Dana Daniels started introducing healthier foods to her family a year ago when she noticed that her two younger sons were starting to put on a little weight.
The Daniels family always had been active during the summer, going for walks along Bay Ridge beach and swimming in the Anchorage community pool in Annapolis. Once school started in the fall, it seemed impossible to tear her sons away from the TV or the couch, she said.
"Getting them out in the cooler months is a little harder to do," Daniels said.
When her 8-year-old son, Grant, brought home a flier for an after-school running club at Annapolis Elementary School, she jumped at the chance to sign him up. "He was starting to get a little tummy on him," Daniels said.
The Mighty Milers, a six-week running program, aims to get children to run a mile in less than 10 minutes. Germantown Elementary School offered the pilot program in April to 22 students in third through fifth grades. This fall, with the help of a grant, the program expanded to Annapolis, Hillsmere and West Annapolis elementary schools. Each school was allowed to sign up 25 to 30 students. Organizers estimate they have about 100 children involved.
The program finishes up from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday with a one-mile run around the Annapolis High School track as well as relays. High school students on the track and cross-country teams will talk to the children about high school athletics.
The program was the brainchild of Jennifer Bistrack, the community health coordinator for the Annapolis Recreation and Parks Department. Part of her job is to find ways to prevent chronic diseases in the community through physical activity and good nutrition, she said. With childhood obesity rising, she began looking for funding to start the club.
The number of overweight children has more than tripled during the past three decades, according to the Office of the Surgeon General. Health officials estimate that 12.5 million American children and adolescents - more than 17 percent of those age 2 to 19 years - are overweight. The Anne Arundel County Department of Health estimates that 36 percent of all county residents are overweight.
Overweight children are at greater risk for many serious health problems, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes. Bistrack estimates between 40 percent and 50 percent of students participating in the running program this fall have weight problems.
