How+does+obesity+affect+academic+performance?

Annotative Bibliography Jessica Altuch

PRNewswire (2013, February 27). My Healthy World, Inc. announces that Maryland Schools will be featured at the partnership for a Healthier America Summit. Providence Journal. From []

This article from the Providence Journal provides an overview of what the Maryland schools are now featuring. The Norwood Elementary School and Holabird Middle School are now participating in My Healthy World Program. This program includes digital education for health and wellness, which offer information on nutrition, fitness, and preventative care. This program is committed to helping kids learn healthy eating habits at an early age. They want to face these issues head on. Maryland Physicians Care, one of the state’s largest Medicaid health plans are fully supporting the program in the Baltimore area. This type of community partnership is going to strengthen their schools. These new programs that they are instituting at elementary and middle school levels shows that there is hope in facing these issues head on. Giving these schools the computers they need to educate their students about their bodies and the science that goes behind it is crucial. In 2010, more than 1 in 6 children ages 6 to 19 are considered to be obese. This statistic is frightening for the future of our children. We have to address this issue by educating the children, which is what these schools in Maryland are starting to pursue. There is hope for change.

Amanda Garner (2012, June 14) Does obesity affect school performance? CNN. From []

This article is facing the issue head on with the affects of student’s who are obese and how it affects their performance in school. The results that they have concluded, state those students who become obese early score lower on math tests. This article states that girls tend to have lower test scores than their slimmer peers, and are more likely to be held back a grade. This link between obesity and academic performance is much more complicated due to other related factors. Like self-esteem, emotional difficulties, and social skills are other factors that may affect academic performance. The child who is obese may encounter health problems associated such as asthma, diabetes, and sleeping disorder, which may also interfere with schoolwork. Obesity affects every organ system including the brain. Siegel says. “It’s an inflammatory state, and that may have effects on the developing mind.” It is truly a combination of these factors that can explain the link between obesity and academic performance. This article provides a lot of different factors that contribute to the affects of academic performance and obesity of a young child in the schooling system. There are specific affects of obesity stated in this article, which proves that obesity does affect the learning capabilities of students and their test grades can prove it. Obesity is associated with many different health problems, which are affecting our young students today. These health problems are affecting the student’s potential capabilities and we have to start taking care of the youth. They are our future and if we don’t feed them the right nutrients and allow them to be physically active we are failing our kids.

Joyce V. Fetro, Connie Givens, and Kellie Carroll (2009 December/ 2010 January) Coordinated School Health: Getting it All Together. From []

This article focus’s on the essential eight components of what creates a successful school health program statewide. Their goal is to have a nationwide coordinated school health program. It incorporates eight interrelated components, which include: health education; physical education; school health services; counseling, psychological, and social services; nutrition services; staff wellness; a healthy school environment; and family and community involvement. Every school and district have different programs ongoing right now, but this is just the skeleton model that each school will eventually adapt to make their own. This article seems to be headed in the right direction for the future of our kids and their health and academic performance. We have to start at the root of the problem and inform our kids of what they are putting into their bodies and the results of ingesting unhealthy substances. We need to educate them and give them the resources to then apply it to their everyday life. Whether its taking a health class or having them become more involved in physical education activities it needs to start somewhere. I’m excited to see that there is now the “essential eight,” which they are integrating into some of the school systems today. It is vital to focus on the cause of obesity versus how to treat it. We need to stop it before it develops into something bigger than it already has become. Starting with informing the students about nutrition, reaching out to counseling, feeling comfortable in their school environment, and physical education. Once we institute these ideas around the nation it will make for a step in the right direction.

Wenjun Li, PhD, James H. Buszkiewicz, MPH, Robert B. Leibowitz, PhD, Mary Ann Gapinski, MSN, RN, NCSN, Laura J. Nasuti, PhD, and Thomas G. Land, PhD (2015 October) Declining trends and widening disparities in overweight and obesity prevalence among Massachusetts public school distorts, 2009-2014 From []

This article provides a greater understanding on the sociodemographic disparities in trend in prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity. Massachusetts mandated by a state regulation screened BMI for students in grades 1,4,7,and 10 annually beginning with the 2008-09 through the 2013-14 school year. They assessed trends in the prevalence by district, gender, grade, and district income. The results were fantastic to hear. Prevalence decreased 3.0 percentage points statewide. Effective interventions should be applied through grades 1st to 4th. Special efforts need to be made to those socioeconomically disadvantaged districts and to narrow the disparities in childhood obesity.

This article is very important because it is a sample group that has show effective result. The BMI was an indicator that was utilized throughout the states to get vital information on the student’s height and weight in the elementary to middle school age range. There were many different factors that affected these trends of being overweight and obesity. “The geographic and socioeconomic disparities in childhood obesity are widening and remain a public health challenge.” There is hope for this program used in Massachusetts. Hopefully we can apply it through the US so we can help focus on the state’s that need the most attention.

Mary Story, Marilyn S Nanney, & Marlene B. Schwartz (2009 March) Schools and Obesity prevention: Creating School environments and policies to promote healthy eating and physical activity. From []

This article focuses on four key areas. School food environment and policies, school physical activity, school body mass index measurements, and school wellness policies. The findings of this article were that competitive foods are widely available in schools, physical activity can be added to the school curriculum without academic consequences, the effectiveness or impacts of school- based BMI measurement programs, analysis of local school wellness policies. All of these key areas have been making progress in improving the school environment. There has to be more policies instituted and school need to provide the students with healthier meal options. These programs that need to be started have to include coordinated and collective efforts of many different stakeholders working in multiple sectors and settings. This variety of stakeholders will allow for students to get informed from different people in areas that they are experts in.

This article really breaks down these four key areas that will in turn create a safer environment for students to grow. Competitive foods need to be limited and the Dietary Guidelines support that. State policies are becoming stricter to ensure the student’s meals are healthier. These policies are headed in the right directions but having a uniformed national policy that establishes nutrition standards for foods and beverages in schools needs to be the main goal. The Farm-to School Programs and school gardens are programs that link local farmers to school food service cafeterias. They provide high quality local produce, promote and support local based agriculture, and it allows the students to understand agriculture and promote healthy eating. The Dietary Guidelines are set for Americans to promote a healthy lifestyle. If we cannot be provided the right food in schools how are we supposed to abide by these guidelines? Schools need to address areas of physical activity, health policies, health promotion and education, quality school meal programs, and increase the awareness of health related risks of obesity. Schools need to work together to institute policies, advocates, parents, and communities need to collaborate for the benefit of our children.