Teen Obesity: How Schools Can Be the Number One Solution to the Problem

by William L. Fibkins

Overview

There is an epidemic of student obesity in America, and educators are ideally situated to identify, intervene, educate, and support overweight students who are headed for long-term illness or premature death. Such an effort will require changes in the way that schools operate. These changes can be implemented with a low-cost budget and by restructuring staff and resources that are currently in place. Fibkins proposes a Circle of Wellness model for schools that includes an intervention effort to promote a health-oriented cafeteria; increased physical activity; healthy levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar; life-skills training groups offered by counselors; outreach to parents; and easy access and referral to community health, mental health, and recreation resources. Teen Obesity will be of interest to administrators, teachers, and parents. To learn more, visit www.williamfibkins.com.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578865123
Publisher:	R&L Education
Publication date:	09/13/2006
Pages:	230
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.04(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

William L. Fibkins is a university professor, consultant, and researcher specializing in training school administrators to be leaders and mentors; teachers to be advisors and adult advocates; guidance counselors, student assistance counselors, school psychologists, and social workers to implement intervention programs; students to be peer counselors and leaders; and parents to be advocates for marginalized teens. Previously, he was a student assistance counselor, director of guidance services, director of a teacher training center in urban and suburban secondary schools.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Why Preventing Teen Obesity Should Be a Priority for Schools Chapter 3 How Schools Became Unwitting Partners in Helping Teens Become Overweight and Obese Chapter 4 What Educators Need to Know about the Risks for Overweight and Obese Teens Chapter 5 How School Wellness Councils Can Revitalize the Cafeteria and Food Service System Chapter 6 How Schools Can Increase Physical Activity to Help Students Reduce Weight Chapter 7 Utilizing the Circle of Wellness to Improve Nutrition and Physical Activity for Students Chapter 8 Utilizing the Circle of Wellness Model to Address Staff Overweight, Obesity, and Related Health Problems

What People are Saying About This

Gail Angell

Teen Obesity: How Schools Can be the Number One Solution to the Problem, is a book that schools have needed for a long time. The 'Circle of Wellness' intervention effort provided in the book gives educators a practical, how-to format that can be realistically implemented. Being a teacher of pre-teens and teenagers for the past 20 years and a mother of two pre-teen girls, this is an important book that needs our attention if we want to have a pro-active approach to dealing with teen obesity.

Lyn Langdon

As a school nurse working in secondary schools, I see overweight [students] on a daily basis... Teen Obesity: How Schools Can be the Number One Solution to the Problem by William Fibkins will be a valuable resource for educators and parents in addressing this national epidemic.

Thomas Heinegg

I am thrilled with Dr. Fibkins's timely book, Teen Obesity. The depth of the problem is explained and explored with a sense of clarity as well as passion. I highly recommend this comprehensive and incisive guide for the general public as well as school administrators.

Sharon I. Byrdsong

Childhood obesity has created a generation of students who are at risk. In Teen Obesity: How Schools Can Be the Number One Solution to the Problem, Dr. William Fibkins maps out a low-cost budget plan in which school personnel can actively promote a 'Circle of Wellness' in which all stakeholders work together to create conditions in schools so that all students are provided with the 'tools' of healthy living and are taught the skills that will help them maintain life-long wellness. Dr. Fibkins illuminates the problem of teenage obesity, and then he weaves a thoughtfully crafted solution to this very serious problem.

Suzanne Y. Jones

At last someone suggests a family/school partnership to address the shame of obesity which besets so many children. Dr. Fibkins positions schools as the lead actor on this issue; families struggling to overcome generational patterns of food abuse need support to fight to improve the health of their children.

Editorial Reviews

Teen Obesity: How Schools Can be the Number One Solution to the Problem, is a book that schools have needed for a long time. The 'Circle of Wellness' intervention effort provided in the book gives educators a practical, how-to format that can be realistically implemented. Being a teacher of pre-teens and teenagers for the past 20 years and a mother of two pre-teen girls, this is an important book that needs our attention if we want to have a pro-active approach to dealing with teen obesity.

Gail Angell

Fibkins posits a model for schools so that they can help fight teenage obesity, noting that schools are key places for intervention.

Scitech Book News

Childhood obesity has created a generation of students who are at risk. In Teen Obesity: How Schools Can Be the Number One Solution to the Problem, Dr. William Fibkins maps out a low-cost budget plan in which school personnel can actively promote a 'Circle of Wellness' in which all stakeholders work together to create conditions in schools so that all students are provided with the 'tools' of healthy living and are taught the skills that will help them maintain life-long wellness. Dr. Fibkins illuminates the problem of teenage obesity, and then he weaves a thoughtfully crafted solution to this very serious problem.

Sharon I. Byrdsong

I am thrilled with Dr. Fibkins's timely book, Teen Obesity. The depth of the problem is explained and explored with a sense of clarity as well as passion. I highly recommend this comprehensive and incisive guide for the general public as well as school administrators.

Thomas Heinegg

At last someone suggests a family/school partnership to address the shame of obesity which besets so many children. Dr. Fibkins positions schools as the lead actor on this issue; families struggling to overcome generational patterns of food abuse need support to fight to improve the health of their children.

Suzanne Y. Jones

As a school nurse working in secondary schools, I see overweight [students] on a daily basis... Teen Obesity: How Schools Can be the Number One Solution to the Problem by William Fibkins will be a valuable resource for educators and parents in addressing this national epidemic.

Lyn Langdon

This extraordinary book is for educators and school administrators. Fibkins uses a variety of tactics in analyzing the problem, from sky-rocketing statistics on teen obesity to personal anecdotes about unhappy teens, and then systematically works on offering solutions. Fibkins brings together a great deal of information and research in this readable volume, which addresses a teen issue that, if left alone, could prove to be the most serious health threat of all.

VOYA