Nevada schoolchildren fatter than students nationwide

CARSON CITY -- Schoolchildren in Nevada are getting fatter, but there might not be enough money to prevent it.

During a hearing Wednesday, doctors with the Nevada State Health Division said the latest statistics show 20 percent of Nevada schoolchildren are obese, more than the 17 percent national rate.

But Dr. Tracey Green, the state health officer, told the Legislative Committee on Health Care that just 40 percent of the state's schools have submitted plans to the Department of Education on how they are complying with the statewide wellness policy.

That policy, developed in 2005, requires schools to provide meals with limited amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol and set goals for students to participate in physical activities.

In the Clark County School District, students take physical education classes in two of their four high school years. They are not permitted to use vending machines during school hours, and the district has a policy to prepare low-calorie, nutritious meals.

Nicole Rourke, the district's executive director of intergovernmental relations, said school staff members have been cut because of a lack of money, and legislators should consider that before imposing additional requirements.

Dr. Kandi Qualls of the state Health Division said the obesity rate among Clark County schoolchildren is 22 percent, compared with 18 percent in Washoe County. If nothing is done to help them, 80 percent of those now overweight will become obese adults, she said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the national obesity rate for children ages 11 to 19 was 5 percent in 1976, but grew to 18 percent in 2008. Obesity is based on body mass measurements that take into consideration the child's age and height.

Obesity contributes to an increased rate of high blood pressure and diabetes.

State Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, said any move to improve the health of students would lead to fewer illnesses and "students would do better on tests."

On the other hand, Sen. Allison Copening, D-Las Vegas, said legislators need to consider the financial implications of anything they do. She asked Green to come back with projected costs of implementing the wellness plan by the committee's July meeting.

Wiener, the committee chairwoman, said members then will decide whether to recommend bills addressing obesity concerns to the 2011 Legislature.

"In today's budget, where do you take money from?" Assemblyman Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, asked.

Martha Framsted, a spokeswoman for the Health Division, said the agency will come up with financial estimates of the costs of implementing wellness programs. She said Green might be able to secure federal grants to assist schools.

"We need to find out what the schools already have in place," Framsted said "We need to find the schools with robust wellness programs and use them as the best practice for others."

Green also said fewer children today are being immunized for diseases, and that has prompted her to launch a pilot program in the fall during which seventh-graders will be given booster shots for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis.

"It is becoming difficult in getting children vaccinated," said Green, noting that many lack health insurance.

She will choose eight schools, including some in Clark County, where parents will be sent notices in the summer asking for their permission to allow their children to receive the shots.

A team of nurses will be trained to give the shots. They will be given free to students without insurance. Insurance companies of parents who are covered will be billed for the shots. Green said such costs will be covered under the new national health care law next year.

Nevada ranks 47th among states in its immunization rate and steps must be taken to improve its standing, she said.

Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, D-Las Vegas, noted that it was the practice "for students to line up in school and get shots" when she was a child.

Green said that practice is becoming common again at schools across the country as a result of the success in the past year in getting children vaccinated against H1NI, the so-called swine flu.

In Carson City and Douglas County, 53 percent of students were vaccinated in school for swine flu. Statewide, the vaccination rate was 19 percent because the shots were not offered in most schools.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@
reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.