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http://www.centurylink.net/news/read.php?id=19214082&ps=1011&cat=&cps=0&lang=en
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Sixteen-year-old Jason Alexander weighed 326 pounds four months ago when he and 13 classmates boarded a plane for a weight-loss boarding school in South Carolina.
When he stepped off a return flight home Friday, he was down to 233 pounds, making him the biggest loser in his Missouri school district's unusually aggressive effort to battle childhood obesity.
While individual families have long enrolled children in weight-loss programs, the Independence school district is believed to be the first to send students as a group to a program like the one in South Carolina. The 12 students who completed the program lost a combined 756 pounds, and relatives and friends who greeted them at the airport could scarcely believe the change............
Jason and the other students the youngest was 11 spent the semester exercising, studying, working with counselors and learning to eat healthier. The curriculum was practical and hands-on: Students took field trips to a grocery store and fast food restaurant to learn to make good purchasing decisions and studied things like knife skills in the school's kitchen............
The district and the boarding school didn't know of any other public schools that had made such an effort, and other experts couldn't name any either. But Sarah Stone, MindStream's programming director, said it hopes to engage other districts in similar partnerships in the future.
"It is to all of our best interest for these kids to be able to realize their best potential," Stone said............more at link............
Great program...hope it spreads...parents also have a program to learn how to help the kids and themselves......
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Sixteen-year-old Jason Alexander weighed 326 pounds four months ago when he and 13 classmates boarded a plane for a weight-loss boarding school in South Carolina.
When he stepped off a return flight home Friday, he was down to 233 pounds, making him the biggest loser in his Missouri school district's unusually aggressive effort to battle childhood obesity.
While individual families have long enrolled children in weight-loss programs, the Independence school district is believed to be the first to send students as a group to a program like the one in South Carolina. The 12 students who completed the program lost a combined 756 pounds, and relatives and friends who greeted them at the airport could scarcely believe the change............
Jason and the other students the youngest was 11 spent the semester exercising, studying, working with counselors and learning to eat healthier. The curriculum was practical and hands-on: Students took field trips to a grocery store and fast food restaurant to learn to make good purchasing decisions and studied things like knife skills in the school's kitchen............
The district and the boarding school didn't know of any other public schools that had made such an effort, and other experts couldn't name any either. But Sarah Stone, MindStream's programming director, said it hopes to engage other districts in similar partnerships in the future.
"It is to all of our best interest for these kids to be able to realize their best potential," Stone said............more at link............
Great program...hope it spreads...parents also have a program to learn how to help the kids and themselves......