How Schools Influence in the Childhood Obesity Epidemic in America
The Impact of Public Schools on Childhood Obesity
an article from The Journal of the American Medical Association
by Robert Colin Carter
The following are excerpts from the article:
- Many of the lifestyle and behavior choices associated with obesity develop during school-age years, a child's food intake and physical activity at school are important determinants of body weight.
- More than 25 million students use the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) daily, while approximately 7 million utilize the National School Breakfast Program (NSBP) daily.
- School programs that encourage physical activity are important for increasing children's energy expenditure, because children are less likely to participate in physical activity in the absence of adult supervision.
- In order to increase physical activity among children regardless of their athletic abilities, the CDC recommends daily physical education classes that emphasize health-related fitness activities over activities requiring specific athletic abilities.
- A 2001 national survey documented poor eating behaviors among American youth. Only 21.4% of high school students had eaten more than five servings per day of fruits and vegetables; 13.5 % reported fasting for more than 24 hours to lose weight; 9.2% reported using diet pills that were not prescribed by a physician; and 5.4% reported using vomiting or laxatives as a weight control measure.
- A review of these studies found that strategies aimed at younger children had better long-term results than those focused on adolescents, which may suggest that eating and physical activity behaviors are more difficult to change as children get older.
- While childhood obesity may not be overcome by the efforts of the education system alone, schools provide an important opportunityfor prevention.
Are Schools to Blame for the Childhood Obesity Epidemic?
An article by: ADMIN on nutritionnetworknews.org
This article tackles the idea that in light of the alarming growing numbers of obese children, schools are making an effort to provide students with healthier lunch options. It is said that schools can only provide information and knowledge about healthy living, but cannot enforce those ideals all the time. Without proper cooperation from parents at home, the information about healthy eating habits taught at school becomes useless. The article suggests that parents team up with schools by teaching and demonstrating to their children at home about he importance of healthy eating and exercise habits.
Parents hold the key to success with health education in schools.