* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Holton
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
In Recognition - Baltimore City Public Schools - Good Health, Great Kids!
FOR the purpose of expressing appreciation to the CEO, the Director of Food and Nutrition, and the employees of Baltimore City Public Schools for their leadership in promoting healthier eating habits, more active lifestyles, and other interventions that assist children in avoiding or correcting behaviors that lead to childhood obesity and other life-threatening or life-altering medical conditions; and inviting Baltimore City Public School officials to brief the City Council on their innovative approaches to addressing the challenges of childhood obesity.
body
Recitals
A Lighter Future for Baltimore City: Using Schools in the Fight Against Childhood Obesity, a publication of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies and co-recipient of the 2009 Abell Award in Urban Policy, which explores the reasons why Baltimore City is suffering from a high rate of childhood obesity and how this problem can be overcome through school programs and policies, found the number of overweight children has skyrocketed in the past couple of decades and is estimated to have reached 23 million.
Maryland is the 27th most obese state in the country, with an obesity rate of 25.2. In Maryland, 60% of adults were overweight or obese in 2007, rising from 34% from 1995-2003. A 2005 study showed that 27.5% of Maryland students described themselves as overweight, and 42.6% were trying to lose weight.
Baltimore City's obesity rate of 35% is higher than that of Maryland and of the U.S. In 2007, 13% of children ages 2-5 receiving services from the Maryland Women, Infants, & Children Program were obese. Additionally, 37% of Baltimore City high school students are overweight or at-risk compared to 29% of their counterparts in other parts of Maryland and the U.S.
The Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reports that as they grow older, these young people are more likely to have risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes. Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the nation's children are facing a health crisis. Few are meeting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, developed jointly with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide science-based advice to promote health and to reduce risk for major chronic diseases through diet and physical activity, as "the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States are related to poor diet and physical inactivity."
Baltimore City Public School Director of Food and Nutrition reports that "urban areas are disproportionately affected by diet-related diseases. In Baltimore City approximately 37% of public high school students are overweight or at risk of becoming so. That's 8 percentage points greater than the state and national average. These poor health indicators go hand in hand with high rates of poverty - fully 27.5 % of Baltimore's children live below the poverty line - and low levels of academic achievement."
The Hopkins study similarly found that the high rate of childhood obesity in Baltimore City must be targeted because of its adverse educational, social, and health consequences and that it can overcome, in part, through school programs and policies that many studies have shown to be effective through nutritional education, physical education, and family-reinforced programs and policies.
The study concluded "factors which contribute to childhood obesity, such as unhealthy lifestyle and the impact of corporate advertisements in the media, can be counteracted through school-sponsored programs. Because schools are controllable factors that have the most contact with children during a consistent period of time, they should be enlisted in the fight against childhood obesity. Given that a large number of African-American and low-income students are enrolled in the Baltimore City Public School System, school-based policy efforts to reduce childhood obesity would have significant impacts on the obesity rates of Baltimore City as a whole."
The Baltimore City Public School system has taken a leadership position in the national struggle against childhood obesity by becoming the first fully Meatless Monday school system in the United States; Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of the Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, to reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and protect the planet by reducing our "carbon footprint".
The 80,000 young people of our City public schools will begin each week with a plant-based diet on Meatless Monday. In addition, the school system has introduced a wide variety of projects to ensure its students eat and learn about healthy, environmentally friendly choices. The pilot No Thank You Bites was introduced in 18 elementary schools last year as a way to expand students' palettes and get feedback on which new foods and ingredients they might or might not like. At the end of the lunch line 1- or 2 - ounce cups, the equivalent of a bite and a half of a fruit, vegetable, or entree item. The students may have as much of the item as he or she likes or simply say "no thank you" and move on.
In Fall 2008, the Great Kids Farm, a 33-acre organic farm created with private funding and owned and operated by Baltimore Public Schools opened. The farm produces fresh food for the school system's students; earns income for the system by selling fresh food to local, upscale restaurants and at local farmers' markets; houses vocational training programs in farming and food services for students; and welcomes students by the busload each week for experimental learning opportunities.
The efforts of Baltimore City Public Schools have garnered national attention, including a visit from an assistant White House chef and U.S. Department of Education officials. The Council joins in recognizing the exemplary efforts or our schools and invites school officials to brief the Council on their forward-looking program.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body hereby expresses its appreciation to the CEO, the Director of Food and Nutrition, and the employees of Baltimore City Public Schools for their leadership in promoting healthier eating habits, more active lifestyles, and other interventions that assist children in avoiding or correcting behaviors that lead to childhood obesity and other life-threatening or life-altering medical conditions and invites Baltimore City Public School officials to brief the City Council on their innovative approaches to addressing the challenges of childhood obesity.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the CEO and Director of Food and Nutrition, Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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