Conference Examines the Links between Physical Activity, Nutrition and Children's School Performance.

BOSTON -- The public is invited to a health care conference on October 6 that will examine the multifaceted roles of sound nutrition and physical fitness in school-age children. The conference, Active Body, Active Mind: The Connection between Childhood Nutrition, Fitness and Academic Achievement, is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA).

Clear evidence is emerging that schoolchildren who are physically fit and active consistently perform better in their studies and achieve higher test scores, according to Dr. John S. Ratey, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He will open the conference presenting fresh insight from research and from his recent book, A User's Guide to the Brain, on understanding how the brain works and what influences its functions, including fitness, activity and food.

Speakers will explore the ways in which vigorous daily activity and nutritious food benefit children's health and general well-being. They also will examine the newly recognized potential for negative scholastic consequences in youngsters who are overweight and underactive.

Across Massachusetts (and the nation) some 15 percent of school children are now known to be overweight, as are up to one-third of minority schoolchildren in urban areas. Inactivity, as much as diet, is felt to underlie much of this weight problem, as children spend more time in sedentary modes, watching TV and playing computer games.

Additionally, cutbacks in school funding at a time of stricter scholastic demands--such as the required testing of educational achievement--have led to diminished time for physical education classes or even for vigorous physical activity during school hours in many areas.

Serious health problems are striking young overweight children, largely in the same manner suffered by obese adults, according to National Institute of Health studies such as those underway at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Joslin Diabetes Research Center. Their studies indicate that children, only 8 years to 12 years of age, are developing what had been regarded as adult-onset diabetes (type 2).

Without treatment, these children may progress--in a shorter time than adults--to severe diabetic complications, such as vision loss, high blood pressure and heart disease, and even circulatory disorders that can lead to gangrene and require amputation.

Keynote speaker will be Governor Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas) who has shed more than 100 pounds himself and exemplifies the support he is giving to promote fitness in children, beginning with the first-in-the nation, statewide index of the weight and fitness status of Arkansas school children. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will be on hand to comment on Boston Public School dietary and fitness programs. Christine Ferguson, the state's Commissioner of Public Health, will moderate a panel of experts who will showcase programs proven to promote fitness in schoolchildren. The chairmen of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Public Health, Senator Richard Moore and Rep. Peter Koutoujian, will talk about the Legislature's work on this important public health issue.

The program runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at BCBSMA's headquarters, Landmark Center, 401 Park Dr. in Boston. For more information, contact 617-246-4649.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (www.bluecrossma.com) was founded 66 years ago by a group of community-minded business leaders. Today, headquartered in Boston, BCBSMA provides coverage to 2.6 million members. Consistently recognized for standards of service that are among the highest in the nation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is the choice for health care consumers seeking reliable and high quality health care coverage. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.