In a collaborative effort to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of Type 2 diabetes among at-risk youth, the American Diabetes Association partnered with Morgan Hill Unified School District and Mount Madonna YMCA to provide a week-long summer camp at Barrett Elementary School.
Throughout the week of July 18-22, certified dietitian Norma Molina engaged about 30 local students from Barrett, P.A. Walsh and San Martin Gwinn elementary schools, to educate them on the importance of making healthy choices and staying active.
“When I do these camps for a week, I’m always amazed by the end (at) how much they’ve retained,” said Molina, who explained to her campers what diabetes is, what causes it, how overdosing on sugar affects the body (specifically the pancreas), how it can be prevented and simple ways to serve up healthy snacks.
The Type 2 diabetes prevention camp—named by its campers as “Super Heroes At Risk Youth Camp”—was held for the first time in Morgan Hill with similar ones organized by the ADA in Hollister and San Jose.
“Number 1, there is an epidemic of Type 2 diabetes among kids,” Molina added. “This is why we want to teach them healthy habits: playing a lot, moving their muscles, eating more fiber and limiting their sugar intake.”
In Santa Clara County, there is a 55 percent rate of pre-diabetes and diabetes combined, according to the ADA. Nationally in 2012, 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3 percent of the population, had diabetes with 1.4 million new diagnoses each year.
On July 21, local campers crunched away on a healthy vegetable snack prepared for them that included fresh carrots, broccoli, colorful peppers and edamame beans with a hummus, Greek yogurt and ranch mix dipping sauce. Each day during the week, Molina served up a tasty—and healthy—snack for campers to enjoy from a strawberry spinach salad with raspberry vinaigrette and a Queso fresco crumble to a fruit yogurt parfait.
“She brings a lot of different snacks that give a healthy boost and show the kids that healthy snacks can be quite tasteful,” said Jesse De La Cruz, a Community Health Strategist with the ADA. “So far what I found most impressive is (the children’s) knowledge of nutrition, which tells me there’s diabetes in the family and they are dealing with it.”
Sixth grader Johnny Jaime, 10, said the biggest thing he learned was, “Do not eat too much sugar or your pancreas will stop working.”
Part of the July 21 lesson, which was a reinforcement of what they learned earlier in the week, had Molina holding up a small apple juice box, which she said contained the equivalent of eight apples. She asked them how many juice boxes they could drink in a day and then asked if they drank three how many apples would that be? One camper immediately replied: “three times eight so 24 apples.”
“All fruits and vegetables have sugar but good sugar because they are all wrapped up with fiber,” lectured Molina, who explained why eating one apple is the healthier choice because it fills the stomach with fiber rather than large amounts of sugar from the juice boxes.
She then shifted the discussion to cereals—which one camper already knew should be high in fiber and have less than 10 grams of sugar per serving. Another told Molina she checked the nutritional information on boxes when shopping with her mother. Molina then held up a gallon jug of sugar and told the class that this is how much sugar would be ingested if someone drank one can of soda per day for six months.
“It’s been fun and I like when we have snack time. I loved the yogurt parfait,” said 7-year-old Samantha Appleby, who learned to “eat healthy, eat more apples, fruits and vegetables because they are better than eating junk food.”
Fifth grader Ailine Villa, 10, was clear on what unhealthy eating habits can do to the body: “She’s taught me that the pancreas gets really tired if you eat too much sugar…We learned all about the body and how much sugar you’re supposed to have, and not to have a lot of sugar because you can get diabetes.”
According to ADA statistics, about 208,000 Americans under the age of 20 are estimated to have diagnosed diabetes. In 2012, medical costs related to diabetes hit $245 billion.
Along with diabetes education, the camp day also included physical activities since exercising and moving the body is another essential part in preventing the disease. On this particular camp day, the class was headed to the Morgan Hill Outdoor Aquatics Center. For some, it was a first-time visit.
“I think it’s been very beneficial for the kids,” said Julie Duran, MHUSD’s School Link Services Coordinator. “There’s been visuals, hands-on activities and she makes a healthy snack each day for the kids.”
At the end of the week, students were given a grocery list of healthy choices as well as recipes of everything they tasted throughout camp to bring home to their parents.
“We hope to do this every summer,” Duran added. “This is a pilot program so we want to expand it next year and offer this service to more children in the community.”
Barrett bilingual aide Victoria Santiago explained that they reached out to the district’s Title III schools this year to fill the class and even had to turn away some students due to the overwhelming interest in the free camp.
“We’re already getting so much positive feedback from the parents,” said Santiago, who helped devise the daily camp schedule which runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. “This is so important for them.”
YMCA Director Maia Skreen said she attends a lot of youth camps in Morgan Hill each summer and that this one stood out due to the overwhelming engagement of the students on such an important issue.
“(Molina) does an amazing job. The kids are asking questions, they are very engaged, and I see lots of smiles on their faces,” Skreen said. “The Y is all about healthy living.”
