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Learning Activity: Examining health issues

• CDC: Overweight and Obesity

• American Dietetic Association: Food and Nutrition Information

• NIH: Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults

• TeensHealth: Obesity

• Shape Up America!

CNN STUDENT NEWS

(CNN Student News) -- Classes will discuss what students and schools can do to address weight problems among young people.

Procedure

To help students learn about body fat, obesity and weight loss management, send groups of students on an online scavenger hunt to find the answers to the following questions:

What role does body fat play in your overall health?

What is the difference between being overweight and being obese?

What health problems are associated with being overweight and being obese?

What physical, cultural and psychological factors can contribute to obesity?

What are some of the different medical, psychological and holistic approaches for treating obesity?

What is body mass index (BMI)? How is BMI interpreted differently for children than adults?

What are the benefits and drawbacks of using BMI to assess health risks?

After students share their information, pose the following questions for group discussion:

According to the CDC

, the percentage of overweight American adolescents (ages 12 to 19) has more than tripled from 5 percent to 16 percent during the last 20 years. Why do you think that this is the case?

What are some of the pros and cons of the different weight management approaches that you investigated?

What, if anything, do you think that schools should do to promote healthy nutrition and weight management among students? Do you think that schools should measure students' BMIs? Why or why not?

In your opinion, what, if anything, can you and your fellow students do to promote healthy nutrition and weight management among your peers?

Following the discussion, have students issue a report card on their school's ability to promote healthy nutrition and weight management support for its students. Then, have students write a letter to their school's principal in which they share their assessment and offer suggestions for how the administration and students might address these issues (if they exist)at their school. Encourage students to support their positions with facts. Invite the principal to your class to share his or her thoughts about the students' observations and recommendations.

Curriculum Connections

Health

Standard 1: Knows the availability and effective use of health services, products, and information

Level III Grade : 6-8

Benchmark 2: Knows how to locate and use community health information, products, and services that provide valid health information

Standard 2: Knows environmental and external factors that affect individual and community health

Level III Grade : 6-8

Benchmark 2: Understands how various messages from the media, technology, and other sources impact health practices (e.g., health fads, advertising, misconceptions about treatment and prevention options)

Standard 4: Knows how to maintain mental and emotional health

Level III Grade : 6-8

Benchmark 1: Knows strategies to manage stress and feelings caused by disappointment, separation, or loss (e.g., talking over problems with others, understanding that feelings of isolation and depression will pass, examining the situation leading to the feelings)

Standard 6: Understands essential concepts about nutrition and diet

Level III Grade : 6-8

Benchmark 1. Understands how eating properly can help to reduce health risks (in terms of anemia, dental health, osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, malnutrition)

Benchmark 2. Knows appropriate methods to maintain, lose, or gain weight according to individual needs and scientific research

McREL: Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education (Copyright 2000 McREL) is published online by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) (http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks), 2550 S. Parker Road, Suite 500, Aurora, CO 80014

Keywords

obesity, overweight, body mass index, diet, nutrition, exercise, schools

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