In an effort to combat childhood obesity, Carrie Busey Elementary School in Champaign has partnered with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD) to implement the Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) Program.

Carrie Busey became the fifth school in the district to support the program. There are more than 7500 schools using the program in the United States and Canada, according to the official CATCH website.

Wendy Starwalt, who helped apply the CATCH Program at Dr. Howard Elementary in Champaign before going to Carrie Busey to teach P.E., said, “We felt that we really needed to get the word to (children) on the importance of nutrition and activity levels.”

Nikki Hillier, program coordinator at the CUPHD, added, “Kids get less and less active throughout their lives, so if we can make them really active engaging in healthy habits when they’re younger, they’re more likely to maintain that as they grow older.”

The program focuses on a “Go-Slow-Whoa” theme. “Go foods” are healthy and can be eaten everyday. “Slow foods” foods can be eaten occasionally, but children should not make a habit of it. The “Whoa” category encompasses typical “junk foods” and should be eaten only on special occasions. The school has even banned certain foods, said Zanita Willis, principal of Carrie Busey.

“There were some tears when we banned cake and ice cream, but overall, it’s gone well,” Willis said.

“At first, it was a tough adjustment. Nobody wanted to give those things up,” Starwalt added. “It’s tough because it takes the cooperation of an entire group of people, but everybody at the Carrie Busey staff, everybody I work with, just ate it up.”

The school received a grant this year to provide students with fresh fruit and vegetables every morning. Each week, the school offers an exotic fruit or vegetable for the kids to try. Most recently, students sampled kiwifruit and avocado.

“The grant’s been huge. It’s been awesome. Every single day those kids get an absolutely fresh piece of fruit or vegetable,” Starwalt said.

In addition to healthy eating, the program focuses on increased physical activity. Starwalt said she puts special emphasis on staying active during her classes.

“If you evaluate a P.E. class, you might see the kids vigorously active only 40, maybe 50 percent of the time,” she said. “My goal is to have them active 80 percent of the time.”

Carrie Busey chose to have a walk-a-thon fundraiser Tuesday, instead of typical candy sales. The event took place all school day, with each grade spending 40 minutes walking the school grounds.

The school also offers a walking club that awards children for each mile walked.

Although this is the first year, the program seems to be getting through to the students.

“The kids are starting to decipher between different foods and what it means to develop a healthy lifestyle,” Starwalt said.