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IONIA - While childhood obesity heads the list of problems for today's youth, and some experts call obesity an "epidemic," one question remains.

What's being done to stop it?

Because students spend the majority of their weekdays in schools, school officials are taking a hard look at the problem.

"There are a lot of things we're doing (at Ionia Public Schools) to deal with obesity," said IPS food service director Elenda May, who is also a chairperson on the Wellness Committee. "It's something we've been doing for awhile, actually. We're trying to impact students with the 'balance your life' mentality."

A good way for students to balance their lives is to first balance their meals.

Elementary schools across the district have removed pop machines from their buildings this year and have instead promoted juices or water.

In addition, IPS cafeterias across the district now offer healthier options inside the cafeteria.

Instead of highly processed breads, IPS and many other districts now use multi-grain buns.

In place of standard potato chips, which are extremely high in saturated fat and sodium, schools now offer baked chips instead, while french fries were moved from a daily option to only available once per week.

"So far, we've only had one person complain about [these changes]," May said. "We've definitely tried to focus on diets."

May has insisted on low-fat pizzas and chicken nuggets, and now each cafeteria in the district offers a low-fat grilled chicken meal each day as a healthy option.

They've also gone to serving fresh fruit and vegetables in the high school cafeteria at discounted prices to encourage students to eat healthy.

These are all big steps, said May, because improving food intake while at school - in the cafeteria and out - goes a long way toward improving student lifestyles.

"What we want to do is change the way students think about food and exercise at a young age, so that as they get older, those habits will be ingrained in them," May said. "Otherwise, they keep those bad eating habits."

Physically, the message from the school - and community - is clear.

"We've worked to encourage involvement between schools and the community to get children up and moving," said MSU Extension Educator Brenda Long, who has written grants that have brought in $16,000 to Ionia through the Michigan Department of Health in the past two years.

That money was used to promote nutrition and physical activity education through the Ionia Youth Workgroup.

"In order to beat something as prevalent as obesity, we need to see education coming from a lot of different places. The school is teaching health in the curriculum, it's one place. But it needs to come from the family and community," she said.

Different schools across the district have held recess/after-school programs to spur youth activity.

Jefferson Elementary principal Jack Manciu has implemented run-walk programs after school in the past, as has Rather Elementary principal Darin Magley.

Similarly, various youth fitness clubs can be found across the county as a direct result of rising obesity rates.

May said some schools in the district actually push their staffs to model proper physical and nutrition behavior through the 'Six Weeks to Wellness" program.

Staff members get points for certain things like walking a mile, eating healthy foods and the like.

"The important thing is that students are seeing the example," May said. "It's an ongoing process."

The city has gotten involved, too.

The Ionia Parks and Recreation Department offers a myriad of youth sports at free to low-cost fees.

Youth open basketball, indoor/outdoor soccer, Tee Ball and Tae-Kwon-Do are just some of the youth options available for children of almost any age.

They also offer exercise classes for adults and older children that range from low intensity to high intensity.

There's also open basketball each Tuesday and Thursday at the Armory gym for anyone old enough to compete.

"We have a lot of things for kids to do," said Parks and Recreation Director Matt Painter, who hopes more parents get involved. "Even our river trails are an option. Anything that gets people out and burns some calories helps keep obesity in check."

For more information on school nutrition information, contact IPS at 527-9280. For information on youth/adult sports leagues or fitness classes, contact Matt Painter at 523-1800.

By FRANK KONKEL