Cindy Elsbernd
Helping Kids Get Fit
Years before Michelle Obama launched her nationwide campaign to battle childhood obesity, Cindy Elsbernd was at work getting Des Moines students to move.
The 39-year-old fitness specialist started Iowa Kidstrong Inc., a Des Moines nonprofit organization, in 2005 in response to the growing problem of childhood obesity.
Elsbernd says the numbers scared her: Obesity afflicts one-third of American children, and rates have tripled in the past 30 years. The United States spends $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, according to data provided by the White House and the Nemours Foundation.
“My kids and their peer group have a lesser life expectancy than me and older generations. That is just not OK,” says Elsbernd, the mother of two boys, ages 12 and 10. “Encouraging positive habits is easier than breaking bad ones, and that is why promotion of healthy lifestyles early on at an impressionable age is needed.”
Kidstrong provides initiatives that support and supplement school-based physical education and health programs. The group began with a walking and jogging program at Hubbell Elementary School in Des Moines in September 2005. The next spring, “KidStriders” was launched at five Des Moines elementary schools and has since expanded to 27 elementary schools in the metro area. Students walk or run a distance nearly equal to that of a marathon (26 miles), receiving incentives for every five miles they log. Those who complete the full 26 miles get a T-shirt and a chance to participate in a victory run at Drake Relays’ Grand Blue Mile in April. More than 1,000 students reached the goal this past school year.
Over time, students who participate in KidStriders, “are more alert and engaged during the day,” says Tim Schott, principal at Hubbell Elementary School and a Kidstrong board member. “Increasing (kids’) physical activity has improved learning.”
Elsbernd “is fantastic,” he adds. She “has a can-do attitude. It is really inspiring.”
Elsbernd, a native of Decorah and a University of Iowa alumna, caught the running bug when her youngest son was 6 months old. Since then, she has completed a dozen marathons, including ones in Des Moines, New York and Boston. She started working with kids at a local YMCA in 2003 as a children’s fitness specialist. Two years later, she decided more needed to be done to teach youths how to be healthy and launched Kidstrong, using running as a focus. Elsbernd, who’s also a certified personal trainer, saw a “captive audience” and an opportunity to reach more children by implementing programs in schools, where budget cuts have affected physical education.
“I never imagined the improvement (running) would have on my state of mind and emotional health,” says Elsbernd, who works from an office in her Des Moines home. “I am able to be a better mom and a better person. After hearing more and more about the obesity epidemic, I decided I wanted to be part of the solution.”
Nearly all of the money Kidstrong collects covers program costs, with Elsbernd getting paid with what is left. In 2008-2009, most of the group’s $39,000 in expenses went to programs. Elsbernd, who works full time for Kidstrong and has no other job, says she reported collecting $10,000 from Kidstrong on her 2009 taxes.
“I feel so strongly about what I am doing that I choose to be paid last,” she says. “Seeing all the kids with their smiling faces gives me chills. You can see the feeling of pride. That’s why I do it.”
