A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University have found that obesity is linked to high absenteeism rates in school-aged children.
The study of more than 1,000 students in 4th, 5th and 6th grades in the Philadelphia school system determined that body mass index, or BMI, is as significant of a factor in determining absenteeism from school as age, race, socioeconomic status and gender, formerly the four main predictors.
The study, conducted from 2003-2004, also found that overweight children were absent on average 20 percent more than their normal-weight peers.
Dr. Gary D. Foster, who runs the Center for Obesity Research and Education, received funding from the National Institutes of Health to measure the height and weight of the students. Researchers then calculated the students BMI, which relates height to weight.
Based on BMI, 2 percent of the children were underweight, 58 percent were normal weight, 17 percent were overweight, and 23 percent were what the researchers consider obese.
Researchers examined school attendance records of close to 1,200 students who attend the city’s poorest schools. More than 80 percent of students at these schools were eligible for free and reduced-cost meal plans. The study reveals that the obese children missed 12 days of school during the school year, compared to 10 days for children with normal weight.
