A healthier child is a smarter child, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi believes.
So the health insurer’s foundation has poured nearly $5 million into physical education programs in the state since 2006.
The latest recipient of its “Project Fit America” grant is Pillow Academy.
The Greenwood school received $25,000 for new playground equipment, indoor exercise materials, a revamped physical education curriculum and training for PE teacher Laura Oakes.
Pillow held a ribbon cutting Wednesday at its new playground, and elementary students demonstrated its use for the executive director of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, Sheila Grogan.
Children climbed across monkey bars, hula hooped and shinnied up poles. Inside the Craig Performing Arts Center, entire grades took the stage to do fitness dances.
Oakes said one child approached her recently during class and said, “I’m running out of atmosphere,” meaning they were winded. The PE teacher said her goal is to increase students’ “atmosphere.”
Elementary principal Carla Sutphen said Pillow is not immune to the child obesity epidemic.
“As the first Project Fit America school in Leflore County, we are most grateful for this wonderful opportunity that’s already beginning to show results in our school just in two months’ time,” she said during a program Wednesday before the demonstration.
She said the equipment isn’t for sale and can be obtained through the grant only if schools promise to make health and wellness a top priority.
Mayor Carolyn McAdams said Mississippi ranks last in both child and adult obesity.
“This is one way we can change that tone and change that rating,” she said before reading a resolution declaring Wednesday Project Fit America day at Pillow.
Before taking her current position, Grogan was vice president of claims. Most of the large insurance claims came because of lifestyle issues, she said.
So in an effort to get students involved early in an active lifestyle, the foundation puts most of its funding into school programs, she said.
Project Fit America has shown measurable results, according to Grogan.
Students’ body mass indices — used to measure obesity — are taken at the beginning and end of school for two years after schools receive the grant. At 43 percent of the participating schools, there was an 8 percent or greater reduction in obesity, she said. Getting in shape takes time, and many other students made progress in the right direction, she said.
Grogan, who also serves on the Clinton school board, said a study that divided Mississippi students into six wellness levels showed uniformly improved standardized test scores among healthier students.
• Contact Charlie Smith at csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
