MALVERN — The class was not about mathematics, but it did involve some specific measuring.
Erika Hixon, the instructor, talked about tennis balls and a deck of cards going on a plate as a major life lesson for eighth-graders at Malvern Middle School. Hixon, a clinical dietitian at Hot Spring County Medical Center, conducted a health class for 13-year-olds as part of a educational program to help prevent diabetes in the community through youth education.
The plate she was discussing was the My Plate nutrition guide, created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that depicts a plate and glass divided into five food groups, according to Hixon.
“A serving of fruit is the size of a tennis ball,” she said. “While the deck of cards is the size for a serving of meat or other proteins.”
How much constitutes a serving of food is a very important part of the training, Hixon said.
“Our goal is to emphasize a healthy weight as a way to prevent diabetes,” she said.
The dietitian is part of a team from the county medical center dedicated to changing the eating habits and increasing activity level with eighth-graders.
Hot Spring County Medical Center was awarded $9,000 by the Arkansas Rural Health Services Revolving Fund for the school year for diabetes prevention. The grant was also matched with an additional $3,000 by the hospital for supplies and other materials used by the teaching team.
The Hot Spring County Health Department and the Healthy Hot Spring County Coalition are also taking part in the program.
According to an announcement from the medical center about the health program at the Malvern Middle School, a 2010-2011 assessment of childhood and adolescent obesity at the school found the eighth-grade students at the time were 14.8 percent overweight, and 37.4 percent of the students were considered obese, meaning a person whose weight is 20 percent or more above a normal weight range.
Meanwhile an adult health survey reported that seven out of 10 adults in Hot Spring County were overweight, which is a higher percentage than in neighboring counties, the state of Arkansas and the United States.
Malvern Middle School Principal Velda Keeney said her 13-years-old students are a good target for the health program.
“The eighth-graders are maturing into young adults and learning to be more responsible for what they are eating,” she said. “But they are still young enough that their eating habits as not so set that they can not be changed.”
Keeney said there were 155 eighth-graders in the school of 320 students.
The educational program will be presented at least once a month during what is called an enrichment class period. At the first health meeting with the class on Sept. 14, Dr. Shawn Purifoy, a family-practice physician in Malvern, spoke to the group explaining the dangers of diabetes and the importance of learning good nutrition and adopting a health lifestyle.
A second meeting was conducted Oct. 12 with Hixon and Dennis Morris, director of physical therapy at the medical center.
On Tuesday, Hixon returned to Malvern Middle School to speak to health classes and with the school athletes for an opportunity work with smaller groups.
“Basically we talked about the My Plate guide and how much is in a serving size,” she said.
Often fast-foods and other prepared foods as well as fountain or bottled drinks are sold as if for a single meal, but the amount of food might include enough for several servings.
“I tried to explain things in ways they could relate to,” Hixon said after the classes. “I want to make them food-label readers and to look for the whole-grain symbol in their foods.
The dietitian said the students responded well to what she had to say.
“They took it really well,” she said. “You wonder what they are going to think, but they seemed excited about the health guidelines we emphasize.”
The physical therapist gave the students pedometers and guidelines they could shoot for to be as active as possible, Hixon said.
In her talk with the male athletes at the middle school, Hixon said she helped the boys check their percentage of body fat.
“About 95 percent of the students tested had a range of from 14 percent to 21 percent body fat, which is normal for a boy that age,” she said.
An effort was made to make the tests result confidential, Hixon said.
“The program is going great. The students are enjoying having these experts come and talk with them,” Keeney said. “The curriculum that students are exposed to goes hand-in-hand with our school wellness plan that targets healthy eating and the importance of exercise.”
The special health information program will continue at Malvern Middle School until May.
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbryan@arkansasonline.com.