Child's Weight Affects School Attendance

Obese Kids Have More Absences from School

Maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise, but obese youngsters miss more school than their normal-weight classmates, according to a recent study.

Research led by Andrew B. Geier, a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, indicates that childhood obesity can be the catalyst that leads to other medical and nonmedical problems later in life.

The Relationship Between Relative Weight and School Attendance Among Elementary Schoolchildren was based on research conducted on 1,069 fourth-to-sixth graders for one academic year in nine inner-city Philadelphia schools. Results showed that overweight children were absent significantly more than normal-weight children. While research has tagged a variety of issues such as socioeconomic status, age, sex, and race as being predictors of absenteeism from school, this study suggests that being obese tops them all.

While the study didn't address the reasons why kids missed school, the team of researchers suggested that it has more to do with the stigma of being overweight than with medical issues themselves. Many kids this young have not yet developed obesity-linked conditions or illnesses, although being made fun of or choosing to miss a strenuous-related activity (such as field day) could be reason to feign sickness in order to stay home.

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Council indicates that obesity rates have quintupled among 6-11-year-olds and tripled among teens and children ages 2 to 5. Many schools and child care centers are heeding the medical and government warnings about overweight children and changing the type of food being served and the amount of rigorous exercise planned on a daily basis. However, educators warn that parents need to partner with schools and child care for efforts to be successful by reinforcing healthy eating and active lifestyles at home. This change is often something that is not easily accomplished with single parents and overworked and overscheduled families.

The study has energized discussions that overweight kids lead to overweight adults who miss more workdays and aren't as successful in college. Further, doctors are urging families to consider that obesity can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, heart and lung diseases, and an assortment of orthopedic ailments. Government is calling for action, and many food establishments and "snack food" companies are changing recipes and labeling packaging in more detail to allow consumers to make more informed food choices. Time will tell whether these efforts will make a difference in the waistlines of our young and with adults.