ASSOCIATED PRESS
Miss America 2001, Angela Perez Baraquio, spoke
yesterday during the Team Nutrition Summer
Institute's Nutrition Day at the University of
New Hampshire in Durham, N.H.

Miss America touts
children’s fitness

Her speech at a nutrition
conference stresses a need
for health education

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Associated Press

DURHAM, N.H. >> Many children who grow up overweight carry the problem with them as adults, increasing the importance of good nutrition and physical fitness, Miss America Angela Perez Baraquio said yesterday.

Since 1980 the percentage of overweight children has doubled, and this is not a short-term problem, Baraquio told a gathering of schoolteachers and food service workers at the University of New Hampshire.

Baraquio, a physical fitness teacher, coach and athletic director in Hawaii, gave the keynote address.

Baraquio stressed the need for teachers, administrators and food service professionals to work together to reach students with messages of positive self-image, physical fitness, character building and proper nutrition.

Physical education helps children stay disciplined and resist peer pressure, she said.

Issues discussed at the daylong conference included the exploration of the classroom-cafeteria connection, personal fitness assessments, nutrition analysis, family fitness and programs to create a healthy classroom.