Obesity and student performance at school

ABSTRACT: To review the state of research on the association between obesity among school-aged children and academic outcomes, the authors reviewed published studies investigating obesity, school performance, and rates of student absenteeism. A table with brief descriptions of each study’s research methodology and outcomes is included. Research demonstrates that overweight and obesity are associated with poorer levels of academic achievement. Data on the association of child overweight or obesity with levels of attendance are too sparse to draw conclusions. (J Sch Health. 2005;75(8):291-295) An understanding of the impact of student health oneducational outcomes has major implications. Among them are ramifications for how schools address health concerns. The National Coordinating Committee on School Health and Safety (NCCSHS), comprising repre-sentatives of federal departments and national nongovern-mental organizations, encourages school districts to respond to evolving challenges by developing coordinated school health programs. To enhance awareness of existing evidence linking health and school performance and to identify gaps in knowledge, the NCCSHS has begun a pro-ject designed to ascertain the status of research in these areas. The project involves a literature search of peer-reviewed, published research reporting on the relationship between students ’ health and their performance in school. Compilations of research articles that explore the associa-tion between academic performance and health include various chronic conditions. This article summarizes what is known on the association of obesity with academic out-comes among school-aged children