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Walk to school in support of healthy living by Heather Woolwine Public Relations They walked to Fraser Elementary School with a purpose. Health care professionals, school teachers, parents, children, and representatives of local police and fire departments, all walked together Oct. 26 to promote health, safety, physical activity, and concern for the environment.   Local police officers, health care professionals and other community members walk to school with children in support of healthy living and exercise. Coordinated by MUSC Junior Doctors of Health founder and director Scotty Buff, an MUSC Graduate Studies student, the group met early that Thursday morning in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot on Meeting Street prior to beginning their walk to school. New City of Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen, McGruff the Crime Dog, Charlie the River Dog, and South Carolina Stingrays’ Little Puck joined the kindergarten through 6th grade students, MUSC volunteers, parents, and school and public service officials in the walk. Other sponsors of the event included MUSC Children’s Hospital, Safe Kids, Piggly Wiggly, and Fast & French.   MUSC Junior Doctors of Health has been teaching Fraser students about the importance of exercise for the past four years via an effort that originally began as part of the Presidential Scholars program. The concept is to teach children in the community at a young age to integrate healthy living into their lifestyles. Teaching children about proper nutrition and exercise is no small feat, especially since children from underserved and underprivileged areas tend to not have as much access to health information as their counterparts from a more middleclass background. The program is designed to provide that vital link between health care education and the reality of their socioeconomic status, thus bridging the gap.   “ Diabetes and obesity are on the rise in children, especially in the African American community, both of which can be prevented by establishing healthy eating and exercise habits at an early age,” Buff said. “This program makes students think about what they are eating. We don’t ask the children to adhere to a strict diet or exercise regiment. We simply ask them to think about what they are doing and, as in the case of food, for example, use a canceling-out policy between good and bad food.”   Buff also noted the importance of diversity in health care professions, and said this program is one way to get minority students interested in a health care career early in life.   “We tell the students what we are studying to be and hope they will consider pursuing this type of profession as well,” Buff said. “We hope to expand the program to the seventh grade this year to focus on academics. The plan is to expand to one year, each year, as the students who have graduated from the program in their elementary school get older, all the way to 12th grade.”   Buff and her colleagues plan to focus on different topics each year and, as children reach older grade levels, she wants to have students help MUSC volunteers teach younger children, which would help develop teaching and leadership skills.   “I’ve noticed a difference in the school since the program was started in spring 2004. When the students see me, they show me the food they are eating and know whether it is good for them,” Buff said. “The teachers asked for an exercise program last year because they want to get healthy, too. Thirteen teachers are currently participating in an exercise program that we are offering in conjunction with the MUSC Wellness Center.”   To further the success of the Junior Doctors program, teachers are incorporating events into the curriculum. For example, children who participated in the walk will have a chance to write about it for a project due this month.   “We actually had a seventh grade student who participated in the program in fourth and sixth grades come to the walk and Fraser’s jamboree the following Saturday with some members in her family,” Buff said. “She took pictures and helped out with both events. This is the way we want the program to develop, with Fraser graduates having a strong role in helping with the program and themselves becoming role models in their school and community.”     Friday, Nov. 24, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.