Funding Will Promote Physical Activity In Bronx Schools

Washington, D.C.--Congressman Eliot Engel announced the awarding of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant of $1,313,202 to Montefiore Medical Center for an obesity prevention program in Bronx schools, covering Kindergarten through third grade.

The two-year grant of $656,601 per year, will study the effect of “Moving Smart” on 16,000 students, ages 4-9, attending 16 resource-poor elementary schools in the Bronx. The hope, said Rep. Engel, is the program will serve as a model of an in-classroom, education–focused, physical intervention to revolutionize physical activity in schools. This program could then serve as a model for subsequent nationwide obesity preventions programs.

The 11-term Congressman noted, “Physical inactivity is a contributing factor to the growing national epidemic of childhood obesity.” This program, he said, developed the "Moving Smart" audio CD, an innovative, 10-minute, education-focused aerobic activity led by teachers in their classrooms. The overall goal is to assess the effectiveness of the "Moving Smart" intervention on physical activity levels of inner-city, minority children.

Rep. Engel said, “Pediatric obesity has tripled in the past three decades, with inner-city children disproportionately affected. In some Bronx low-income areas, up to 47 percent of the children are affected. Schools are an ideal place to encourage physical activity to thwart obesity, but many Bronx schools lack such facilities. This program, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will conduct a classroom physical program and study its effectiveness.”