Childhood Obesity Explained

Heh. The real reason why so many of America's kids are overweight has finally been revealed. Its the schools' fault:

A study indicates that schools that have bake sales and schools where teachers reward students with candy are at risk of having more overweight pupils.

The lead author, from the University of Minnesota, said the research doesn't prove that those practices contribute to obesity, but she said there does seem to be a connection.

The University of Minnesota study looked at 3,000 eighth-graders in 16 middle schools. Researchers analyzed whether the schools had specific "food practices" that would give students access to food outside normal meal programs.

Thirty-one percent of schools allowed food in the classroom, and 38 percent allowed beverages in the classroom. Nineteen percent of schools allowed beverages in hallways, and 31 percent allowed snacks in the hallway.

Researchers found that the body-mass index of students was 10 percent higher for each additional food practice allowed in the school.

The study appears in the December issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

And to think that all this time I thought that what the kids were eating at home had something to do with the fact that so many of them were carrying around all that extra weight.

Read an abstract of the study here. -------------------------------------See our latest posts over there.