NORMAL - Eating lunch in the school cafeteria can be unpleasant for Amity Lee and some of her friends who are overweight. "It definitely does bother me," said Lee, when people stare at her while she eats. | Fit Kids page

"Last semester, I didn't eat lunch sometimes because it was so uncomfortable," said Lee, 17, a senior at Normal Community West High School, who is 5 feet 11 inches tall and has always struggled with her weight.

She is not alone.

"Sometimes you feel like everybody's staring at you," said Lynnsay Knell of Hudson. "It's hard. People make fun of you" about growing up with weight challenges.

She has dieted before, but "I don't do it right," she added.

This semester it is somewhat easier for both students because they belong to a lifestyles group, created by the school nurse and led by two Illinois State University dietician students. She says she feels better at lunch time now when she sees friends from the group in the cafeteria.

The Lifestyle Management Group started a month ago and has about 14 members - all personally invited by Ann Hamer, the Normal West school nurse. In her 27 years as a nurse, the biggest change she has seen is an increase in the number of overweight students, she said.

Hamer chose students she thought would benefit from the support and conversation with peers, and by learning more about nutrition and positive lifestyles.

Sometimes, Lee said she got headaches from anxiety when people looked at her and talked about her weight. She was searching for ways to cope when Hamer invited her to join the group.

"I was impressed that someone (the school nurse) was aware of how some people feel," Lee said.

Hamer first considered creating such a group last spring after talking to students who came to her with ailments like sore knees or backs that appeared to be weight-related.

She said people often benefit from group dynamics, like those used by Weight Watchers, where participants offer support and encouragement to each other. She thought it would be worth a try.

Some students already have lost weight, but there are no weighs-ins, and the emphasis is more on healthy living, Hamer said.

The lifestyle group, which meets once a week in the West conference room, focuses on getting good nutrition information to students.

"There's so much nutrition information out there - this helps them sort through what they read," said Pat Powers, food services director for the Unit 5 school district.

Students also receive social support, sometimes sharing stories about shopping for clothes or about feeling out of place.

'Good fat and bad fat'

Lee said she is reading food labels more carefully now and sometimes has the image of the group leaders in her head if she is about to make a bad food choice.

When she graduates from high school and studies social work or criminal justice, Lee said she will continue to benefit from things she learned from the group.

Knell, 18, has learned about "good fat and bad fat" and now knows how to make better choices. The high school senior has already lost five pounds since she joined the group in early March, she said, adding she feels like part of a big family.

"We know what each other's going through," she said.

The group is led by Annie Weynhrauch and Karlie Murphy, Illinois State University graduate students who become full-fledged dieticians in May. They bring nutritious snacks to the group meetings to show the students healthier alternatives to typical grab-and-go food.

It's part of the lifestyle focus, rather than simply an approach on losing weight. "Fad diets have a negative effect on girls especially susceptible to try those things," Weynhrauch said.a