Students ages 5 through 12 at John Mills Elementary School in Elmwood Park measured their fitness through Project Fit America, a two-year program using specially designed cardiovascular equipment and curriculum to combat pediatric obesity and promote positive fitness habits through exercise for a lifetime.

Mills is the 2011 recipient of the Gottlieb Memorial Hospital Project Fit grant.

Monkey bar rotations, rope climbs and cup-stacking exercises are just a handful of the exercises that keep students at Mills, Lincoln in River Forest and more than one dozen Gottlieb Memorial Hospital-sponsored schools moving to a healthy beat all day.

"The rate of childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years, placing more and more children at high risk for multiple diseases associated with excess weight previously seen only in adults, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, joint problems, and sleep apnea," said Dr. Jessica Bartfield, who specializes in weight management and nutrition at Gottlieb and oversees the Project Fit America program.

Kathy Crawford, Project Fit national exercise physiologist instructor, will helped the more than 600 elementary school students and their principal Peter Herbert, plus their physical education teachers learn new exercise techniques.

On Tuesday, August 30, the Elmwood Park students’ performance was charted and used to establish benchmarks and strategies for progress. The specially designed permanent outdoor equipment stations and also a series of indoor exercises are employed to determine each child’s current fitness levels. The students will use the exercises throughout the next two school years, and beyond, and their progress will be documented and analyzed by Loyola University Health System.