Respondent: Low Income High Obesity

Alejandro's post makes an interesting point in regards to the 7 Myths About Physical Activity Article. While it certainly makes interesting and what I believe are accurate statements regarding the correlation between physical activity and academic success there are other statements (as Alejandro points out) that could be controversial.

            When reading this article and Alejandro’s response I compared it to the school that I work at in Champaign which has nearly a quarter of its students eligible for free and reduced lunch and 47% of its students being low income. This indicates that the school would fall in to the at risk category defined by the state of Illinois and would probably be similar to a school that Alejandro attended. While I am not assuming that all students from low income families are the same I do know that with my students it is often difficult to encourage them to do any activity that requires them to be physically active. Many of my students are also mildly to very overweight and their grades are low.  However, I believe Alejandro is on to something with his comments about genetics. Children are prone to repeating the behavior they see at home. If mom and dad are overweight and inactive because of lifestyle choices regarding nutrition and activity the child will have a higher chance of being the same way. So, while the statement that “since children from low-income families are more likely to be physically inactive and obese, and to have lower levels of academic achievement” might be controversial it also stands a fair chance of being accurate for the majority. That isn’t to say that  Alejandro and his friends may have been an exception to this trend as there is always an exception but the correlation between weight, activity, grades, and socio-economic status are positively correlated.