School Nurses Give Report to Board of Health

By Karen Bragaw

During a recent report to the Board of Health (BOH) on health issues facing the Bedford schools this year, the Bedford school nurses identified the number one issue as the increase in services for mental health needs.  The nurses also reported on statistics relative to the number of overweight and obese students in the school system, as well as a policy on concussions.

“There was a general observation by the nurses that, because there were more responses by them to mental health issues, these problems are more prevalent this year,” said Heidi Porter, Bedford Director of Public Health .

The nurses said they frequently responded to various stress-related issues such as anxiety, depression and cutting. They also saw more instances of bi-polar disease. It was noted that a recent Community Health Network Area report said that the number one issue in Concord was anxiety due to academic and sports pressures. Bedford’s nurse’s concerns are in line with neighboring communities.

In response to the school nurses’ concerns, Bedford is planning to hire more counseling staff, and both the BOH and Youth and Family Services (YFS) are working with the schools to provide Mental Health First Aid training to school staff and other town staff who work with youth, explained Porter.

A second key area of concern to the school nurses is the percentage of students who are overweight and obese. The schools have been tracking Body Mass Index (BMI) for the past three years in both the middle school in 7th grade and high school in 10th grade. In the middle school, the overweight or obese percentage is 29% for girls, up 3% from last year, and 33% for boys, up 4% from last year. The combined overweight and obese percentages for the high school are 26% for boys, a 4% reduction from last year. The high school girl’s overweight and obese percentage was 25.5%, up 1.5% from last year.

There are also some statistics for the elementary schools, but only the Lane school numbers are available to date. At the Lane School, the overweight or obese percentage is 36% for boys, up 11% from last year, and for girls is at 17%, down 4% from last year.

Based upon the latest published state statistics, the Bedford figures are generally better than the state averages.

“As a means of addressing overweight and obesity in Bedford, the BOH and YFS applied for grant funding to establish the Bedford in Motion program,” said Porter. The town program will seek to provide resources to Bedford residents on ways to be more active and eat healthy foods.

The nurses also discussed increased emphasis and follow-up requirements for students who have concussions. The nurses said that there are plans for integration back into school and sports, and additional testing is done to determine the students’ readiness to return to normal school activities.

The school nurses currently are hired and administered by the BOH, but the board has initiated discussions to explore the possibility of moving the nurses under the purview of the School Committee.  BOH members commented that the proposal is in its early stages and will be further explored in joint meetings between the BOH and the School Committee.