Schools only represent a small portion of childrens food environment, said Jennifer Van Hook, a Professor of Sociology and Demography at Pennsylvania State Universiobesity among middle school childrenty and lead author of the study.
The same may not hold true for high school students, who are more independent and have more disposable income (and therefore more control over what they eat).
Junk Food obesity among middle school children,In other words, kids with access to junk food at school were no heavier than those without.
Junk food in middle schooldoes not lead toweight gain in children.
This research suggests that money spent on efforts to reduce childhood obesity would be much more effective in other areas, such as encouraging parents to choose healthier meals for their kids.
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A study followed nearly 20,000studentsfrom kindergarten through the eighth grade in 1,000 public and private schools. The researchers examined the childrens weight and found that in the eighth grade, 35.5 percent of kids in schools with junk food were overweight while 34.8 percent of those in schools without it were overweight -- a statistically insignificant increase.
Its not that middle schoolers arent eating junk food; indeed they are, just like most Americans. Its that most of the junk food theyre eating is not coming through the schools.
The study, Competitive Food Sales in Schools and Childhood Obesity: A Longitudinal Study, is published in the journal Sociology of Education. Politicians and parents have called in recent years for various measures including a so-called t tax on soda and even an outright ban on candy and junk food being sold in schJunk Food obesity among middle school childrenools.
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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. Additionally, kids are actually very busy at school... There really isnt a lot of opportunity for children to eat while theyre in school, or at least eat endlessly, compared to when theyre at home. As a result, whether or not junk food is available to them at school may not have much bearing on how much junk food they eat, Van Hook said in a statement issued by the American Sociological Association.
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