FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Students Get a Head Start Keeping Fit

Valentina Garcia, 11, is learning the importance of keeping in shape.

“I want to grow up to be strong and to be healthy,” said the fifth-grade student.

Classmate Alejandra Mena, 11, said she wants to exercise so she’ll have a better heart.

Gabriel Mendoza, 10, said he feels good when he exercises--and also wants to be physically fit so he “can be strong and tall.”

These students at Oak View Elementary School in Huntington Beach are getting a head start on fitness. And so are the students at Urbain H. Plavan Elementary School in Fountain Valley.

Students are being taught the importance of cardiovascular health, physical fitness and good eating habits.

The program is being administered by Project Fit America, a nonprofit organization that teaches children--kindergartners through high school seniors--to become physically fit in schools across the country. More than 37,000 children are involved in the program nationwide this school year.

Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center is sponsoring the local school-based fitness project and paid for the state-of-the-art outdoor equipment at the two elementary schools.

Hospital officials said the cost was a total of $17,000, or $8,500 for each school. The equipment has stations for parallel bars, pole climbing, pull-ups and sit-ups.

Hospital officials said the medical center is committed to the health of the community, and educating and training students about better health habits.

“I am so excited to have this program,” said Oak View Elementary Principal Julie Stein, whose school received the equipment last week. “It goes along with our philosophy of developing the whole child--creating healthy bodies and healthy minds.”

Diane O’Donnell, principal at Urbain H. Plavan Elementary, also said her students are fortunate to be recipients of the equipment. The equipment was installed on the playground in September.

“Our children are not as healthy as they ought to be. They don’t get enough exercise, their diets are poor, they have high cholesterol, and some of them have high blood pressure,” O’Donnell said.

According to a study by the Amateur Athletic Union, 40% of American children ages 5 to 8 show one or more risk factors of heart disease, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and low cardiovascular endurance.

O’Donnell said the school’s goal is to improve students’ cardiovascular fitness. “We figure by starting young with children, they can be building some lifelong habits,” she said.

The principals also said the school curriculum includes teaching students about proper nutrition and there are plans to hold health fairs and other related events during the school year.

“By the end of this year, the children will have developed the skills to use the equipment and realize that fitness is fun,” Stein said. “And that they will continue after this program to be conscious of fitness and good nutrition--and that this will become a new way of life for them.”