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Elizabeth Carusone

Professor Cassel

English Composition 2

22 March 2018

Education vs Obesity

Today about one in three American children are overweight or obese (American

Heart Association). Today in an average United States classroom only 36% of children

are scoring at or above the average in math, reading, and science in the third grade

(Smith). In a standard American classroom you will see a largely diverse community of

children. You will see different ethnicities, different personalities and physical

characteristics. In America we are continually trying to improve and benefit our children

to best prepare them for the future. We need to if the “improving” and “expanding” is

actually negatively impacting our children as well as our future.

The expanding of large food industries and super markets may be benefiting the

companies wallets, but does this expansion necessarily positively affecting future

generations? Is less gym time really helping the students prepare more for the required

state testing? Are the unhealthy school lunches affecting our children in the classroom?

These questions are crucial questions when dealing with child obesity rates and school

performance. As a society it is crucial to be best preparing our younger children

because soon they will be the ones making decisions, running businesses, getting

involved with politics and overall running the world. Lower performance rates in
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United States Elementary Classrooms may be due to the growing obesity rates in

the U.S.

There are several factors on why childhood obesity rates have nearly tripled

since the late 70’s (American Heart Association). One of the main factors on why

obesity rates are increasing are because of the amounts of sugar Americans consume

on a daily basis. Sugar is the main cause of illness and obesity in the US today

(Soechtig). The amount of sugar children are eating isn’t necessarily the children's or

parents fault. 80% of food put into the grocery stores today have added sugars and

preservatives(Soechtig). The majority of food containers in grocery stores put false

advertisement on the labels so it can be very difficult to know what food choices are

healthy options, and what food choices negatively impact our body.

Sugar is a substance that is more addicting than heroin, so when kids are fed

large amount of sugar at a young age they won't be able to stop, and it will become an

ongoing struggle throughout their whole lives. There was a study done by using pictures

of the brain that showed a brain on cocaine and a brain on sugar and they lit up in the

same way when the product was consumed.

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Fig. 1. Brain scans of a normal brain, as well as one on cocaine and one on high
amount of sugar.

Another major factor on why childhood obesity rates are growing is because of

the lack of home cooked meals. Large companies like Tyson, Coca-Cola and Kraft are

taking over the school lunch tables as well as the family dinner table. These companies

use preservatives, chemicals and additives to make their food production cheaper and

more flavorful. Instead of a chicken tender containing chicken, batter, and bread, a

chicken tender now has an ingredient list with fifteen ingredients on it, half of them being

ingredients most American wouldn't even know how to pronounce .

Since children are becoming more obese for a few of the reasons I have just

mentioned, and most children spend a lot of their childhood at school there clearly are

problems in the educational system that is not being addressed. Since schools are so

focused on state testing, children are getting less time in physical education, recess as

well as going on field trips. Getting children outside and being active improves

children's state of mind, body and health (Parrot, Ebscohost). Children should be
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receiving at least sixty minutes of exercise a day, and that's just not happening. If

children's mind, body, and health are in a better state then children would be more

willing to focus in the actual classroom when studying and preparing for these state test.

Another problem with the school system/government would be the school lunch

options. An average school lunch for an elementary school in the US contains around

1,300 mg of sodium, 1,000 calories, and trans fats (Dalton). Most school lunches

contains 1% milk, a main dish such as pizza, pasta, hotdog etc. a bread roll and some

sort of veggie (cafeteria guidelines include french fries as a vegetable). Just in one

carton of milk that the schools provide to the children contains as much sugar added in

it as a can of soda. Children are drinking two cartons of milk a day at school which is

equivalent to two cans of pop a day, five days a week.

Fig. 2. Chart explaining how child obesity rates have increased

throughout the years.

When putting the school system and child obesity together ultimately you get

lower test scores, higher rates of depression as well as other mental illness, and less

successful futures when dealing with jobs and college. According to an article from CNN
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“in recent years obesity is associated with poorer academic performance compared to

their peers especially with girls who suffer with obesity”.

