The NYT reports on a new study finding that if a school is within a block of a fast-food restaurant, its students are more likely to be obese. ????I've been fascinated by obesity studies since I read that 100 years ago the wealthiest quartile in America was the heaviest but today the poorest quartile is. ????Lots of factors play into this beyond personal behavior (exercise and diet), from education to the availability of fresh food and grocery stores to culture and geography. ????The CDC has a great map showing obesity by state and changes over time, and Surgeon General Sanjay Gupta has been looking into this issue for CNN (the "fattest cities" map is striking).
Lots of potential implications for schools and even more for public policy in general.