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Junk Food at School
January 27, 2012
Every beginning, after all, is nothing but a sequel, and the book of events is always open in the middle.
-Wislawa Szymborska
The university used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study that followed nearly 20,000 students in the same county in both fifth and eighth grades. The author of the study says she was shocked by her findings that school junk food did not correlate to a child’s obesity, despite the Center for Disease Control and Prevention stating that childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years.
“We were really surprised by that result and, in fact, we held back from publishing our study for roughly two years because we kept looking for a connection that just wasn’t there,” Jennifer Van Hook, professor of sociology and demography at Penn State, said in the January issue of Sociology of Education. Van Hook, who teamed up with university doctoral student Claire Altman, found in their study that there was no rise in the percentage of overweight students despite a significant increase in the amount of junk food sold at their schools. The study claims that childhood obesity actually decreased at these schools where junk food was prevalent, from 39.1 percent to 35.4 percent.
“Schools only represent a small portion of children’s food environment,” Van Hook said in a press release. “They can get food at home, they can get food in their neighborhoods, and they can go across the street from the school to buy food.”
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Shishu Vikash Kendra
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
01/29/2012 06:21 am
Dear
Child friend , Junk food is not only in school . It is at home and others places
So not only school is responsible !
Young Child Ministries
Newbury Park, CA, United States
01/27/2012 09:10 am
Obesity is a problem; all we have to do is look around us. If sugar was the cause, then diet drinks and sugar free foods would have solved the problem. In the 1960's medical doctors were shocked to find pot-bellied children who were malnourished. So, this current research study, though it is useful in the body of knowledge, should look next to monitor the nutritional intake of the research participants. Are they healthy and well-nourished? Could they perform better intellectually and behaviorally if their diets consisted of little to no processed foods?
Woods Child Development Center
Severna Park, MD, United States
01/27/2012 04:07 am
In spite of this study, I feel schools still have a moral obligation to teach and model healthy eating habits. Children need to know the facts so that they can make informed choices when they are at home, in the neighborhood, and in the store. Junk food does not belong in school.
Children also need to be encouraged to be active, another healthy choice not stressed in schools. Preschool regulations are so much more pro-active in promoting healthy lifestyles but at this point in young children's lives, they are not the decision makers.