Children who struggle with obesity are also more likely to be held back. In a

study with 6,250 students from kindergarten to fifth grade the study found that those

who were obese did significantly lower on the math score than the non-obese children.

This research study found these results after taking into account family income, race,

parents education, as well as the parents expectations for their child's academic

success. This means that the study took in all other factors that could affect the

children's test scores to make sure the data would be as accurate as possible .

Another study done, also reported by CNN, showed that children who are

struggling with obesity struggled more with social skills, anxiety, loneliness, and low-self

esteem. Children who struggle with these issues are less likely to ask questions, and

participate in class. This not only affects children's performance in the classroom, but

also their mental health in general.

Obesity in children also make children more prone to sleeping problems which

can interfere with the child's school work and class time. Children who struggle with

obesity also are more likely to get bullied throughout the school day which can also

impact children's mental health, and performance in the classroom. With having lack of

social skills, anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, lack of good sleep as well as a higher

chance of getting bullied it clearly can affect children's performance in schools .

According to James Oliver, for the first time ever in world history, our children are

expected to die before our parents, which has never been the case before. Diet related
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disease is the biggest cause of death in the United States to this day. Thirty years ago

most of the foods we got in super markets were local and fresh, while presently

everything is run by big companies which tend to have additives and preservatives put

into their foods. 10% of what we spend on health care has to do with obesity(Oliver) .

Fig. 3. Image of standard overweight children in the US.

Obesity is affecting an alarming number of children in the US, and is affecting

children's performance and mental health. Rather these children having a sad obese

future we need to come together to help our children. People's food choices are

slowing killing the children of America. Our schools and homes have not evolved to

adapt to the food changes going on in America. There is a clear problem, yet things

progressively are getting worse as we speak. Every four minutes someone dies from

obesity in the US (Oliver).

This problem is an ongoing problem, but has several solutions that Americans

can use to fix or improve the situation. One solution would be to implement a class in

every public school in the United States teaching children about food and nutrition, and
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the negative effects unhealthy foods can do to your body and your mind . Seven out of

ten children in the US today couldn't even identify what basic vegetables are in their

pure form like cauliflower, beats, potatoes and mushrooms(Oliver).

This is the sad reality of our kids because they didn't growing up eating home

cooked meals with fruits and vegetables at every meal. This class could get children

involved in what they eat, and get children all around the US to become interested in

what they’re putting into their bodies. If children grow up knowing what foods benefit

the body and what foods hurt the body they will be more knowledgeable adults , and it

will create a chain reaction throughout generations. This would also force fast food

restaurants and supermarkets to turn their food options into healthier options .

Another solution would be to implement a longer physical education for all

students every single day. If children are being more active in schools, when they do sit

down to learn they will have better concentration and focus. Reducing physical

education time to save more time for studying for tests is actually creating lower test

scores. Getting children’s bodies moving gets their hearts pumping and their blood

flowing which has several benefits for children whether they struggle with obesity or not.

This reduces future heart problems, strengthens concentration, and improves their

mental state of mind. Physical education has been taught in school for hundreds of

years, but as America is becoming more obese, physical education is getting cut.

Several people around the United States believe there to be no problem with the

growing obesity rates in children. Many of these people are overweight themselves, or
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are working in big food industries. Several don’t believe that the correlation between

lower performance rates in schools, and the growing obesity rates has anything to do

with each other.

Others believe that there is a problem, but that we as Americans need to focus

on more important issues. It doesn’t matter whether someone is completely against the

idea of fixing the obesity problem that is affecting our children's education, or they’re just

misinformed when talking about health and education it is an issue that will only get

worse if it’s not brought to the attention of the public eye.

