<p>A University of Texas at Austin news release </p>
<p><a href=“Home - UT News”>Home - UT News; </p>
<p>reports obese girls are half as likely to attend college as non-obese girls, based on federal health study data.</p>
<p>I wonder how it would look if they controlled for family income.</p>
<p>Very sad. My niece is obese (and still quite young) She’s very bright and I have high hopes she’ll continue to do well in her studies and go on to college. She’d be the first in her immediate family to even graduate high school, much less attend university. Always wondered if things, as being overweight, might eventually get her down and keep her from achieving her dreams. Guess she’s my new project; to keep her interesting in higher learning! (and perhaps healthier living)</p>
<p>weenie–i bet you’re on to something there. the news release does say “The disconnect between obesity and college enrollment was more pronounced among non-whites and among girls whose parents did not graduate from college.” </p>
<p>However, it also says “The study also shows obese girls are even less likely to enter college if they attend a high school where obesity is relatively uncommon,” and I’d guess that obesity is relatively common at most high schools serving poor kids. </p>
<p>Interestingly, there’s no relationship between college attendance and weight for boys. Which sort of blows my idea that maybe this could be explained by obese students not getting recruited for athletic scholarships and thus not going to college out of the water.</p>
<p>From the article:
“That girls are far more vulnerable to the non-health risks of obesity reinforces the notion that body image is more important to girls’ self-concept and that social norms have greater effects on the education of girls than boys,” Crosnoe noted.
Sad, but not a surprise. Low self-esteem leads to low expectations for the future.</p>
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That was my first thought upon reading the thread title.</p>
<p>I also figure that the link between obesity and poverty can come into play here. You hear a lot about obesity and how widespread it is among kids and teens, but I live in a fairly affluent suburb (although I went to a school that draws a little less of an affluent crowd, because I live on the edge of the area that’s really working class for the county). And honestly none of the kids in my IB classes (all from families that are at least relatively well off) are obese. I seriously can’t think of anyone. Some are maybe overweight but no one is obese. However if you look into other subsets, and if you look into the school on the other side of town, the story does change.</p>
<p>Not only is healthy food expensive here (food is expensive in general here anyway; on a limited income, it would be hard to afford very much fresh food beyond staples). Although free and reduced price lunch and breakfast is readily subsidized, that means nothing because the school lunch is sooooo unhealthy, with choices like french fries every day, stuffed crust pizza, fried chicken. It is no good at all. Most of the kids I know from my classes eat breakfast at home and bring their lunch. But if that is not an option for you, you are eating unhealthy foods two times a day by default. </p>
<p>Another issue is exercise. The affluent families put their children in activities almost every day, as a form of (albeit expensive) baby sitting and also enrichment, because they know the resume building starts early. So by high school, many kids from the college bound set are doing at least one sport or are at least active in some kind of activity that is more than watching TV. Also if you must get your younger siblings from school and watch them, you could not even participate in after school in activities when they are provided in high school. But ours are not free and they expect you to pay ridiculous amounts for “spirit packs” and other things people on limited income can’t afford. This is a big problem IMO and can alienate people. </p>
<p>However I’d also postulate that among the true lower middle class (people getting by, but paycheck to paycheck and parents aren’t college educated), where college is somewhat optional (let’s face it, many of us come from backgrounds where college is just a given, no matter what your kid really turns out like), then someone who is obese probably would have a lower chance in that situation of really “going for it” even if they were bright. Because they would suffer lower self esteem which could lead to depression and poor grades and dropping out (again my family falls into a category of families where no one can drop out of high school, it simply isn’t an option and there would be many accomodations made to that effect). But somewhere where dropping out is fairly common, I can see that happening. Also they would likely not be in any sports, which would eliminate the chance of a scholarship, which can make college attainable for some in this situation. They could also exclude themselves from other activities that would build a resume, because of negative attention from peers.</p>