Education Highway

While childhood obesity is an epidemic which has increased rapidly over the past few decades, those children who are taken care of by grandparents appear to be at greater risk of becoming obese.

Grandparents may be lavishing children with a little too much love in the form of cookies and couch time.

A British study finds that young children looked after by their grandparents have an increased risk of being overweight.

The study, which analyzed about 12,000 three year olds, only analyzed data and did not come up with a definitive reason why the correlation existed. However, the study reported that those overweight children were far more likely to overindulge with food and were much less likely to be physically active than other children.

Researchers conclude it would help if all child-care providers were educated about the benefits of daily activity and the risks of using food as a reward.

According to a report by the Associated Press, the nation’s public schools are falling under severe financial stress as states slash education spending and drain federal stimulus money that staved off deep classroom cuts and widespread job losses.

School districts have already suffered big budget cuts since the recession began two years ago, but experts say the cash crunch will get a lot worse as states run out of stimulus dollars.

A recent report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that 41 states face midyear budget shortfalls totaling $35 billion.
The Obama administration’s $787 billion federal stimulus package provided about $100 billion for education, including $54 billion to stabilize state budgets. In October the White House said the stimulus created or saved 250,000 education jobs.

But many states have used most of their stimulus money, leaving little to cushion budget cuts in the coming fiscal year.

Advocates say the looming cuts could weaken the nation’s public schools, worsen unemployment, undermine the president’s education goals, and widen the achievement gap between students in rich and poor districts, reports AP.

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