THE HEAD START DIET

When I was in high school in Gouverneur, I volunteered with the Head Start program during summer vacation.  I loved working with the young children and new it made a difference.  So I was glad to see that this new research says it makes a difference not only with their education, but also with their  diets and health!

Gloria

Head Start programs have been shown to help poor children do better in school, but they may also help them fight obesity, a new study suggests. During a year of Head Start preschool, obese and overweight children were much more likely to slim down than comparison groups of kids. The study involved almost 44,000 children, including about 19,000 Head Start kids who were compared with children from Medicaid families and with those from wealthier, privately insured families. About 16% of kids entering Head Start were obese, versus 12% of Medicaid kids and 7% of the others. After a year, almost 11% of initially obese Head Start kids became normal weight, compared with none of the Medicaid kids and less than 2% of the others. The improvements lasted through the end of the study, or when the kids entered kindergarten. Similar trends were seen in kids who started out overweight but not obese.

Source:  Huffington Post, 1/12/15, Head Start