The Varsitarian

ONE IN three Thomasian grade-schoolers is obese or overweight, the latest findings of the UST lifestyle development program “Hit Obesity through Preventive Education” (HOPE) showed.

The program found that 33.7 percent of elementary pupils were obese for their age, while 66.3 percent had normal weight.

HOPE recorded 39.1 percent of the participants as obese in 2008.

This was actually a decrease from 2007 figures when HOPE was first launched as a result of the study titled “Childhood Obesity in San Juan, Metro Manila: Its Prevalence, Causes, and Treatment” by former College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS) dean and sports science professor Consuelo Suarez. The study earned her the doctorate degree in Health Science from the University of South Australia.

“The goal of the project is to trim the 40 percent to maybe 30 percent, hopefully before all students graduate,” Suarez said.

HOPE, which aims to promote an active lifestyle among pupils, includes activities like weighing pupils and measuring their waistlines every semester. Physical exercises are also held for Thomasian grade school pupils, who also have dance sessions with some CRS interns as part of the program.

In 2007, 40 percent of the first batch of 120 students who participated in the program as a class activity were overweight or obese. The study was later on integrated in the grade school curriculum, participated in by 405 students from grades four to six.