Untitled 1 Healthy School Food Maryland
 

Our Nation's Crisis is our County's Crisis

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Currently one third of all American children are overweight, and of that group, approximately 17% are obese. Since 1980, obesity prevalence among children and adolescents has almost tripled1, leading to a lifetime of chronic illnesses. If this trend continues, one third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives2. In Maryland, the prevalence of diabetic adults has grown from 6.8% in 1999 to 10.8% in 2017, which continues to be above national levels3. In addition, there are significant racial and ethnic disparities. Black females (12.5%) in Maryland have almost double the diabetic rates of white females (6.8%)4. Nationwide, 40% of children in African American and Hispanic communities are suffering from overweight or obesity5. Given a growing body of research that suggests that obesity is associated with poorer academic performance beginning as early as kindergarten6, this could help explain some portion of the achievement gap.

  1. Adolescent and School Health: Childhood Obesity Facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Retrieved from link
  2. Let's Move: America's Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids. Learn the Facts. Retrieved from: link
  3. America's Health Rankings: Diabetes in Maryland in 2017. United Health Foundation. Retrieved from: link
  4. Summary: Burden of Diabetes in Maryland. Maryland Department Health and Mental Hygiene. Retrieved from: PDF
  5. Let's Move: America's Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids. Learn the Facts. Retrieved from: link
  6. Taras, H. & Potts-Datema, W. (2005). Obesity and Student Performance at School. Journal of School Health, 75(8), pp. 291-295. Retrieved from: link
  

Junk Food Purchased at Silver Spring Intl Middle School in 2012-2013 school year

"So long as MCPS meals and foods sold in vending machines contain harmful additives, elevated sugar levels, and few fresh fruits and vegetables, the school system is undermining efforts at school, home and in the community to reduce obesity and diabetes among our children, particularly within our most vulnerable populations. Please show leadership in providing only food that is conducive to learning and to establishing lifetime habits of healthy eating. A healthy, balanced nutrition should be part and parcel of any school system's approach to education. Our children deserve no less! And all of us benefit in the long run."
 - an HSFM parent, Rolling Terrace Elementary School

 
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