President Clinton honors Memorial High School of West New York for healthy eating, exercise

Former President Clinton honored Memorial High School of West New York as the nation’s top role model when it comes to promoting healthy eating and exercise habits. The obesity problem plaguing youngsters has no easy solutions, but Clinton said the Hudson County high school has taken the steps to make students and their parents more aware of the risks and the dangers.

Jerry DeMarco

06/16/2010 6:28 a.m.

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Clinton praised the school as it received the the Healthy Schools Program’s first-ever Gold National Recognition Award during a ceremony Tuesday in Manhattan hosted by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation.

Sure, removing candy and soda from all fundraisers play a role at Memorial, which became one of the program’s pilot schools in 2006.

But the school finished No. 1 thanks primarily to an overhaul of its cafeteria, required health and phys-ed classes for every student and added physical activity programs before, during and after the school day.

Other innovations include on-campus yoga and fitness boot camp classes for faculty and staff members and the hiring of personal trainers to work with kids before and after school.

For a more detailed explanation of some of Memorial’s programs, go to: healthier generation.org.

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