The Daily Tell

With children spending more time in front of television and computer screens, childhood obesity is becoming more of a problem in the country.

One Pennsylvania-based program, however, is looking to curb that. The Active Schools Grant program represents a partnership between Pennsylvania’s Department of Health and Department of Education. Recently, the program announced grant recipients for the 2009-2010 school year.

According to statistics submitted by the 40 participating schools, 16.07 percent of students in kindergarten through sixth grade are overweight, while another 16.67 percent are obese. Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Everette James said the grants will help schools take the measures needed to help improve the health of their students.

"These steps are necessary to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity in a state where one-third of our children are overweight, putting them at risk for a lifetime of health problems," James said.

Through this round of grants, the middle schools will receive $5,000 each in order to help promote healthy activities during the school day. The Active Schools Grant program employs activities that are based on federal guidelines for daily moderate to vigorous physical activity.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children and adolescents should take part in one hour of physical activity every day. The center recommends that the bulk of that activity be rooted in aerobic activity, which includes walking or running.

The grants for the program have been made available through the federal government’s Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant. In addition to the grant money awarded by the state, schools will receive $10,000 each from a regional organization. Those organizations include: Blue Cross of Northeast Pennsylvania; Capitol Blue Cross; Highmark; Independence Blue Cross; and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health Plan.