Is obesity contagious? Social groups have a great deal to do with the likelihood that a person will become obese. Body image is affected in both directions - hang out with fit people, you'll become more fit. Hang out with fat people and... well, y'know.

Read the entire SF Gate article by clicking on the following link:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/07/26/MNG9AR6TEA1.DTL

Related Posts:

Mom To Blame For Childhood Obesity?
Dad To Blame For Childhood Obesity?

I was reading the following Boston Globe article on the bullying that many obese children endure in our public schools, and even at home. (A large percentage of boys [34%] and girls [47%] are teased about their weight by family members). The last few paragraphs of the article really caught my eye:

Creative thinking is required in order get kids invested in a physical education curriculum. Teaching is selling and video games like Dance Dance Revolution have a built-in user base of kids. The barriers to entry are low: the game is easy to learn and a blast to play. Its no wonder many school districts are incorporating DDR as part of their physical education curriculum.

From the article:

The CNN article title "No child left out of the dodgeball game" raises some important points about the current state of PE in US schools, including the continuing debate over and criticism of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. One of the more contentious claims is that the NCLB focus on test scores is pressuring teachers and administrators to cut time spent on physical education. To quote Russell Pate, a professor of exercise at the University of South Carolina:

The National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE) has recently released a position paper describing what constitutes a highly qualified physical education teacher. It is a rather good summary of the goals that every PE teacher should strive for, and emphasizes the importance of implementing a standards-based physical education curriculum.

Link to NASPE position paper (This is a PDF file, not a web page!)

A quick follow-up to my earlier post. Here's a link Yahoo's coverage of an Australian study that shows a direct statistical link between a father's parenting style and childhood obesity. Interestingly, mom's parenting was shown to have no effect:

Click here for the Yahoo story

Originally found via the That's Fit blog

CNN's Dr. Gupta has posted an interesting blog & video entry about the 3-fold rise in childhood obesity, and the statistical correlation between this rise and the increase of women in the workforce starting in the '80s. Julie Deardorff of the Chicago Tribune gives her own take on the subject.

Florida Governer Charlie Crist recently signed a new physical education bill into law. This PE bill mandates at least 30 minutes of physical education each day for all of Florida's elementary school students. This is a step in the right direction, as at least 14% of Florida children are overweight.