Petersburg school to be featured in statewide healthy living video

Petersburg, Sitka and a few other school districts around the state will be featured in commercials about healthy living.

The 30-second videos will be shown statewide in an effort to educate people about keeping youth active.

This is one of Petersburg’s water filling stations that are in the schools for students to use. (Photo courtesy Ginger Evans)
This is one of Petersburg’s water filling stations that are in the schools for students to use. (Photo courtesy Ginger Evans)

Child obesity is a real problem in Alaska.

One in three children in the state is overweight or obese.

And their role models are too. Two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese.

“This has been a problem that has been getting worse over decades,” said Ann Potempa, who runs a program through the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services called Play Every Day, an education campaign to prevent and reduce childhood obesity. “That’s concerning because over time excess weight increases people’s risk of serious diseases like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and more than a dozen types of cancer,” she said.

The campaign wants to change two main behaviors in children: physical activity and drinks.

Many kids aren’t getting 60 minutes of physical activity a day, which is a federal recommendation.

Children are drinking too much sugar in all kinds of beverages.

Drinks are the number one source of added sugar in daily diets.

“When we say sugary drinks we don’t mean just soda anymore,” Potempa said. “Sugary drinks can mean anything from fruit-flavored drinks, powdered drinks, sport and energy drinks, flavored coffees and teas. And even those beverages that say they’re enhanced with vitamins but really they’re enhanced with sugar.”

The campaign is highlighting ways communities are helping to fix it on a local level.

In a partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, the Play Everyday Campaign is creating 30-second videos shared on TV, online and with other statewide partners like schools.

The Sitka School District and the North Slope Borough School District will be featured in their own PSAs.

Sitka has a Fish-To-School program that serves local fish for school lunches and the North Slope has made all of their schools soda free.

Petersburg School District will be featured in one for installing water bottle filling stations in their schools and giving children bottles to help make drinking water an easier choice.

“Studies show that hydration is good for our minds and so if they drink during the day, we’re all for it,” School Principal Teri Toland said.

The school district also focuses on meeting the recommended hour-of-exercise a day.

Petersburg has swimming and gym courses for all students in the grade school.

“Our swim/gym program is amazing,” Toland said. “We’re one of the few schools left in the state that still has everyday activities like that. We ensure that they get out for recess.”

Petersburg’s Healthy Living Grant coordinator Ginger Evans agrees.

“Districts are struggling with it but we’ve made it a priority,” Evans said. “We know that children will perform better academically if they are being physically active.”

The water bottle filling stations were possible through a five-year state grant.

The grant also has helped improve the school’s garden, pay for training staff and give teachers resources in their classrooms like books.

Evans said it’s not just the grant that has made the school district healthier.

“We’ve always been really fortunate in Petersburg that the community and the school board and the administrators support physical activity in education and health education in our district,” Evans said.

Petersburg’s grade school also has changed its practice for celebrating birthdays.

Instead of sharing sugary foods in the classroom, students get recognized by the principal and receive a book.

Petesburg’s PSA video will focus on the fourth-grade class.

KFSK - Petersburg

KFSK is our partner station in Petersburg. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

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