community-based program is an

innovative public health approach to not only successfully address

the root causes of this problem but also to establish a sense of

community ownership and pride for the health of its children, " she

said.

The school is planning on implementing an in-school curriculum on

wellness, and is in the process of setting up after school programs

to involve parents, such as using some of the grant money to offer

use of the YMCA in Kittanning to parents and students on Sundays at

a nominal fee.

" The grant will help with all of this, " Altman said. " We gave many

people a chance to be part of this project, and UPMC really stepped

up to the plate and put their money where their mouth was. "

can be reached at mmiller@... or (724) 543-

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