Passport to healthy winter for children and families

Every parent in the state should be alarmed by Bureau of Health director Dr. Dora Ann Mills’ observation in Maine Policy Review that fully a third of Maine young people are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight.

Think about that. At the stage of life when they should be most active and burning the most calories, a large portion of Maine kids are already on the road to obesity, with its greatly increased risks of disease, disability and premature death. What does this portend for our state’s future? More importantly, what can we do to reverse this disastrous trend?

For most of us, being overweight is largely an issue of taking in more calories than we burn. For our children, who are growing up on diets rich in fats, highly processed foods and super-sized meals, the lack of physical activity is a critical contributor. Most Maine kids are far too inactive for their own good, especially during Maine’s longest season, winter.

Even if your child is not overweight, you may be surprised at how little exercise they engage in during the course of an average day. From being driven to school (where increasingly, physical education is an afterthought), to finding stimulation through an ever-expanding array of electronics, our kids are becoming ever more passive observers of life.

Parents of fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders in Maine have an opportunity to add some stimulating physical activity to their children’s schedule this winter with the help of WinterKids.

WinterKids is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Maine families develop life-long habits of health, education and fitness through winter activities in the outdoors. The organization sponsors the WinterKids Passport for all Maine students in grades 5, 6 and 7.

The WinterKids Passport offers children in these grades and their families an entire season of free or discounted winter recreation opportunities, including cross-country and downhill skiing and snowboarding, tubing and ice skating.

Applications were distributed through schools in early November. If the application didn’t survive the backpack ride home, you can grab one online at www.winterkids.org. If the $20 processing fee is an issue, you can also inquire about WinterKids’ generous “scholarship” policy.

With a WinterKids passport, a fifth-grader can ski or snowboard three times at each of Maine’s 17 downhill ski areas this winter, or cross-country ski at 21 cross-country ski centers, or ice skate at 11 ice arenas (sixth- and seventh-graders get two and one visits, respectively). The WinterKids Passport also offers parents and siblings free or discounted tickets, lessons and rentals, allowing families to enjoy good times together and develop a shared love for healthy outdoor activities.

I’ve met families who have taken up the challenge of visiting most of Maine’s downhill areas in a single winter, thanks to the Passport. As one parent said, “It’s given us a chance to break out of old habits and build some great memories!”

WinterKids is able to provide Passports because of the support of Maine’s downhill and cross-country ski areas and ice arenas and the generosity of the Healthy Maine Partnership, Hannaford, L.L. Bean and Peoples.

The organization offers other programs aimed at getting kids active and enjoying Maine’s winter season.The WinterKids Outdoor Learning Curriculum helps teachers develop lessons in a variety of subjects for grades K-12 that take place outdoors. The curriculum has received national recognition and is being distributed throughout the United States.

WinterKids Active Academics Workshop is a hands-on opportunity delivering outdoor, active and academically stimulating classes throughout Maine with the help of a WinterKids staff member. And the World Class Athlete Tour, led by U.S. Olympian Julie Parisien, brings Maine’s top winter athletes to schools to help motivate students to engage in healthy outdoor activities.

If you have children in fifth, sixth or seventh grade, take advantage of the WinterKids Passport. By becoming active this winter, you could start a lifelong habit of healthy exercise that will benefit your whole family and help reverse a disturbing trend toward obesity and overweight youth.

Mark Ishkanian of Readfield, a principal of Ishkanian Communications, is a lifelong skier and board chairman of WinterKids.