Where Our Bill Stands

While following the progress of our bill, we were under the assumption that it had been blocked in the house, but it has passed unanimously. We are very excited that this bill is progressing and hope it will have a positive outcome on the health of children in America. We will continue to update further progress on the bill as it is made available.

Responses of Stakeholders

Last week we sent out emails to those we felt were key stakeholders to the bill. We emailed Senator Peterson, but at this time haven't heard back. We contacted a Physical Education teacher, Kate Tynes about the importance of physical education in a school curriculum. She emailed back stating she was very interested in this matter and would love to view our blog. We haven't heard back with any comments, although we asked her to just comment on the blog itself. Shirley Schantz, the Nursing Education Director of the National Association of School Nurses, she responded giving us a hyperlink, http://www.nasn.org/Default.aspx?tabid=594, to view resources provided by NASN on childhood obesity. We contacted Sallie Strickler, chairwoman of the Harrisonburg Public School Board and this is how she responded:

"Thanks for contacting me regarding the issue of childhood obesity and the school system.

Several years ago when I was a candidate for the board, one of my concerns was and continues to be the amount of exercise children get in school. I want to clarify that the school board does not develop curriculum but does give guidance to what we would like to have offered by the schools. The assistant superintendent, Dr. Mike Loso, is responsible for curriculum development.

For the current school year, the board gave a direction to increase the amount of time children spend in "specials", (art, music, PE and library). While the goal of that direction was to increase the frequency, the duration was increased. This did add to the total minutes a student was in specials each week, it did not increase the frequency as desired. The staff reported to the board their concerns that the duration is now too long so the principals were adjusting the time back to a shorter duration.

As I go to the schools, I continue to be concerned about the number of overweight students. I will continue to advocate for increased frequency of exercise for students. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Sallie"

We emailed Lynn Alexander, a Physical Education teacher; William Howell, the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates; Mike Loso, Assistant Superintendent for Harrisonburg public schools. We are waiting on replies and as soon as we get those we will post them.

Contacting Key Stakeholders

Our group emailed Senator Chapman, two Physical Education teachers, the Harrisonburg School Board Chairwoman, the National Association of School Nurses, and William Howell (speaker of Virginia House of Delegates).

We first emailed Senator Chapman because he is the patron of the Bill SJ Resolution No. 85. We asked him what his ideas would have been for implementing the bill if it had not been blocked.

Physical Education teachers play a vital role in a child's development while they are in the school setting. These teachers have the opportunity to educate children on the importance of exercising daily and eating a healthy diet.

We emailed the Harrisonburg School Board Chairwoman because the school board creates the curriculum and makes important decisions for the public school system.

We also contacted The National Association of School Nurses because we feel that school nurses can play a key role in the education in children about making healthy life style choices.

William Howell was emailed because he is the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. We contacted him about why the bill was blocked and what changes need to be made for the bill to pass.

Political Action Plan and Key Stakeholders

As a group we are in support of Senate Joint Resolution No. 85. As stated in the previous blog posting, childhood obesity in rising rapidly. In the last 30 years, obesity in young children has more than tripled. According the the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, obese children are at a a greater risk for Cardiovascular disease, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, diabetes, stroke, cancer, as well as social and psychological problems. Research has shown that promoting healthy lifestyle changes, such as eating healthy and physical activity, have decreased the risk of childhood obesity and related diseases. While we are in support of the overall bill, there are not specific guidelines set in place on how the education and health promotion will be implemented in the school systems. If the bill is passed, there is no set plan on enforcing changes in the schools.

Political Action Plan:
- Contact key legislators and invite them to look at our blog

- Ask key legislators how they plan on implementing the bill in schools if it is passed

- Contact local school systems and inquire about current health education and physical activity programs

- Contact the National Association for School Nurses and invite them to view our blog

- Contact the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and NFL's Play 60 and invite them to view our blog and ask for support

- Each member of the group will contact our local legislators and ask them to view our blog

Key stakeholders:
- Young children in public schools
- Teachers, specifically physcial education and health teachers
- School adminstrators
- Parents of students
- School Nurses

Key Legislators:
- Senator J. Chapman Peterson