In response to ongoing concerns about childhood obesity in New Hampshire, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield granted $167,446 to the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship to support the implementation of 5-2-1-0 Healthy Kids Countdown, a program which endeavors to curb childhood obesity, according to a fellowship press release on Jan. 13.
The 250 graduate students chosen to be Schweitzer Fellows next year will use the grant money in their community service projects to address health disparities across the nation, Patrice Taddonio, the fellowship's communications manager, said.
Ten Dartmouth graduate students were chosen as Schweitzer Fellows last year, according to the fellowship's website. The organization aims to develop individuals who are "dedicated and skilled in meeting the health needs of underserved communities, and whose example influences and inspires others," the website stated.
The grant will help cover the $3,000 stipend given to each fellow, according to Taddonio.
"The grant will also support ongoing training in the community and fund the equipment each fellow needs for his or her work," she said.
The 5-2-1-0 program asks children to eat five fruits or vegetables each day, limit time spent in front of a television or computer to two hours or less per day, participate in one hour or more of physical activity per day and drink zero sugar-sweetened beverages per day, according to its website.
At least one in three New Hampshire third graders are obese or overweight, according to a New Hampshire Obesity Prevention Program report released in January. The report, presented in conjunction with New Hampshire Healthy Weight Week scheduled for Jan. 16-22, compiled data on the heights and weights of third graders in 2008-2009.
The national percentage of overweight children is 19.6 percent, according to the National Center for Disease Control website. This percentage has "more than tripled in the past 30 years," the website reported.
Schweitzer Fellows carry out 200 community service projects each year, many of which emphasize nutrition-related problems, according to Taddonio.
"Eighty percent of fellows carry out projects that address nutrition in some way," Taddonio said.
The grant aligns perfectly with the fellowship's nutrition-related goals, Toddonio said. Many fellows have previously implemented the 5-2-1-0 program as a component of their projects, she said.
Suzannah Luft, a second-year student at Dartmouth Medical School and current Schweitzer Fellow, said she incorporated the 5-2-1-0 program into her art therapy project last summer.
"The general premise of my project was to use art as a way for children and adults with special medical needs to express themselves," Luft said. "This summer, I taught art classes at an art gallery in [Lebanon, N.H.] and at the end, we had a community arts festival in the Lebanon town green, where there was an exhibition of all the artwork produced by my students."
The festival included a 5-2-1-0 table with pamphlets for attendees and an educational game the children could play, according to Luft.
"There was a huge wheel kids would spin with various questions they had to answer," she said. "If they answered correctly, they received a piece of fresh fruit. If they answered incorrectly, they kept spinning and answering until they got a question right." Broc Burke, a Schweitzer Fellow and student at the Thayer School of Engineering, also incorporated the 5-2-1-0 program into his community service project, Luft said.
Burke did not respond for comment by press time.
The fellows appreciate the 5-2-1-0 initiative because it provides some structure to their projects and advises project coordinators how to interact with young children on an issue as sensitive as obesity, according to Taddonio.
"The program is a messaging tool for the fellows," Taddonio said. "Without assistance, it can be tough to work with elementary school kids on eating healthy without making them feel uncomfortable or potentially provoking eating disorders."
The New Hampshire Obesity Prevention Program's report emphasized that childhood obesity is strongly correlated with obesity later in life.
The diseases present among obese and overweight children include "hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, glucose intolerance, sleep-associated breathing disorders and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease," the report found.
The 5-2-1-0 program was developed in 2003 and is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatricians, according to its website.
