69´«Ã½

School & District Management Report Roundup

Childhood Obesity

By Debra Viadero — July 14, 2009 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Elementary school students who eat school-provided lunches are more likely to be overweight than peers who brown-bag it every day, concludes published in the summer issue of the Journal of Human Resources.

Using data from a federal study that tracks 15,000 students from the time they enter kindergarten until late elementary school, researcher Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach finds that obesity rates at the start of kindergarten are roughly the same among the lunch-buyers and the brown-baggers. By the end of 1st grade, though, the students who buy lunch are 2.4 percent more likely to be obese than the comparison group.

Ms. Schanzenbach, a public policy professor at the University of Chicago, also compares two groups of students whose family incomes put them just above and below the eligibility cutoff for federally subsidized school lunches. She finds that students are more likely to be obese, and weigh more, if they qualify for reduced-price school lunches.

She says her results suggest a potential role for public policy to address childhood obesity by encouraging or potentially mandating changes in school lunches.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the July 15, 2009 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

School & District Management Spooked by Halloween, Some 69´«Ã½ Ban Costumes—But Not Without Pushback
69´«Ã½ are tweaking Halloween traditions to make them more inclusive to all students.
4 min read
A group of elementary school kids sitting on a curb dressed in their Halloween costumes.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management 69´«Ã½ Take a $3 Billion Hit From the Culture Wars. Here’s How It Breaks Down
Culturally divisive conflicts in schools have led to increased legal and security costs, as well as staff time spent on the fallout.
4 min read
Illustration of a businessman with his hands on his head while he watches dollars being sucked down into a dark hole.
DigitalVision Vectors
School & District Management Opinion The Blind Spot More Educators Need to Recognize
A simple activity in a training session caused a chain reaction that strengthened an educator's leadership for decades to come.
5 min read
Screen Shot 2024 10 29 at 9.19.10 AM
Canva
School & District Management Opinion 9 Ways 69´«Ã½ Can Improve Life for Teachers and 69´«Ã½
Educators suggest low-cost strategies to improve the education experience for teachers and learners alike.
8 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week