Inactive Brains

By David K. Spierer, Sandra Williams, Jim Lyttle

Abstract

Two speakers have been invited to a town hall meeting to help decide a hotly contested issue. A grant has been awarded to the school district with the stipulation that the money be dedicated to only one program. School officials wish to use the funds to improve the science curriculum, but district parents favor an investment in physical education to improve the health of their children. Since the grant money cannot be divided, students are forced to grapple with the role of science in education, the growing problem of childhood obesity, and related issues of public policy.

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Date Posted

04/15/2007

Overview

Objectives

Provide an understanding of how far-reaching childhood obesity is in the United States.
Encourage discussion on issues of obesity and its physiological consequences.
Provide a forum in which obesity is seen as a health risk and not just a challenging aesthetic.
Emphasize the need for critical thinking in deciding how grant money should be spent.
Provide a forum for a discussion of the challenges we face in reducing obesity in this country and strategies to prevent it.
Encourage students to look at government as both an enabler and a protector.
Encourage students to make a choice on a sensitive issue.

Keywords

Childhood obesity; overweight children; obese; resistin; school nutrition; school exercise programs; scientific literacy; grant funding

Subject Headings

Nutrition

Public Health

Sports Science

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

Graduate, General public & informal education

FORMAT

PDF

TOPICAL AREAS

Policy issues, Social issues

LANGUAGE

English

TYPE/METHODS

Dilemma/Decision, Discussion, Interrupted

Teaching Notes & Answer Key

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