These people that are against improving the children of America’s health and

education don’t realize that the steps are clear, and fairly simple to incorporate in our

daily lives. Informing children on healthy eating habits, and making sure children are

receiving at least sixty minutes of physical activity today could greatly benefit our

country's future. If children are eating healthier and getting the right amount of exercise,

performance rates in the classroom, like math test scores on average will increase .

Obesity is affecting children in the classroom, their mental health, and their

physical limits. Teaching kids that testing is the most important aspect in a school

setting is not benefiting any child, and if anything is hurting the children by making

children feel stressed and less confident.

Lower performance rates in the United States Elementary Classrooms can be

due to the growing obesity rates which is an increasing problem that needs to be fixed .
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Forcing kids to spend the majority of their school day studying for these test is not

benefiting the children or the test scores required around the United States.

Fixing the obesity problem, and teaching kids how they can become healthier

physically and mentally will best prepare them for the future, especially in the

classroom. If your child, or a child you know is struggling with obesity don’t shame

them, instead educate them and support them until they are living a balanced lifestyle.

Teaching children about living a balanced lifestyle is crucial in America’s health mentally

and physically. One motivating person can create a chain reaction for the health of

America. If obesity rates are going down test scores will go up.

As Americans our health will increase as well as our test scores as well as our

education system as a whole. Whether it’s getting more exercise, making a home

cooked meal, or saying no to a sugary snack, every healthy choice children are making

is putting Americans in a better place than they were before. Improving test scores and

Americans health as a whole will better the lives of current generations, as well as

generations to come.
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Work Cited

Aamodt, Sandra, director. Why Dieting Doesn't Usually Work. TEDGlobal, TED, 2013,

www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_work.

Brockbank, Michael. Should Parents Worry? 6 June 2016,

crossingcolorado.com/2016/06/06/should-parents-worry-about-childhood-obesity.

Burniat, Walter. “Child and Adolescent Obesity.” Ebscoost, Disco, 2002,

eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=13&sid=8c80d4f4-72c0-4d50-a02c-

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scc.b1514464&db=cat01128a
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“Childhood Obesity .” Overweight in Children, American Heart Association , 2016,

www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyKids/ChildhoodObesity/Overw

eight-in-Children_UCM_304054_Article.jsp#.WseaamaZOu4.

Dalton, Sharron. Our Overweight Children . University of California Press, 2005.

Frisvold, Cawley J. “Longer Gym Class Periods Reduce Childhood Obesity.” Penn State

PRO

Wellness, Penn State, 12 Mar. 2014, prowellness.vmhost.psu.edu/longer-gym-

class-periods-reduce-childhood-obesity.

Gardner, Amanda. “Does Obesity Affect School Performance?” CNN, Cable News

Network, 14 June

2012, www.cnn.com/2012/06/14/health/obesity-affect-school-

performance/index.html.

Hall, Geoff B. What Happens to Your Brain When You Stop Eating Sugar. 18 Feb.

2015.

Huelsman , Marry. “How Obesity Affects Children in the Classroom.” 28 Feb. 2018.

Naticchioni, Kayla. “The Relationship between Obesity and Academic Achievement.”

Collected, John

Caroll University, Apr. 2013,

collected.jcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=honorspapers.

Oliver, Jamie, director. Teach Every Child About Food. TED Talks, TED, 2015,

www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.

Pan, Hue A. Children's Obesity Rates Over 30 Years. 2014.

https://www.startstanding.org/obesity/prevent-childhood-obesity-guide-parents/
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Parrot, Kathryn. Combing Wellness Policy Implementation With Classroom Education

For Obesity

Prevention . 132nd version, Ebscohost, 2018,

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70984b07978f%40sessionmgr120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=

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Smith, Brian. “'Kids Count' Report Says American Children Falling behind by Age 8.”

MLive.com, 4 Nov. 2013,

www.mlive.com/education/index.ssf/2013/11/kids_count_report_says_america.ht

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Soechtig, Stephanie, director. Fed Up. Fed Up, 2014, fedupmovie.com/#/page/home.