KC Students Return From Fitness Academy

A terrific story was reported in the Sun Herald today about students from my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri returning from MindStream Academy, a fitness boarding school in South Carolina. The 14 students lost a combined 756 lbs. during their four months at the school! The goal of MindStream Academy is to help teenage students learn and develop skills to ensure long-term health and wellness. The school has a unique curriculum that teaches students how to make prudent decisions about eating and exercise.

The curriculum was practical and hands-on: Students took field trips to a grocery store and fast food restaurant to learn to make good purchasing decisions and studied things like knife skills in the school's kitchen. - The Sun Herald

The state of physical education in U.S. schools is perhaps as bad as it has ever been. As a former middle and high school teacher, I am well aware that students are not taught about nutrition, metabolism, and the importance of exercise. Interestingly, many medical school programs don't even teach doctors the basics of nutrition, so it should come as no surprise that U.S. citizens are poorly informed about how to eat healthy. Even though MindStream Academy is doing great work, I wish families did not have to pay more than $28,000 to teach students something they should already be learning in school and from their doctors! Nevertheless, these students and families should be commended for getting healthier and avoiding chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and even cancer.

Here is a link to the Sun Herald Article. If you want to see pictures of the students returning to KCI airport, you can click here. If you want to learn more about MindStream Academy, please click this link.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/12/21/4371883/mo-students-lose-756-pounds-at.html#storylink=cpy