Del Rio Elementary
For the last two years, the 700+ students at Del Rio Elementary School in Oceanside, CA have reduced their risk factors for obesity and increased their overall health and fitness while having fun through their partnership with the Joy of Sports Foundation (JSF).
Del Rio serves a population that is particularly at-risk for obesity and other health problems. The students come from a low-income community with a population that is more than half Latino and also contains large numbers of African-American, Filipino-American, and Samoan students. Children from low-income, minority families have a high incidence of obesity.
With a 3-year $400,000 grant from The California Endowment, the school initiated a special physical activity program for preschoolers, increased the amount and quality of time K-5 students spend in physical education (PE), raised children’s nutritional literacy, helped them build healthy eating habits, and provided educational opportunities and information for parents.
There is also an after-school Healthy Kids Club for 40 boys and girls who have been identified as having high risk factors for obesity as well as a summer camp.
Using JSF’s Everyone is a Winner coaching approach, the programs build children’s self-esteem and help them develop a love and lifetime habit of physical activity. The Healthy Kids Club meets up to 5 afternoons a week throughout the school year. All sessions are led by experienced Joy of Sports coaches supported by volunteers recruited and trained by Joy of Sports who are often high school and college students from the local community. A ratio of 1:5 or better allows the boys and girls to develop close, mentoring relationships with the volunteers and staff.
Both a formal evaluation report conducted by a Harvard professor and anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that the program is having a successful impact. Del Rio’s Principal, teachers, parents, and students all are enthusiastic about and supportive of the program. The average time spent performing physical activities in Del Rio classrooms rose from 65 minutes per week during the 2001- 02 school year to 105 minutes in 2002-03. The school-wide evaluation showed significant increases in children’s physical activity, fitness levels, time spent participating in sports outside of school, and self-confidence.
There was also drop in the number of students classified as obese using the Body Mass Index. Students in the Healthy Kids Club (HKC) showed dramatic increases in self-confidence and eagerness to participate in physical activities, along with gains in consumption of healthy foods. On the last day of the school year program, one third-grade girl remarked that HKC was “the best thing I’ve ever done.”
The success of the program in Oceanside has encouraged JSF to replicate Healthy Kids in other cities. The program is now being replicated in Berkeley, CA and later in the year in Washington, DC and Los Angeles. JSF also provides training and support to other organizations that seek to implement elements of the Healthy Kids model.
For more information, visit the Joy of Sports Foundation at www.joyofsports.org.
