By Staff
Jason Cannon, FCT Publisher
Recent studies indicate that one out of every four children in Alabama is dangerously overweight as compared to one out of every ten nationally. But that's a statistic Alabama leaders have set out to change and the launch of a new program called KidFit is part of that program.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Commissioner of Agriculture Ron Sparks and State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton unveiled a new educational and informational program on nutrition and fitness called KidFit.
The KidFit informational packet consists of a half-hour long television program on DVD and an informational brochure.
Nearly 350,000 of the packets will be distributed to public school children in grades pre-K through fifth grades, including an allotment to Franklin County and Russellville City Schools.
The KitFit packet, a thirty-minute educational program, is just the next step in what administrators hope will get the state's student's healthier.
"If you go over it and really look at the rules and restrictions the state imposes, you can see they're taking it very seriously," Russellville Superintendent Wayne Ray said of the state's wellness program. "If you're found in violation, they can levy some stiff penalties."
Those penalties can include a warning for your first offense and reimbursing the state the money it provided the district for that school's nutrition program for one day for the second violation.
"When you start looking at some of the larger schools and the large districts, you're talking about big bucks," Ray said.
The DVD will be distributed throughout both school systems soon and each school will schedule viewings so that each child may see the program.