DECATUR - With unhealthy messages and habits inundating children's lives from all directions and helping raise rates of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes, a local group is fostering a more health-conscious community.

Representatives from the Community Health Improvement Center, Decatur Memorial Hospital, Garfield Montessori School, St. Mary's Hospital, the Decatur Family YMCA, the Decatur Indoor Sports Center, Decatur Day Care Center, the Macon County Health Department and other community agencies have joined with concerned residents to form the Decatur Community Obesity Prevention Coalition.

The group, which originated with an American Academy of Pediatrics grant awarded to CHIC physician Dr. Kira Marciniak two years ago, has been meeting formally for more than a year.

"It's been pretty exciting," Marciniak said.

What started off with a few key community members has grown into a forum for those concerned with children's health to exchange information, ideas and news of their progress.

"Every time I show up, there's somebody new," Marciniak said.

The grant that gave the group momentum was intended to focus on obesity prevention in the underserved populations of Decatur. CHIC focus groups and more than 500 surveys revealed significant barriers to healthy habits and fitness such as neighborhood safety concerns, lack of transportation and limited accessibility to healthy foods. The scope of the original effort has broadened to include all area children, Marciniak said.

Robin Caceres, a nurse and mother of four, recently attended her first coalition meeting. She has been working to bring a healthy living focus to Holy Family Catholic School, which her children attend.

"I just recently took on the mission of improving health in my own school," she said.

Several coalition members attended a recent talk organized by Caceres in which Springfield-area children's health advocate Dr. Kemia Sarraf discussed her efforts.

At Holy Family, Caceres has been volunteering with others to conduct the President's Physical Fitness Test and record the results. Last year, the assessment wasn't completed because there were no volunteers to help run the stations and take down data, Caceres said.

She said the school already has made changes, attempting to institute short bursts of physical activity throughout the day and promote healthy eating each week in the school announcements.

At the recent coalition meeting, representatives gave updates on the progress of their individual agencies, and Marciniak expressed a desire to expand the partnership to area schools.

Scott Davidson, physical education teacher, athletic director and wellness committee leader at Garfield Montessori, has been attending the coalition meetings for a few months. At the most recent meeting, he cited his committee's efforts to increase his students' physical activity level and promote healthy food choices through gardening efforts with Decatur Is Growing Gardeners.

The school also is working on a healthy snack policy, which should take effect next year, Davidson said.

He said he appreciates the grassroots nature of the coalition, which focuses on making existing resources available through community partners rather than devising programming from scratch.

"They have a big job because it's a big problem, and it's a hard problem to tackle because it's very personal," he said, adding that solutions should serve kids who are overweight now and those who could potentially face weight-related health problems as adults.

agetsinger@herald-review.com|421-6968