Health in America’s schools is everyone’s future and everyone’s job

After nearly 190 years of operations, and with 21,000 miles of neighbors, CSX has learned a thing or two about the necessity of collaboration. Partnerships are critical to tackling any major goal, especially those that have a national impact and localized execution. 

The importance of childhood health and wellness demands a truly collaborative approach that recognizes the magnitude of the issue we face. Schools across the country are making meaningful strides toward improving health and wellness, but we face high hurdles as more than one third of children and adolescents classify as overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

{mosads}The answers are complex and demand input from a wide variety of society’s leaders. Everyone – from the teacher to the railroad – has a role to play in working together to help our children live healthy, active lifestyles.  For CSX, it’s all the more imperative, as many of our jobs are physically demanding and require strength tests.  Physical activity and nutrition programs in the classroom create a healthy generation of future employees, customers, suppliers and neighbors for our company. 

Our experiences show we can achieve more through collaboration. We’re working with many partners who help create a meaningful impact for positive change in the communities where we work and live. CSX recently joined forces with The Conservation Fund to work on eliminating food deserts across the Eastern U.S. by providing local nonprofit organizations with funding to improve the transportation and distribution of fresh, healthy produce to underserved populations.  

CSX also partners with Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK), a nationwide grassroots network that mobilizes schools, parents and volunteers in support of healthy eating and physical activity to fight childhood obesity and increase academic success. From providing teacher training programs to connecting schools and volunteers, AFHK contributes to students’ health and academic success by meeting them where they are – in the classroom, in the cafeteria and on the playground.  Through this organization, CSX funds grants for schools to increase students’ physical activity, improve behaviors around wellness, and engage parents in healthy lifestyles. Schools currently in the program are reporting an average of 55 minutes of physical activity per day, nearly meeting the recommended 60 minutes per day for children. 

But opening your checkbook isn’t enough to solve a problem this complex. Corporate, government and nonprofit partners must actively engage in the community and lead by example.  This week, volunteers from CSX, Action for Healthy Kids, City Year, Alliance for Community Trees and members of the school community will be joining forces at Burrville Elementary School in NE Washington, D.C. to improve the basketball court, create activity stencils on the playground, rebuild a greenhouse and more. These activities may seem small, but they’ll have a big impact in the daily, and hopefully future, lives of students. 

We challenge all of our partners – from the neighborhoods where we operate to the elected representatives who lead communities across our 23-state network – to join together to improve health and wellness, starting in schools. Through a concerted effort of collaboration, we can fight childhood obesity, provide our schools and the children they serve with the support and wellness tools they need, and prepare our community’s youngest members for a healthier and brighter future for America.

Kaplan is assistant vice president – corporate social responsibility at CSX and a member of the Board of Directors for Action for Healthy Kids.