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SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
FOR RELEASE: January 27, 2004
CONTACT: Kristin Biskeborn, MPH, RD, LN
605-773-3737
Schools receive height and weight equipment to track child obesity
PIERRE – The Department of Health is giving 198 balance beam scales and wall-mounted measuring boards to South Dakota schools to help track the state’s growing child obesity problem.
“Many of our schools are already participating in the state’s school height and weight data collection effort,” said Secretary of Health Doneen Hollingsworth. “This equipment will help 150 schools better measure the height and weight of their students and improve the quality of the data.”
Hollingsworth said the 2001-2002 data collection found 32.5 percent of South Dakota students were already overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. Overweight is defined as above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and gender; at risk for overweight is between the 85th and 94th percentiles. A complete copy of the 2001-2002 report is available on the web at www.state.sd.us/doh/Stats.
Research shows that 60 percent of overweight 5- to 10-year-old children already have at least one risk factor for heart disease, including elevated blood pressure or insulin levels. Overweight children are more likely to have liver disorders, hypertension, sleep apnea and orthopedic complications. In addition, being overweight during childhood increases the chance that an individual will be overweight as an adult.
In exchange for receiving the equipment, schools will be asked to submit student height and weight data for three years. The equipment was purchased with $40,000 in federal maternal and child health and coordinated school health funding.
A list of schools awarded the equipment follows:
Schools Receiving Balance Beam Scales & Measuring Boards
Aberdeen - Simmons Middle School
Belle Fourche - South Park Elementary, Belle Fourche High School, Belle Fourche Middle School
Big Stone City - Big Stone School District
Bonesteel - Bonesteel-Fairfax Elementary
Box Elder - Francis Case Elementary
Bridgewater - Bridgewater School
Britton - Britton-Hecla Schools
Burke - Burke Schools
Chamberlain - Chamberlain Middle School
Chester - Chester Area School
Clear Lake - Deuel Schools
Deadwood - Lead-Deadwood Elementary
Eagle Butte - Cheyenne Eagle Butte Upper Elementary
Faulkton - Faulkton School
Flandreau - Flandreau Elementary School
Fort Pierre - Parkview Elementary, Stanley County Elementary
Garretson - Garretson School
Gregory - Gregory Elementary School
Hartford - West Central Middle School, West Central Elementary School
Henry - Henry School
Hitchcock -Hitchcock School
Hot Springs - Bethesda Lutheran School
Hosmer - Edmunds Central Elementary School
Howard - Howard Elementary
Ipswich - Holy Cross School
Irene - Irene School
Iroquois - Iroquois Schools
Kadoka - Kadoka School
Lake Andes - Andes Central Elementary School
Lemmon - Lemmon Elementary
Lennox - Lennox Schools
Leola School - Leola School
Lyman County - Presho Elementary, Kennebec Elementary/Middle School
Letcher - Artesian-Letcher Schools
Madison – Madison Middle School
Mellette - Northwestern School
Milbank - Koch Elementary
Miller - Miller Elementary
Mitchell - John Paul II Elementary
Newell - Newell School
Pierre - Washington Elementary
Plankinton - Plankinton School District
Rapid City - Dakota Middle School, Central High School, North Middle School
Scotland - Scotland Schools
Sioux Falls - Jane Adams Elementary, Washington High School, Calvin Christian School
South Shore - South Shore Schools
Sturgis - Meade School District
Timber Lake - Timber Lake School
Tulare - Tulare School
Watertown - Mellette Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, Jefferson Elementary
Waverly - Waverly Schools
Webster - Enemy Swim Day School
Wessington Springs - Wessington Springs Elementary
Winner - Winner Elementary
Yankton -Sacred Heart Middle School
Schools Receiving Balance Beam Scales
Aberdeen - Holgate Middle School
Alcester - Alcester Hudson School
Box Elder - Douglas Middle School
Chamberlain - Chamberlain Elementary
Lower Brule - Lower Brule Elementary
McIntosh - McIntosh Schools
Milbank - Koch Elementary
Mt. Vernon - Mt. Vernon School
Rapid City - Robbinsdale Elementary, South Middle School
Sturgis -Stagebarn Elementary, High School
Vermillion - Jolley Elementary
Viborg - Viborg School
Watertown - McKinley Elementary, Watertown Middle School
Schools Receiving Measuring Boards
Aberdeen – Central High School
Batesland - Batesland Elementary
Blunt - Blunt School
Box Elder – Badger Clark Elementary
Bristol - Bristol School
Buffalo - Harding County Schools
Colman – Colman-Egan School
Dupree - Dupree School
Bonesteel - Bonesteel-Fairfax School
Hill City - Hill City Schools
Huron - Jefferson Elementary, Madison Elementary, Washington Elementary, Buchanan Elementary, Huron Middle School
Kimball - Kimball School
Lead - Lead-Deadwood Middle School
Madison - Madison High School
Milbank - Milbank Middle School
Mitchell - Mitchell Middle School
Onida - Onida School
Philip - Haakon County Schools
Pierre - Georgia Morse Middle School, Jefferson Elementary
Pine Ridge - Red Cloud Elementary
Rapid City - General Beadle Elementary, Stevens High School, Rapid Valley Elementary, Southwest Middle School
Roslyn - Roslyn School
Sioux Falls - Cleveland Elementary, St. Mary’s School, St. Lambert’s School
Spearfish - Spearfish Middle School
Timber Lake - Timber Lake School
Wakpala - Wakpala School
Watertown - Lincoln Elementary
Webster - Webster School
Woonsocket - Woonsocket Schools
Yankton – Sacred Heart Elementary