Hi, my name is Sage Coker, and I am a junior at Adair High School. I have been in Youth Action for Health and Leadership (YAHL) for three years and on the Leadership Team for two years. I help advocate for the Elevate Student Health campaign where we work with schools to update wellness policies to have healthier food options and give students more time for physical activity. I chose to help advocate for this campaign because I want a happier, healthier Oklahoma.

Did you know that one-third of children in Oklahoma, specifically those aged 10-17, are either overweight or obese? That translates to roughly 110,000 out of 389,000 children in that age group. Furthermore, about one in five high school students in Oklahoma are classified as obese. 

I have helped advocate for this campaign by attending two meetings. One was with my high school principal, where we discussed how to move around the school schedule to be able to provide more time for physical activity, and how to have more desirable, healthy food options for our students. The other meeting I attended was with the elementary principal. We discussed how to make healthy food options fun for younger children and how to get them involved in more physical activity that they actually want to do. Thank you for taking the time to learn about the Elevate Student Health campaign and how I choose to help advocate for it.

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By: Sage Coker, Adair High School