Federal dollars to provide PEDOMETERS for fat kids to measure # of steps

State doctors hope to coax children into more exercise by doling out pedometers to measure how many steps they take every day.

It is the latest attempt to subtly curb childhood obesity, which nationwide is up 11 percent since 1994.

In a pilot project launched with federal dollars, health officials said they will give 200 Denver-area kids pedometers, probably early next year. They hope the matchbook-sized beltclips are fun enough to push kids into walking at least 10,000 steps a day, which meets the surgeon general's recommendation of 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week.

According to health officials, more than half of the adult population in this state is obese, and 20 percent of the state's children should lose weight.

"It appears with a pedometer, people are more likely to stick with exercising and stick with walking," said Lee Stiffler-Meyer, at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. "Most kids aren't doing that."

Doctors and pediatric psychiatrists say the problem of childhood obesity is complicated, and can't be blamed just on video games or the prevalance of fast food in middle and high schools. Some cite a growing parental fear that walking to and from school - even if it's just a few blocks - isn't safe anymore. Others blame more rigorous academic loads, which rob time from after-school sports, or even the lack of home-cooked meals.

to buy it," said Dr. Nancy Krebs, a pediatrician who runs an obesity clinic at Children's Hospital. "And the frequency of eating out is another factor. There would be excessive intakes via excessive portion sizes."

Lyn Pipp said she saw her sixth-grade daughter's lifestyle change once she hit middle school. The 11-year-old replaced recess with after-school video-game sessions and swapped balanced school lunches for doughnuts and cheese sticks laden with ranch dressing.

So the Longmont mother said she of four began packing food instead of giving her lunch money.

But time got the best of her and she began throwing in cupcakes and cans of soda and slapping together sandwiches lathered in mayonnaise.

"I saw myself doing it," she said. "I always gave her a dessert. . . . It wasn't really helping."

Pipp adjusted her own diet after participating in her own adult pilot pedometer program. She lost five pounds and decided to spend a little extra time in the morning and money at the grocery store. For dessert, she said, she now gives her daughter apple slices drizzled with caramel. She adds washed strawberries, and fruit juice has replaced soda.

"For her age now, I know she would like the pedometers," Pipp said. "They could compare to see how far they walked. I can see it becoming competitive, which I think would flame the fire."

The pedometer program plunges Colorado into a national movement of combating childhood obesity through school programs. In Pennsylvania, parents of obese children are receiving letters from schools with tips on how to get their children to exercise more. In Florida, the state health department is planning school counseling sessions for overweight kids.

Physical education teachers constantly try to keep activity and high energy "cool," said Mary Lou Miller, the P.E. curriculum coordinator for Jefferson County Schools.

"We used to see more activities at the younger level and we'd have to make it seem cool for the older kids," she said. "But even now, there is resistance with 6- and 7-year-olds (to be active)."

State officials said they aren't yet sure which schools will get the pedometers in Denver and how old the test group will be.

It isn't the first time the state has sponsored a pedometer program, although never has the energy been directed toward children.

On the Southern Ute Reservation, 80 people got state-funded pedometers for another pilot project.

Blame the milk cartons. Seriously.

In the past 10-20 years, paranoid soccer moms have fallen prey to false fears generated by the pictures of missing children on milk cartons (which are primarily missing due to custody disputes, not the imagined murderous perverts.)

In response to the false fears, Moms are afraid to let junior walk to school on his own two feet. In the past generation, the number of children who walk to school has dropped from a significant majority to a small minority (recalling: from about 70% to about 25% - source: Randall O'Toole of www.ti.org).

Consequently, the non-athletic kids aren't getting any baseline exercise. Combine that with the banning of many playground activities, and you end up with couch potatoes. It's not Nintendo and TV, it's the chauffering of this plump generation that makes them so fat.

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT! I live in a neighborhood where the mommies and daddies DRIVE their kids to school EVERY day - and this is a really nice neighborhood with sidewalks and tree lined streets. I also think the reason parents do this is they cannot stand the whining of their soon to be pansy kids.

Lyn Pipp said she saw her sixth-grade daughter's lifestyle change once she hit middle school.

Middle school kids are growing and changing so fast they stay hungry all the time. The problem is if you give them junk food instead of something nourishing. Sodas, chips and candy are all empty calories. My 12 (almost 13 year old boy) eats all the time. But the best thing to happen to us was when he got braces. That cut down on his snack options (no more gum, no more certain kinds of chips). He's too picky to eat cooked vegetables, but he'll sit down and eat a whole bag of romaine or raw spinach.

I was one of the fat kids. A pedometer would not have helped. I needed change in lifestyle and in diet at home. My mom worked and 1) didn't know better and 2) didn't have time to do better if she did know better. So I continue to fight it today. My son on the other hand, is tall and thin. He stays active, but we limit the junk food. He gets enough to satisfy his cravings, but he has to balance that out with real food. He's also more athletic than I could have ever hoped to be.

We don't need pedometers. We need parents teaching their children how to eat properly.

Obesity is certainly not a good thing, and parents should do everything they can to encourage their kids to exercise and eat a reasonably good diet. However--speaking particularly as a former anorexic--I find the government's increasing obsession with what we eat, and how much of it we choose to eat, downright chilling. I don't think I want to know where the Feds are heading with this one.

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