As panic over the swine flu seems to be waning (at least in our corner of the world), American children face another more insidious and widespread life-threatening epidemic: childhood obesity.

Recently, much ado has been made about the role that public schools play in perpetuating this disease. For instance, take a look at what President Obama’s chef has to say about the state of the National School Lunch Program, which feeds so many of our nation’s school children. And this New York Times editorial calls for districts to actively take a stand against childhood obesity by curbing the sale of junk food to students—even though the switch to healthier foods might incur greater financial costs.

Of all the efforts I’ve read about to combat this devastating phenomenon at the school level, none has impressed me more than what’s being done at one charter school on the southwest side of Chicago.

The Namaste Charter School, established in 2004, currently serves over 300 students in grades K-5, and will grow to 450 students by 2011. The school takes a holistic approach to education by making physical fitness, nutrition, and wellness key components of its curriculum.

The school day is extended to 7.5 hours long and includes breakfast each day (with a Family Breakfast held each week) to ensure that children are well-nourished, and to promote healthy eating among families. In addition to a rigorous language arts, math, science and social science curriculum, the extended day also provides ample time for a physical education curriculum, health and nutrition curriculum, as well as character education (called Peaceful People Curriculum).

The school had so many requests to share its best practices that it started its own separate educational website called NamasteShares.org (ironically sponsored by Mars, Incorporated) which educators and parents can visit for information on integrating Namaste’s programs into their own schools and homes. The website features the full Namaste curriculum, classroom materials, lists of activities, assessments and links to other resources. It even has videos of Namaste teachers and students in action.

I know that schools often shoulder more than their fair share of responsibility and accountability when it comes to dealing with the problems facing America’s children. We expect public school teachers and principals to do a lot more than just teach the three R’s, and they often find themselves taking on the roles of social worker, therapist, police officer, mediator, surrogate parent, and even nutritionist. Yet while I definitely don’t absolve parents from being ultimately responsible for raising their own children, I don’t think requiring schools to become more health conscious is too much to ask.

In fact, incorporating more physical activity (and the occasional nutrition lesson) into the school curriculum, not to mention giving the cafeteria menu a healthy makeover, seems so easy relative to the other challenges facing our public schools (i.e. closing the achievement gap), and the results could have such a profound impact on the health and quality of life of so many of our nation’s children, that neglecting to take these simple steps seems at best shortsighted—and at worst criminal.

(Photo: mauricesvay’s flickr photostream/Creative Commons)