What can be done about the rising levels of childhood obesity around the world? Kate Cracknell talks to the people behind a range of initiatives designed to promote physical activity among children – all with a strong focus on fun and play

Healthy Habits
Kathleen Tullie - Founder of the BOKS initiative, a before-school programme funded by Reebok – explains how getting kids active before class can set them up for both learning and life

When was BOKS founded, and why?
BOKS (Build Our Kids’ Success) was founded in 2009 at one elementary school in Natick, Massachusetts, US – originally under the name Fit Kidz Get Up & Go, prior to Reebok’s involvement.

The reason was quite simple. After 18 years in the corporate world of real estate finance, I tried my hand at being a stay-at-home mum, but I only lasted a few months. I read the book Spark by Harvard Medical School professor Dr John Ratey, which describes the profound effect exercise has on the mind, and I was hooked.

I was inspired by the fact that physical activity, especially before school, can have an impact on both classroom performance and behaviour. Yet the US school systems are sorely lacking in opportunities for our kids to be active: fewer than 4 per cent of elementary schools have daily PE, and only 57 per cent of schools have regular recess. It’s no wonder obesity rates are rising.

I was already getting my kids and others in the neighbourhood together for impromptu soccer matches and running races before the school bus arrived in the morning, and I wanted to see if I could activate other parents and their kids to get involved. I teamed up with two other mums – Jen Lawrence, a CrossFit enthusiast, and Cheri Levitz, who had a background as a lawyer – and we developed two 12-week curricula for the school year. Word started to spread in surrounding areas too, and I started getting calls from other parents wanting to start a programme at their schools.

So what is BOKS?
BOKS is a free, before-school physical activity programme designed for elementary school kids aged 5–11, although we’ve recently developed a curriculum for middle schools too –grades 5 to 8 (ages 11–14).

Its goal is to get kids moving in the morning and their minds ready for a day of learning. It teaches motor skills, functional fitness movements, and how to be part of a team and play with different ages. Its mission: to promote the profound impact of physical activity on a child’s mind, body and community.

The founding principal of BOKS is that physical activity, especially before school, can improve classroom performance and behaviour – but it also plays a positive role in the obesity epidemic and kids’ overall health and wellbeing.

Each day, BOKS trainers guide kids through a 45-minute lesson plan that includes a warm-up, a running-related activity, a skill of the week, group games and a BOKS Bit – an age-appropriate nutritional tip developed by Tufts Medical Center and designed for kids to learn and share at home.

How did the link with Reebok start?
One of the members of our school board was from Reebok, and they suggested we went in to pitch for promotional items. A senior executive joined the meeting and explained that Reebok had made it a priority to reverse the culture of spectatorship to become a culture of participation. He believed we had to start with young people, and that BOKS was the perfect way to give kids around the world access to physical activity. We realised Reebok could help us reach many more children: since then, with the support of our pro-bono partners, we’ve grown to over 1,000 schools.

How is BOKS run in schools?
The programme is designed to run for two 12-week sessions, once in the autumn and then the winter/spring. However, the curriculum is created to be flexible and adaptable. There are schools that run three- to 10-week programmes, while other schools offer a BOKS drop-in programme every day during term time. In some towns, the local YMCA uses BOKS as part of its before-school programming. In others, they offer BOKS to the whole school.
Of the 1,000 schools enrolled in BOKS throughout the world, the highest concentration is in Massachusetts, US.

What difference does BOKS make?
I believe that BOKS has a tremendous power to effectuate change: I had one special needs teacher tell me they’d never known anything have such an impact on the children. We also run surveys at the end of our sessions, and one question speaks volumes: when we ask if a child wants to come back next session, 96 per cent say yes.

The simplicity of BOKS is what makes it so effective. Anybody can become a BOKS trainer, from parents and teachers to nurses and custodians – they just need the passion to make a difference in the lives of our children. All we need is one champion in every school. That’s how, together, we can make a huge difference in children’s lives.

I think one of the reasons we’ve seen success is that we’re walking the walk. In schools where we have parent trainers/volunteers, the kids are seeing that being active isn’t only good for them but for their whole family. By looking at comments in the surveys, we notice that kids are encouraging their families to be more active. Instead of staying inside at the weekend, they’re suggesting their families go on hikes or to the park. Kids are also becoming more aware of healthy nutrition and they’re teaching their families about it.

BOKS helps the younger generation embrace the healthy habits that will help reverse the obesity epidemic over time.

How is BOKS funded?
The majority of the funding currently comes via The Reebok Foundation, for which BOKS is its primary programme. We’ve also received more localised funding through organisations like The Boston Foundation.

What are your main challenges?
One of the main challenges is continuing to build evidence to prove to the education system that physical activity on a daily basis is critical to academic performance, as well as the overall health and wellness of the student.

What can fitness facility operators learn from BOKS?
The biggest learning is that kids like to be active when given the opportunity. If physical activity is fun and engaging, kids will come back for more. It’s our responsibility to provide opportunities.

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A look at a selection of initiatives designed to promote physical activity among children

Kathleen Tullie – founder of the BOKS initiative Darell Hammond, founder and CEO of KaBOOM! Marianthi O’Dwyer, vice president and head of living well at Disney, ,Children, obesity, Disney, Change4Life, KaBOOM, Reebok, Boks, Kathleen Tullie, Darell Hammond, Marianthi O’Dwyer