School district nurses found that 43 percent of children districtwide are either obese or at risk for obesity and related health problems, according to a district survey completed last spring.
A person is considered obese if he or she is more than 30 pounds overweight based on that person's body mass index, which is calculated using weight and height.
Volunteers with the Rotary Club of the Lowcountry and Beaufort Memorial Hospital have been helping district children and their families by screening elementary school children twice a year for signs of weight and heart problems, said Rotary organizer Jack Little.
"The purpose of the screening program is to create an awareness in children and reach families through them," he said.
When the Rotary club began the program last spring volunteers screened more than 900 fourth- and fifth-graders and found that about 17 children were at risk for obesity and related heart problems.
One child was even rushed to the hospital because her blood pressure was too high, Little said.
Rotary and hospital volunteers screened at several elementary schools last week and will complete the study next week. Follow-up screenings will be held next semester.
The extra help groups like the Rotary are providing is critical in a school district where a tight budget restricts districtwide initiatives to curb the national health concern.
"I wish we could be all things to all children all the time," said Edna Crews, the district's deputy superintendent for curriculum and in line to become superintendent of the school district in July.
A growing concern
School nurses have noted increases in the number of children who are at risk for obesity paired with a decrease in activity levels over the past few years, said H.E. McCracken Middle School nurse Charletta Case.
Cases of obesity and students at risk for obesity are highest in the county's middle and high schools, she said, and school staff are also seeing an increase in labored breathing in gym class.
Last year, the district saw two cases of Type 2 diabetes, an adult disease that physicians are increasingly seeing in obese children, Case said.
"Two cases here doesn't seem like a lot, but it is," she said.
Children at risk for obesity and related health problems often come from low-income, black and Hispanic households, according the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
In South Carolina, 26 percent of low-income children between the ages of two and five are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, according to a 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
Parents from low-income families and single-parent homes often look for a cheap and easy way to feed their children, which leads them to fast food.
To combat that trend the Beaufort County Health Department holds workshops to teach families healthier cooking short-cuts such as preparing food on the weekend and freezing portions that can be quickly cooked or reheated during the week, said Brad Smith, the department's director.
Getting the whole family involved in food preparation is not only a good way to increase healthy meal options at home but it also encourages children to be involved in the meal planning and can become quality family time, he said.
"Can we do something to improve eating habits? Yes," Smith said. "Is it going to be easy? No."
On the lunch line
Since many children eat both breakfast and lunch at their school, regulating what is served is a way schools can help improve eating habits.
The district has added several new healthy items to its menus, including meal-sized salads, since Sodexho General Manager Larry Haile took over the district's food service.
School food items have to conform with U.S. Department of Agriculture standards for nutritional content, which sets limits on the amounts of fat, sugar and calories allowed in meals.
However, children are likely to eat more calorie-rich foods at home than at school, pushing their calorie intake above the Agriculture Department's recommended daily allowances.
Schools have food service advisory committees that include students, who, along with school officials can make recommendations and choose the items for the monthly menus.
McCracken Middle School decided to go that route after concerns were raised that the school lunch menu had too many pizza and nacho days, Case said
Teachers and nurses are also teaching children to read nutrition labels, pay attention to serving sizes and find fun ways to increase physical activity, Case said.
Teaching kids about making healthy choices at school doesn't help unless they take those habits home with them, which she is beginning to see happen, she said.
"I'm starting to hear it from parents," Case said. "One parent called me and said that her child took an item out of the grocery cart and said they shouldn't eat it anymore because it isn't healthy."
The efforts nurses and teachers are making to improve the health of Beaufort County school children will take time and getting through to parents will take longer, she said.
"This is the very beginning," Case said.