Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 12–Senators Wiener, Cegavske, Mathews, Titus, Rawson, Care, Neal, Nolan and Washington

 

FILE NUMBER..........

 

Senate Concurrent RESOLUTION—Encouraging school administrators, teachers and other educational personnel involved in prekindergarten through 12th grade to promote nutrition and physical fitness in schools.

 

    Whereas, Between 1986 and 1998, obesity among children in

the United States doubled, and results of a survey completed in the

year 2000 by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that 15 percent of

children between the ages of 6 and 11 years are overweight; and

    Whereas, In 1990, not one state had a rate of obesity in

adolescents as high as 15 percent, but today in more than one half of

the states, the rate of obesity in adolescents is 15 percent to 19

percent; and

    Whereas, Obesity in children and adolescents is directly

related to an increased risk of developing heart disease,

hypertension, excess fat or lipids in the blood, musculoskeletal

disorders, breathing problems and asthma, early sexual maturation

and type 2 diabetes, which was previously quite rare in children; and

    Whereas, Obesity in children and adolescents is also linked

with emotional distress and psychosocial issues such as

discrimination, low self-esteem, poor body image, depression,

anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, and researchers have

found that obese adolescents are more likely to engage in risky

behaviors such as smoking and drinking alcohol; and

    Whereas, Statistics indicate that obese children and

adolescents tend to remain obese during adulthood; and

    Whereas, These dramatic statistics, devastating trends and

problems relating to obesity are the consequence of two principal

factors, lack of physical activity and poor nutrition; and

    Whereas, Changes in our society and lifestyle have resulted in

limiting physical activity in children and adolescents, for example,

fewer children and adolescents walking or bicycling to school or

other activities because of increased safety concerns or busy

schedules, an upsurge in sedentary recreation such as television,

videotapes and DVDs, video games, computers and other electronic

media, and lack of money for parks and recreational facilities in

communities; and

    Whereas, Another cause of lack of physical activity is that

many schools are experiencing reductions of time allocated to

mandatory physical education classes and time dedicated to recess

and organized physical activities; and

    Whereas, This lack of physical activity in earlier years causes

less alertness and decreased productivity in the classroom, can

inhibit healthy social and emotional development, and increases the

likelihood of continued lack of physical activity as an adult; and

    Whereas, Studies have shown that appropriate levels of

physical activity are advantageous in that they improve muscular

strength and endurance, flexibility and cardiovascular endurance,

reduce anxiety and stress, and can play a role in increasing feelings

of self-esteem, self-worth and self-efficacy; and

    Whereas, Research also indicates that pupils who participate in

interscholastic sports are less likely to abuse tobacco and controlled

substances; and

    Whereas, Modern conveniences, such as fast food, the

microwave and the easy availability of “junk foods,” and the fast

pace of everyday life have fostered higher caloric, less nutritional

food intake and given incentive to practices such as skipping

breakfast, a practice engaged in by 25 percent of high school pupils

and 7 percent to 12 percent of all children between 6 and 18 years of

age; and

    Whereas, Although schools serve nutritional breakfasts and

lunches and provide programs that teach proper nutrition, food that

has minimal nutritional value is also made accessible because of

open-campus policies, vending machines, school stores and snack

bars, thus sending a message that good nutrition is merely an

academic exercise; and

    Whereas, One especially harmful practice in some schools is

the high consumption of sodas, which can lead to obesity and

cavities and put children and adolescents at higher risk of bone

fractures and osteoporosis when substituted for drinks containing

calcium; and

    Whereas, Poor nutrition negatively affects the behavioral and

cognitive development of young children and is associated with

increased educational failure because of an adverse effect on the

ability to learn as well as on motivation and attentiveness; and

    Whereas, Proper nutrition plays a very important role in

learning because it significantly affects cognitive development,

influences the ability to learn, and increases motivation and

attentiveness; and

    Whereas, Many pupils will make wise choices when offered

nutritious food at school, as was shown by a Minnesota study in

which prices were lowered and variety was added to salad bars with

the result that three times as many fruits and vegetables were sold;

and

    Whereas, The habits relating to nutrition and physical activity

that children develop during their formative years become lifelong

habits; and

    Whereas, Education is a guiding force that shapes the future of

the youth of this nation, and because children and adolescents spend

a significant amount of time at school, that environment constitutes

one of the most effective means that the general public possesses to

confront the problems of lack of physical activity and poor nutrition;

now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the

Assembly Concurring, That school administrators, teachers and

other educational personnel who nurture pupils in prekindergarten

through 12th grade are hereby encouraged to make every possible

effort to promote proper nutrition and physical fitness in the school

environment and to foster good decision-making skills and serve as

role models in both areas; and be it further

    Resolved, That to promote health in school-aged children,

school districts implement ideas from and build upon existing

models for physical fitness and nutrition, such as the “VERB

Campaign” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the

“10,000 Steps to Better Health” program from Colorado, the Action

Planning Guide created by the Healthy Schools Summit, the

“Shaping Health as Partners in Education” (SHAPE) program

developed in California and the guidelines of the President’s

Council on Physical Fitness and Sports; and be it further

    Resolved, That schools develop positive policies to ensure

proper nutrition and appropriate levels of physical activity during

the school day and that pupils be encouraged to set goals for

themselves toward healthy eating and increased physical activity;

and be it further

    Resolved, That since physical activity is one of the nation’s

top 10 leading indicators of health, persons involved in education

make efforts to increase the amount of physical activity of all pupils

by expanding quality programs of physical education during each

school day, promoting health education and enhancing after-school

programs for youth sports and recreation; and be it further

    Resolved, That schools incorporate education relating to

nutrition into the core curriculum, making proper nutrition a part of

the classroom and the cafeteria; and be it further

    Resolved, That schools develop high standards for all food and

drinks that are competitive with meals provided by the schools,

carefully evaluate the hours during which such foods are sold, and

consider improving the quality of foods that are available for

purchase in vending machines, school stores and snack bars by

replacing the foods of minimal nutritional value and providing foods

from the five major food groups; and be it further

    Resolved, That all educational personnel consider programs

and strategies to involve families and communities in encouraging

pupils to achieve good nutrition and physical fitness so that years

from now our society will not have to look back in retrospect and

lament what we should have done to correct these problems; and be

it further

    Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare copies of

this resolution for transmission by the Legislature to each school

superintendent in Nevada, the principal of each school in Nevada,

each school nurse in Nevada, the director or manager of food or

nutritional services in each school district, supervisors of before-

and after-school programs, the recreational director of each county

and city that has a recreational department, the Nevada Parent

Teacher Association (PTA), the Nevada Association for Health,

Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, and Boys and Girls

Clubs of America throughout Nevada.

 

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