Are schools making kids fat?
March 30, 2005 Special to World Science U.S. schools that allow frequent snacking, offer junk food and hold bake sales have more overweight students, a study has found. The findings come as what experts call an obesity epidemic is afflicting the United States and spreading to other countries. The study found that in schools, these factors were associated with higher body mass index, a frequently used measure of obesity, in middle school students. Body mass index measures weight in relation to height. The study appears in the December issue of the research journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Obesity has become one of the more complex and challenging public health issues of this decade, affecting two thirds of adults and almost one third (30 percent) of children, the authors said. School environmental factors have been implicated in the rising childhood obesity rates, the researchers claimed. A la carte and vending programs that sell foods and beverages high in calories
