Dr. Gary Hall Sr. on Childhood Obesity

OurBlook interview with Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Sr. ... www.worldfit.org

(Editor's note: Dr. Hall is co-creator and executive director of World Fit, a program in which an Olympian or Paralympian is paired with a middle school and gets kids (and teachers) to walk 60 miles in 60 days to promote fitness.)

What are the pros of getting America's public schools involved or more involved in trying to combat childhood obesity?

GH: The biggest advantage of having both public and private schools administer the World Fit Walk is that the schools are where we find virtually all of our youth. In our experience so far, only 20 to 30 percent of the middle school students are involved in organized sports programs. It is the other 70 or 80 percent that we are most concerned about. A major advantage of schools is that we believe that school spirit and interschool and interclass rivalry help create a competitive drive that will enhance our success. Schools have also become the major community center for all kinds of health education. As many of our urban communities become increasingly unsafe for children, World Fit Walk creates a safety zone for children to walk with supervised staff.
  
What are the cons?

GH: The only con I know of is that teachers and school staff are currently overwhelmed with responsibilities and the thought of adding a new program to an overcrowded curriculum can be intimidating. However, once the principal and key staff members understand that the program adds no additional cost, is easy to administer, brings a celebrity athlete (Olympian) to the school not just once, but every year, and is enjoyable for both students and teachers, they are all for it. The six weeks of spring, starting after spring break, and leading up toward the end of school seems to be the best time of the year to conduct the World Fit Walk.

If school cafeteria lunches generally could be healthier and more nutritious, what has stopped them from being so? What can be done to improve them?

GH: When the United States Olympians decided to tackle the challenge of helping to solve the childhood obesity crisis, we clearly understood that there are two major contributing factors ... poor nutrition and lack of exercise. Olympians are experts in fitness. We are not experts in nutrition though athletes, like our youth, must keep a focus on moderation and think of food as fuel so energy stays up and weight down. For World Fit, we elected to focus our efforts on getting our youth exercising again. We wholeheartedly support all of the efforts being made to improve the nutrition for our youth within the schools.

British TV celebrity chef Jamie Oliver came to America last year and launched a Food Revolution campaign ... he worked with school lunch crews in Huntington, W.Va., to create meals with fresh ingredients instead of processed foods that bring on obesity. He even set up a cooking school there. Your thoughts?

GH: I had the opportunity to watch his show once and loved his enthusiasm and determination. As a physician, I applaud Jamie Oliver’s commitment to finding better nutrition in our schools. I am equally as committed to improving the exercise habits of the students.
 
These questions have focused on the role of schools but is it fair to place the primary responsibility on them? Where do parents' child-raising responsibilities fit into this? Can't children take some responsibility themselves?

GH: I don’t like to think in terms of responsibility for administering World Fit, but prefer the word opportunity. Parents aren’t to blame. The socio-economic and logistical reasons for not getting their children involved in sports programs are stronger today than ever before.

Children love incentives, competition and structure. World Fit provides all of that in an environment where they have to be every day. Besides that, an Olympian, regardless of the year he/she competed or whether or not he/she ever won a medal, is a hero to every middle school student in America. What better inspiration than to have an Olympian adopt your school and students for life? We hope students will return to their families and communities and be leaders in the national need for fitness.

Some of the schools that participated in our pilot program had walking clubs prior to our arrival with World Fit, in which few teachers and students participated. World Fit comes along and adds an Olympian who gives an inspirational talk to the kids, provides awards (certificates and medals) for reaching certain milestones, challenges them to do better than a rival school(s) in town, and shows them an easy way to log in their daily miles. Suddenly, we have 60 percent of the students and 70 percent of the teachers (average) participating in the World Fit Walk. Last year, in the 17 middle schools participating in World Fit, over 7,200 students logged in over 760,000 miles in six weeks. The teachers are as enthusiastic and benefit as much as the students.

Are American public schools doing a good job with physical education classes and periods with a goal of reducing childhood obesity?

GH: I believe American public schools are doing the best they can in a tough economic environment. There is no money for physical education or equipment. Staff and budgets are being reduced. Today, it is more challenging and necessary to motivate students to exercise or participate in sports than ever before. We need to be creative in motivating our youth to form good habits of exercise which will promote improved health as they age. For many reasons, the traditional PE classes of the past have either been eliminated or just aren’t working as well as they used to. World Fit seems to be providing the right motivating factors to get the students who aren’t exercising at all up and walking while enhancing participation of students who are already involved in sports. Our hope is that their enjoyment of movement becomes a habit and continues throughout the summer and fall with their peers and parents. Walking is an accessible, affordable way to exercise; you just need a pair of shoes and a goal. As humans, we are designed to walk especially suited those who’ve been sedentary and overweight.
 
