Knowing that students in minority and low socio-economic groups have in the past traditionally scored lower on state adopted achievement tests, most school districts allot extra time and resources to improve their test scores. Furthermore, variation in teacher competencies from facility to facility and even year to year may also compromise accurate assessment of the effectiveness of the interventions in this area. Conclusion

Many factors contribute to obesity including activity levels, diet, genetic, metabolic, environmental, social, economic, psychological, behavioral and biological. According to Martin et.al (2009) inactivity and poor diet are the two most important contributing factors to excessive weight gain. In order to successfully decrease the prevalence of childhood obesity, community and family-based intervention programs that include the promotion of physical activity, parent training/modeling, behavioral counseling, and nutritional education are necessary. Children learn eating and physical activity behavior primarily from their parents and siblings. For a number of reasons parental and family involvement is essential for successful obesity intervention. Obesity tends...

Parental behaviors that enable overeating and inactivity are detrimental. Furthermore, parental support in changing a child's behaviors may be fundamental to a successful intervention. For these reasons the reliability of this study, as well as the outlook for long-term success in changing eating and activity behaviors without total family and school support are questionable.
Reference List

Hollar, D, Lombardo, M, Lopez-Mitnik, G, Hollar, TL, Almon, M, Agatston, AS & Messiah, SE 2010, 'Effective multi-level, multi-sector, school-based obesity prevention programming improves weight, blood pressure, and academic performance, especially among low-income, minority children', Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 21, pp. 93-108.

Martin, J, Burke, SM, Shapiro, S, Carron, AV, Irwin, JD, Petrella, R, Prapavessis, H, Shoemaker, K 2009,'The use of group dynamics to enhance cohesion in a lifestyle intervention program for obese children', BMC public health, Vol. 9, July, pp. 277-287, viewed 17 June 2011,