Nearly 500 students at a D.C. charter school are taking part in a unique nutrition and exercise program that emphasizes family involvement and fun with the goal of establishing healthy lifestyle changes that can last for life.
Third-through-fifth-graders at all five of the Dorothy I. Height Community Academy Public Charter School’s campuses are participating in the 18-week program, called 3-Point Play.
The program, created by the Aetna Foundation, has three main components: physical activity, healthy eating and family involvement. According to Aetna’s Rey Thomas, students’ height and weight are measured, along with their cardiorespiratory capabilities.
The Aetna Foundation, established nearly 40 years ago by the health insurer, created the 3-Point Play in early 2008 to combat obesity in children and families. The competition was first tested at five schools in Houston last year. Rose Haggerty, the schools district’s manager of secondary health and physical education, said the results of the program were very encouraging.
“There have been lasting effects because the schools that implemented the 3-Point Play are still keeping up with the activities,” Haggerty said.
Aetna’s Thomas said the competition was a huge success in Texas, which is why he wanted to bring it to the nation’s capital.
“We work with the school’s P.E. teachers and roll our program into the curriculum they already have in place,” Thomas said. “We can really help them expand and reduce obesity in their schools.”
Height already had a focus on wellness in children, according to Height’s director of development, Ashaki Goodall, and teachers underwent training then integrated the 3-Point Play program into the school’s curriculum.
The program encourages students to talk to their parents about making healthy choices and play online health-related games with them at home. Parents are invited to come to the school to watch physical education activities.
D.C. has one of the highest childhood obesity rates in the nation. Thomas said that if an opportunity presents itself to bring the program to the city’s public schools, “we will take it.”
Based on the early results at Height, that could be a possibility.
“Kids are now asking about a salad bar and fresh fruit in the school,” Goodall said. “The food service staff is surprised that kids are now eating the salad instead of throwing it away.”
