Project L.E.A.N. Childhood Obesity Prevention Program Shows Excellent Results at the End of Its Second Year

  Project L.E.A.N. Childhood Obesity Prevention Program Shows Excellent
  Results at the End of Its Second Year

    Pepperidge Farm, Inc., Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk Health Department and
     Jefferson Elementary School Join Forces to Combat Childhood Obesity

Business Wire

NORWALK, Conn. -- June 13, 2012

Two hundred second and third graders at Jefferson School are ending the school
year on a very healthy note. These students now have a significantly broader
knowledge base about the importance of good nutrition and physical activity.
Furthermore, they have made behavioral changes that will improve their
long-term health. This is all due to the instruction they received from
Project L.E.A.N. (Learning with Energy from Activity and Nutrition), a
childhood obesity prevention program being offered at Jefferson School in
Norwalk. The pilot program was started in 2010 through collaboration between
Pepperidge Farm, Inc., Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk Department of Health, and
Norwalk’s Jefferson Elementary School.

Terrence Kitt and Aidan Carroll, Project L.E.A.N. students at Jefferson
Elementary School. (Photo: B ...

Terrence Kitt and Aidan Carroll, Project L.E.A.N. students at Jefferson
Elementary School. (Photo: Business Wire)

Project L.E.A.N. was designed to improve the overall health of children by
teaching them lifelong habits of healthy eating and exercise. The program
includes a “breakfast boot camp,” in-school nutrition classes taught by Cindy
Sherlock MS, RD, CD-N, a dietician at Norwalk Hospital’s Clinical Nutrition
Department, and after school family events.

At the end of the second year, the program results are excellent. “The
students who have gone through the program have demonstrated a significant
increase in their knowledge about good nutrition which has led to positive
behavioral changes,” says Ruthann Walsh, Director, Corporate Citizenship at
Pepperidge Farm and one of the program’s organizers. “For example, the vast
majority of the children now understand that it is unhealthy to be overweight
and furthermore, they can cite specific chronic medical conditions that can
arise from being overweight such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The
children who have not gone through Project L.E.A.N. are not nearly as aware of
these potential health risks. Additionally, Project L.E.A.N. students have
dramatically reduced their consumption of sugar sweetened beverages, replacing
them with water and milk, they have increased their consumption of fruits and
vegetables and they have increased their level of physical activity.
Furthermore, the BMI (Body Mass Index) profile of the Project L.E.A.N.
students is better than all other classes at Jefferson.”

Project L.E.A.N. stemmed from a desire to combat the national obesity crisis,
starting on a local level. National and local statistics reveal a dire need
for change:

  * National obesity prevalence among children aged 6 to 11 has more than
    doubled in the last twenty years. In Connecticut, 15% of low-income
    preschool children are medically obese; in Fairfield County that
    percentage increases to 17%.
  * The obesity epidemic causes great health risks to children, including risk
    of developing chronic diseases such as Type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular
    disease. A balance of physical activity and healthful eating are proven
    factors in reducing obesity in children and adolescents.

Jefferson Elementary was chosen as a pilot school for the program because it
is the largest elementary school in Norwalk, serves the largest minority
population (83%) of elementary schools in Norwalk, and has a large population
of children who receive free or reduced rate lunches—an indicator of financial
need.

“Pepperidge Farm is proud to be one of the founding sponsors of Project
L.E.A.N. It’s an innovative approach to combating childhood obesity and could
not have gotten off the ground without the partnership between the hospital,
school, health department and the business sector,” said Walsh. “In
particular, the principal at Jefferson School, John Reynolds, and the teachers
deserve much of the credit for this program’s success. From the very
beginning, everyone – including the students, teachers, parents and partners –
embraced the ‘Project L.E.A.N.’ approach to improve the children’s health.”

Project L.E.A.N. will start up again in the fall at Jefferson School, but in
the meantime, the students will be invited to attend three Project L.E.A.N.
Summer festivities, keeping everyone in tip-top shape for the fall.

About Pepperidge Farm

Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a leading
provider of premium quality fresh bakery products, cookies, crackers, and
frozen foods. The company was named the #1 Place to Work in Connecticut in the
large company’s category of the Best Places to Work in Connecticut competition
for 2009. Among the company’s most popular products are Sausalito^® and
Milano^® cookies, Goldfish^® crackers, Baked Naturals^® crackers, frozen Puff
Pastry, frozen garlic loaves and Texas toasts, and more than 50 varieties of
fresh baked breads including Pepperidge Farm^® Swirl, Farmhouse and Whole
Grain. The company recently added Ecce Panis^® gourmet artisan breads to its
portfolio. Pepperidge Farm was founded in Connecticut in 1937 by Margaret
Rudkin, an entrepreneurial homemaker who began baking fresh, all-natural bread
for her allergy-afflicted son. The company is now a nationwide business with 9
manufacturing facilities and almost 5,000 employees. Pepperidge Farm has been
part of Campbell Soup Company since 1961.

About Cindy Sherlock MS, RD, CD-N

Cindy Sherlock MS, RD, CD-N, an outpatient dietitian in the Clinical Nutrition
Department at Norwalk Hospital, holds a Master of Science in Nutrition and
Food Studies from New York University. Cindy joined Norwalk Hospital in 2010
where she provides nutrition counseling to the outpatient population.

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Contact:

Pepperidge Farm
Ruthann Walsh, 203-846-7040
Ruthann_Walsh@PepperidgeFarm.com