Child obesity not your problem? Think again.

Iowa Public Television visits Grundy Center, Iowa.

Grundy Center looked more like the United Nations last week.

Representatives from 26 different countries put the “Global” in Global Grundy Center. For 2 days, those representatives talked about ways of reversing a trend that is hitting us all, personally or otherwise, the problem of childhood obesity.

An Iowa native, now current Washington, D.C. resident was one of the visitors.

Shellie Pfhol is the Executive Director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. She’s from Dubuque and a UNI alum. She was part of the Global Forum for Physical Education as organized by the University of Northern Iowa and Grundy Center Community Schools and sponsored by Hopsports Training Systems.

This video talks a little more about why we were in Grundy Center.

Hope you enjoyed the video. You can always subscribe to my YouTube channel and see exactly when I upload new content.

Rick Fuller in action.

I was with Rick Fuller on the shoot. The previous day, producer Nancy Crowfoot and EFP Steve Carns were in Grundy Center for some video of the PE demonstration with Rick Schupbach.

The Grundy Center way is impressive for PE. If interested, give them a shout out for a tour sometime.

Now to the obesity discussion.

More than 9 million young people are 27% of those ages 17-24 are too overweight to join the military.
More than 1/3 of American adults have a body mass index of more than 30. That has tripled since 1960.

Then there’s the kids in Iowa.

39% of Iowa’s 3rd, 4th and 5th graders are overweight or obese.

Still not your problem?
It will be when the overweight kids become overweight adults and later will likely develop diabetes and other health related issues what will cost all of us more money in insurance premiums and healthcare expenses.

So, what can be done to reverse this trend?
Who will help lead the way?
Who needs to take the biggest responsibility in making changes?
How did we get her in the first place?

Or you can read the another preview post here. That link includes the official IPTV press release.

Our studio panel is another good one. Jim Hallihan of Live Healthy Iowa, Tom Newton of Iowa Department of Public Health and Brian Tate, Dean of Students at Des Moines’ North High School. Hallihan and Tate both serve on the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness & Nutrition.

Our show records Thursday afternoon about the Republican debate clears the house. The show will air in the regular time slot of 8p. You can always set your TiVo and watch later, but then how will you discuss this problem at the water cooler Friday morning?

You can watch again Friday night at 630p and online at http://www.IPTV.org/IowaJournal

Next week we talk forgiveness which will include interviews with Joan Becker, mother of Mark Becker and also talk to Simon Estes.

Last week’s economic roundtable discussion with Charles Sukup, Eric Lohmeier and Joe Crookham is posted. So is the feature on Carroll and their economy. You can watch them both here.

The show will live here when it is posted.

Childhood Obesity on the next Iowa Journal

We are winding down our 3rd season of the Iowa Journal.

So, what big cliffhangers do we have in store?

How about the fact that 25% of kids in grades 9-12 in Iowa are overweight or obese?

We are featuring the Grundy Center schools’ approach to physical education and how that is making a difference in teaching students that fitness is a life-long activity not just 3rd or 6th period of school. Our visit to Grundy Center coincided with the Global Forum on Physical Education.

Our discussion panel is taking shape and so is the feature. A big thanks to Rick Schupbach in providing access for our camera crew.

By the way, for my Jesup connections, Rick Schupbach is good friends with Mike Sinram, Larry Baldwin and Pat Winblade. The world is too small of a world.

We also got a chance to talk to Dubuque native and UNI graduate Shellie Pfohl who now is the Executive Director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

We will also have an excerpt from the Dalai Lama’s visit to the University of Northern Iowa.

Here is the official release on the program from the Iowa Public Television press release shop.

Childhood Obesity in Iowa
On the Thursday, May 20 edition of The Iowa Journal

(Johnston, Iowa) –Thursday’s episode of The Iowa Journal will look at how childhood obesity has grown and what can be done to reverse this trend. This program airs Thursday, May 20 at 8 p.m. It will be rebroadcast Friday, May 21 at 6:30 p.m. on statewide Iowa Public Television and Saturday, May 22 at 8:30 a.m. on IPTV WORLD. It will also be available online at iptv.org/iowajournal.

Thirty-nine percent of Iowa’s 3rd, 4th and 5th graders are overweight or obese, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. To help reverse that trend, Grundy Center schools use a program called PE4life, which incorporates students’ use of heart rate monitors, pocket PCs and fitness assessment systems to observe the effects of their exercise. The Iowa Journal visited the schools’ PE4life programs during its international Global Forum for Physical Education Pedagogy conference where representatives from 26 countries came to see how the program works.

Guests In the studio to discuss the growing problem of childhood obesity include: Tom Newton, director of Iowa Department of Public Health; and Jim Hallihan, executive director of Live Healthy Iowa.
This episode will also include an excerpt from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet’s keynote address on “The Power of Education” at the University of Northern Iowa.

For more information about The Iowa Journal, visit http://www.iptv.org/iowajournal or call (515) 242-3146. For information on how to watch IPTV WORLD in your area, visit Iptv.org.