Health and Wellness

PTA has a myriad of opportunites to honor students, parents, leaders, PTA units, and other individuals. Whether it's honoring student art achievement or honoring child advocacy efforts — PTA has an award for you. Apply today!

National PTA is pleased to announce three of its Fall funding opportunities for PTAs nationwide: Take Your Family to School Week and the National PTA Phoebe Apperson Hearst Innovation in Family Engagement.

Take Your Family to School Week: Safety at Home and at Play (February 18-22, 2013)

For the first time ever, Take Your Family to School Week, funded by the AXA Foundation, will focus on a theme: Safety at Home and at Play. We are partnering with Safe Kids Worldwide to develop a toolkit for all PTAs to use to promote safety. In addition, National PTA will award $500 grants to approximately 100 PTAs that want to maximize their celebration during the week of February 18–22, 2013.

Review the Request for Proposals for information about grant requirements, eligibility, selection criteria and application components.

Apply online by Monday, November 30, 2012, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

National PTA Phoebe Apperson Hearst Innovation in Family Engagement Award

National PTA is now accepting applications for the 2012 Phoebe Apperson Hearst Innovation in Family Engagement Award, which recognizes and celebrates achievement in building effective family-school partnerships. The recipient of the Hearst Award will receive $2,000 and will be recognized at the 117th Annual National PTA Convention, June 20-23, 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Four Awards of Merit will be awarded to applicants that demonstrate exemplary family engagement initiatives. Awards of Merit recipients will receive a certificate of recognition.

Review the Request for Proposals for more information about grant requirements, eligibility, selection criteria and application components. Then, apply online by Monday, November 30, 2012, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

NPTA Promotes Healthy Lifestyles

An important focus of both National PTA and Oklahoma PTA is to promote healthy lifestyles in our school age children.  We are excited to have a new state Health and Wellness Chair and committee for OKPTA who will be sharing ideas to help inside your schools.

Studies have shown that healthy practices which originate during youth are likely to carry through into adulthood.  Physical health leads to better learning capabilities, improved concentration, and better overall well-being.  Read National PTA's article about their Healthy Lifestyle programs for ideas and resources you can use in your school and community.

Click below to read National PTA articles.  

Obesity by the numbers          

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and today, nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese. The numbers are even higher in African American and Hispanic communities, where nearly 40% of the children are overweight or obese. If we don't solve this problem, one third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives. Many others will face chronic obesity-related health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma.

How Did We Get Here?

Thirty years ago, most people led lives that kept them at a healthy weight. Kids walked to and from school every day, ran around at recess, participated in gym class, and played for hours after school before dinner. Meals were home-cooked with reasonable portion sizes and there was always a vegetable on the plate. Eating fast food was rare and snacking between meals was an occasional treat.

Today, children experience a very different lifestyle. Walks to and from school have been replaced by car and bus rides. Gym class and after-school sports have been cut; afternoons are now spent with TV, video games, and the internet. Parents are busier than ever and families eat fewer home-cooked meals. Snacking between meals is now commonplace.

Thirty years ago, kids ate just one snack a day, whereas now they are trending toward three snacks, resulting in an additional 200 calories a day. And one in five school-age children has up to six snacks a day.

Portion sizes have also exploded- they are now two to five times bigger than they were in years past. Beverage portions have grown as well- in the mid-1970s, the average sugar-sweetened beverage was 13.6 ounces compared totoday, kids think nothing of drinking 20 ounces of sugar-sweetened beverages at a time.

In total, we are now eating 31 percent more calories than we were forty years ago–including 56 percent more fats and oils and 14 percent more sugars and sweeteners. The average American now eats fifteen more pounds of sugar a year than in 1970.

Eight to 18-year old adolescents spend an average of 7.5 hours a day using entertainment media, including, TV, computers, video games, cell phones and movies, and only one-third of high school students get the recommended levels of physical activity.

Now that’s the bad news. The good news is that by making just a few lifestyle changes, we can help our children lead healthier lives–and we already have the tools we need to do it. We just need the will.

For More Information Contact:

Dr. Angela Slovak

OKPTA Health & Wellness Chair

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