New grant promotes kids' fitness New grant promotes kids' fitness (January 14, 2005)

School district cuts out soda, chips

By Julie O'Shea

The Camino Medical Group has announced plans to use a three-year, $180,000 grant it received from Applied Materials toward fitness and nutrition classes for elementary school students in Mountain View.

Meanwhile, officials at the Mountain View-Whisman School District are hoping a new, healthy menu selection will show kids that other things can taste delicious besides Twinkies and potato chips.

CMG spokesperson Cynthia Greaves said that while not all the details have been worked out, the money will be enough to cover two part-time educator positions. The target group will be fifth-graders.

"We haven't cleared it with the schools yet," Greaves said, adding that she has mentioned it to Mountain View-Whisman Superintendent Eleanor Yick, who seemed to think it was a good idea.

"This won't cost the schools anything," Greaves said.

The medical group wants to teach children the importance of eating healthy, Greaves continued. In recent months, state studies have shown skyrocketing increases in childhood diabetes and heart disease due to obesity, which have alarmed both medical and school communities.

"We are seeing more obese children than we were 10 years ago," Greaves said, noting that children today opt to watch television and play video games rather than go outside and play. This, coupled with the popularity of fast food, is unhealthy when done too regularly, Greaves said.

"I guess it's teaching them moderation," she added.

Officials at Mountain View-Whisman also hope to promote good food choices. The district's food service department recently announced they have cut out sodas from the lunchtime selections at all nine campuses. They have also done away with Cheetos and are restocking their kitchen with more vegetables and fruit. And potato chips have been replaced with pretzels.

So far there have been no complaints, according to Gail Burke, who oversees food service for the district.

"Kids are adaptable. They will change," she said. But good eating habits have to be taught at home, too, Burke warned. "We only have these kids for 20 minutes a day."

A new state law requires that schools bring the fat content of the food they serve down to 30 percent or less. Mountain View-Whisman's is at 21 percent, Burke said.

The kids "are actually buying the fruit, which is shocking the parents," added Sophia Zalot, a Mountain View-Whisman food service supervisor.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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