Parenting and Learning Issues
The times are always changing and what was considered normal a few decades ago may no longer be the case. While change is often a good thing, sometimes it isn’t – that is the case with the rising prevalence of obesity among children. Childhood obesity rates are ever-climbing, and it has become something of an epidemic in the United States.
While obesity may seem like nothing more than an aesthetic issue, body weight has a significant impact on health and wellness – especially for children. Children who are overweight or obese are much more likely to become obese adults and that puts them at right for a whole host of dangerous health problems that could negatively impact their lifespan and their quality of life. As a parent, it is your job to provide for your children and to keep them happy and healthy. If your child is overweight or obese, don’t play it off as a minor issue – step up and do something about it!
In this article, we’ll talk about the problem of childhood obesity and what public schools are doing to prevent it. We’ll also discuss some at-home tips you can implement to help your child achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.
Identifying the Problem: Obesity in Children and Adolescents
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, over 78 million adults and more than 12 million children in the United States are obese. These numbers qualify obesity as a problem of epidemic proportions, and the problem only
As a parent, it is your job to worry about your child but worrying won’t protect him or her. When you send your child to school, you are giving up control and placing his care in the hands of his teachers and administrators. If your child suffers from a food allergy, going to school could put him at risk for accidental exposure to his allergen.
While you can’t enclose your child in a plastic bubble to protect him, there are simple steps you can take to keep him safe at school. Keep reading to learn more about food allergies in children and to receive tips for keeping your child safe when he is at school.
How Common Are Food Allergies in Children?
According to the Food Allergy Research & Education Corporation, there are more than 170 foods that have been reported to cause allergic reactions. The eight primary food allergens are milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. Current estimates suggest that roughly 15 million Americans suffer from food allergies, including nearly 6 million children under the age of 18.
A food allergy is more than just a sensitivity to a certain type of food – it is a medical condition triggered by exposure to an allergen which induces a harmful immune response in the body. Allergies can range in severity, but some of the most common symptoms include the following:
- Difficulty breathing
- Wheezing
- Coughing
- Hoarseness
- Throat tightness
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Itchy eyes
- Swollen eyes
- Stomach pain
- Hives
- Swelling
In some cases, you may also experience a drop in blood pressure which can
America is one of the wealthiest nations in the world and, yet, every day millions of children go hungry. In fact, more than 13 million children live in “food insecure” homes which means that their families don’t have enough food to eat on a regular basis.
To combat child hunger, there are a number of programs that provide free or low-cost lunches for students but even these lunches aren’t always healthy. Research shows time and again just how important a healthy lunch is not only for child growth and development, but also for student performance.
In this article, we’ll explore the importance of a healthy lunch for public school students as well as some of the problems facing school lunches today. We’ll also talk about a topic that is currently trending – meal delivery services for student lunches.
How Does a Healthy Lunch Impact Student Performance?
If you’ve ever skipped breakfast before heading to work, you’re probably familiar with that mental fog that starts to set in around mid-morning. Without a healthy breakfast to jump-start your metabolism and to provide fuel for your body, it becomes difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. Now, imagine experiencing that on a daily basis as a child.
While there is no doubt that missing meals can have a detrimental effect on child growth and student performance, new research shows that the nutritional quality of a meal can impact performance as well. According to a 2008 study published in the Journal of School Health, grade-school students
Introduced in the early 2000s, the Common Core State Standards Initiative is designed to ensure that students across the country receive a similar quality of education. The initiative set specific standards for what students should know at the end of each grade with the goal of making sure that every student has an equal opportunity to attend college after high school.
Since its introduction, the Common Core State Standards Initiative has encountered a great deal of controversy. In some ways, it may benefit students to have a more structured education, regardless where they go to school. In other ways, however, the standards don’t always work for every school or every student. One of the biggest problems about the initiative, however, is its emphasis on standardized testing.
As one of the major tenants of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, standardized testing has a significant impact on the nation’s educational system. Keep reading to learn more about how standardized testing affects teachers and teaching quality.
What is the Deal with Standardized Testing?
According to the Common Core website, the Common Core State Standards Initiative is, “a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematical and English language arts/literacy” that were created to ensure that “all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life”.
Having standards designed to increase the quality of education in the United States is a good thing – there are no arguments that quality of education is not important. The problem
If your student attends public school, you are undoubtedly familiar with standardized testing. Standardized testing is designed to determine the effectiveness of a school’s curriculum and teaching staff as well as the degree to which students understand core concepts.
Many schools engage in standardized testing once a year or more in grades 3 through 8, focusing particularly on subjects like math, science, and language arts. Though these tests are partially designed to measure the effectiveness of a school program, they are also used to determine funding for public schools – this puts a lot of pressure on schools to ensure that their students perform well.
With so much riding on these tests, it is no wonder that many students develop test anxiety. Anxiety over testing can turn even the smartest, most intelligent student into a F student. But what is text anxiety and how do you deal with it? Keep reading to find out.
What is Test Anxiety?
According to the American Test Anxiety Association, test anxiety is a psychological condition in which students experience extreme distress before, during, and/or after a test or exam. This level of stress makes it difficult for the student to do their best work – it even causes some students to freeze up entirely and to forget everything they’ve learned. As many as 20% of school children have severe test anxiety and another 18% have a more moderate form of the condition. Understanding what test anxiety is and how it affects students is important for both
