A Pilot’s Perspective on School Wellness

The lessons I have learned from my training as a military pilot may help other parents navigate the route to raising healthy children in today’s challenging environment.  In pilot training, I learned habits of personal protection. I donned my helmet, gloves, flight suit, boots and earplugs for every flight. With a family history of diabetes, teaching my children healthy habits of personal protection was not just the “right thing to do” but a must-do. I have seen the devastation this disease can wreak on loved ones and know the wisdom of the expression “genetics loads the gun and environment pulls the trigger.”

An important part of my military training as an aircraft commander was Crew Resource Management (CRM). CRM focuses on interpersonal communication, leadership, and proactive decision-making to ensure flight crewmembers will speak up and Aircraft Commanders will listen in order to avoid the loss of an aircraft. I was distressed to see that many of the lessons of personal protection I was teaching at home were being undermined at school where candy was given as a reward, class parties overloaded children with junk food, and fundraising involved peddling candy and cookies. I relied on CRM training to address these challenges—not only with my child’s teacher, but also with the principal, school council, and PTA. Often the message was not welcomed at first but persistence usually paid off.

I also learned the importance of good policy from my years in the military. School wellness policies help keep everyone on the same page with best practices for student nutrition and physical activity. Ultimately, my children’s school adopted a stronger wellness policy that encouraged using alternatives to food as a reward, healthier celebrations and healthier fundraising.

Instead of candy for good behavior, students now receive non-food rewards like extra recess. Celebrations balance “whoa” foods with “go” foods.  The Jog-A-Thon fundraiser is a model for other schools and the 16th District PTA holds a 5K race, which all 53 of our school PTAs can use for raising money.

As the Aircraft Commander, full responsibility for the success or failure of the mission was mine alone, but I relied on a crew for professional support.  I have been surprised that parents responsible for the critical mission of raising healthy children are often expected to do so with minimal or no support.  My military combat training focused on identifying threats and initiating evasive maneuvers when a threat was encountered; but the best combat tactic was to avoid the threat entirely, if possible. This was true flying relief supplies into Sarajevo during the Bosnian War and it remains true as a parent raising children in Kentucky, a state with the third highest rate of childhood obesity. I teach my children evasive maneuvers, such as saying, “no thank you” when they are offered food as a reward, but changing the school environment to better support healthy choices is also necessary. There are several things happening in our schools that parents need to be aware of and should be encouraged to change:

Excess sugar: Research continues to mount on the harmful effects sugar has on the insulin response and the addictive properties of sugar.  Many schools offer a wide variety of sugary snacks and drinks, and kids of all ages can buy them from vending machines, stores, and even in the cafeteria during lunch.

Marketing to children: Children are bombarded with advertising and do not understand the persuasive intent of marketing until they are at least 8 years old. The constant presence of shiny, colorful junk food and sugary drink packaging in schools is itself a form of marketing, setting kids up for a lifetime of loyalty to these products.

Food as reward: Children are fed for being “good,” instead of being fed for nourishment. This can lead to emotional eating. When teachers give students candy as a reward for good behavior or for completing their work, it not only sends the wrong message, it’s bad for kids’ health.

Finally, don’t forget to gather reinforcements! There’s strength in numbers and it’s important to connect to others who are working on this mission.

For more information about how to make change in your school, visit the Act page on BagtheJunk.org.