Being Overweight Places Students at Risk

Overweight is a fast growing health issue affecting children and adolescents today. The percentage of young people who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980. Among children and teens aged 6-19 years, 16 percent (over 9 million young people) are considered overweight. Children and teens who are overweight may begin to experience health consequences during their youth as well as put themselves at risk for weight-related health problems later in life. Overweight children and teens are more likely than their normal-weight peers to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease during childhood. One study showed that approximately 60% of overweight children had a least one cardiovascular risk factor, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure or elevated insulin levels; in comparison, only 10% of children with healthy weight had at least one risk factor. Additionally, 25% of overweight children had two or more risk factors. Other health consequences include the following potential problems:

• Type 2 diabetes
• Sleep apnea (not breathing for at least 10 seconds during sleep)
• Social consequences including poor self-esteem and social discrimination

Role of School Based Health Centers

For school based health centers working on childhood overweight prevention, MDCH has set the following four requirements the 2006-2007 school year:

1. Assessment of Body Mass Index at each clinical visit for each student. NOTE: Only weigh/measure students using your center do not screen the entire school.
2. Monitor for excessive weight gain relative to linear growth.
3. Assess for readiness to work on lifestyle.
4. Provide positive messages to promote healthy weight.

Future Roles:

The requirements for the 2006-2007 school year are just a beginning. Future implementation may include a more comprehensive approach including: in depth assessment, more detailed prevention messages, and for those with a BMI greater than or equal to the 85th and 95th percentiles detailed history, physical exam, labs, and interventions to promote weight management. New clinical guidelines for the Prevention, Identification and Treatment of Childhood Overweight and Obesity have been developed by the Michigan Quality Improvement Consortium and are pending final approval (will be available at this website in the future). These guidelines go into greater detail than is currently required for School Based Health Centers working on childhood overweight prevention, and may be adopted by some School Based Health Centers in the future. Content of these guidelines reflects the consensus of current expert opinion in the field and will hopefully provide guidance and consistency with this issue for Michigan providers.

Materials to Help Clinics Meet the 2006 - 2007 Requirements:

To help clinic staff meet the requirements, the Michigan Department of Community Health's Cardiovascular Health, Nutrition and Physical Activity Section has worked with MDCH's Adolescent Health Section to offer the following tools.