Some schools are curtailing or even eliminating recess periods to concentrate more on academics. Your reaction? 

GH: I believe that studies have shown that students who exercise regularly perform better in academics. There is a lot of pressure on schools to have their students perform well on academic testing, but giving up exercise is not the right means to improve their academic scores.
 
You have started a program called World Fit in which you pair an Olympian athlete with a middle school and challenge students and teachers to walk 60 miles in 60 days to get them fit. Can you give us an idea of what scope your program has grown to and what it has achieved in fighting obesity?

GH: In 2010, in our second year of implementing the World Fit program, 17 middle schools from six states (California, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, New York and Florida) participated. 7,239 students logged in a total of 769,148 miles during the six-week program. Students log in their miles electronically on our website, www.worldfit.org, which keeps track for them and compares how they are doing with other students and schools in their region. In addition to the miles students walk on campus, those who participate in sports programs are also given credit by the hour of participation. Students are also given credit (half of the miles) for ‘buddies’ ... i.e., teachers, parents or siblings who walk along with them to engage more family and staff participation.
 
Why are you focusing on middle schools?

GH: We believe that sixth, seventh and eighth grade are the best time for us to try to establish a lifelong habit of good exercise. Students are still in their formative years when encouragement and role models can make a lifelong impact. We had one elementary school participate this year (third, fourth and fifth grades) and it also did very well.

In state of Texas education rules, to be considered physically fit, a 12-year-old boy must be able to run a mile in 10 1/2 minutes, a girl in 12 minutes as one of several benchmarks. Annual testing is mandated, and two-thirds of the children flunk. Being able to walk a mile a day seems to fall considerably beneath that standard. Is the state of American schoolchildren's fitness so pathetically low that you had to start with just walking?

GH: We certainly have the highest incidence of childhood obesity in the world. Our children are also likely to be the least physically fit. Again, the politics of nutrition are an important contributor to this situation. The good news is that a little bit of exercise goes a long way toward improving health. One does not need to train like an Olympian to improve one’s health. Yes, we have a long way to go, but we must start with small steps. Walking, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, is one of the best forms of exercise. Nearly everyone can afford a pair of shoes and even the disabled can participate in World Fit.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about childhood obesity and the role of schools in dealing with it?

GH: Our goal for 2011 is to expand World Fit to 200 schools. If we are successful, we will have over 50,000 middle school students register for our program in 2011. And we hope to double participation every year until we run out of schools. Ultimately, we will try to engage all 7,000 Olympians and Paralympians in America in the World Fit program, and when we run out of them, we will recruit other high level athletes to join in. Though World Fit may grow worldwide, it will always be a community-based program with community volunteers and community support. The most important person in the entire World Fit program is the Community World Fit Leader, a volunteer who helps find the schools, educates them about the program and directs our Olympians to them. We bring the Olympians.

What makes World Fit work is the right dynamics of motivation, inspiration and competition that make it fun and worthwhile. The unexpected benefits of World Fit are that it not only increased physical activity, but that socialization among students and teachers increased during the walking and discipline problems decreased. We believe there may also be a trickle-up effect to parents and communities. World Fit is sustainable because it is simple, affordable (no cost) and we have a constant supply chain of Olympians appearing on the scene every two years (summer and winter games) replacing those who are too old to carry on. The beauty of the school system is that once World Fit becomes part of the curriculum, we are there for good.
 
(Gary Hall Sr. swam collegiately at Indiana, after which he earned his medical degree and became an ophthalmologist. He won silver medals in swimming in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and a bronze in 1976. During his career, he held 10 world records in four events. Today, in addition to running World Fit, he coaches Olympic hopefuls and other enthusiasts in swimming through his Race Club organization. His son, Gary Hall Jr., also became an Olympic swimmer and won 10 medals, including five gold.)
 

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Comments (1)

Spread the Word
written by George Schmidt, August 05, 2010

I commend Dr. Hall for his untiring work on this project. It would behoove all of us who have children or grandchildren to encourage local schools to participate next year by forwarding the link to this article to local principals and athletic directors.

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