Burnett School of Medicine Students Create ‘Joyful Movement’ with Fort Worth Elementary Students
One way to tackle childhood obesity is to introduce and encourage children to experience joyful movement, according to Hannah Smitherman, M.D., Pediatric Clerkship Director at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.
FORT WORTH – Roughly one in six youth have obesity in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
One way to tackle childhood obesity is to introduce and encourage children to experience joyful movement, according to Hannah Smitherman, M.D., Pediatric Clerkship Director at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.
“If we could just somehow capture that joyful movement and continue that on through adolescence and even into adulthood, I think we would be a healthier community,” Smitherman said. Joyful movement goes beyond exercise and turns it into something fun, achievable and less stressful, she said.
Recently, second-year medical students at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU spent time with Christene C Moss Elementary School as part of the school’s Service Learning program. While at the CC Moss, medical students participated in the elementary students’ P.E. class. CC Moss Elementary has a minority enrollment rate of 98%. The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) showed in 2021-2022, children in the lowest income group had the highest rates of obesity (24.1%) while children in the highest income group had the lowest (9.7%).
Dr. Smitherman said it was beneficial for the medicals students to connect with youth in the Fort Worth community: “This is our future, these are our community members.”