1 Calories In, Calories Out: Food and Exercise in Public Elementary Schools, 2005 Mark Schneider Commissioner National Center for Education Statistics May 16, 2006

2 Introduction NCES releasing Calories In, Calories Out: Food and Exercise in Public Elementary Schools, 2005 on its website this morning First U.S. Department of Education study to focus on food and exercise in public elementary schools Prompted by concern about obesity among school-age children

3 Study obtained information on: Calories in: –Availability of foods outside of full school meals Calories out: –Opportunities for physical activity in school Weighing students and notifying parents: –Extent to which schools weigh students, calculate body mass index, and report to parents

4 Study Nationally representative sample of 1,198 regular public elementary schools Conducted in spring 2005 through NCES’s Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) Response rate of 91 percent

5 Calories In

6 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, Figure 1a: Schools offering food for sale outside of full school meals

7 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, Figure 1b:Of schools that offered foods for sale outside of full school meals, percent that sold foods to generate funds for food service operations

8 Figure 2:Availability of vending machine foods and school store/snack bar foods NOTE: Vending machines and school stores/snack bars may or may not be located in the school cafeteria. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

9 Figure 3:Contract with companies to sell drinks/snack foods, by school locale SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

10 Figure 4:Contract with companies to sell drinks/snack foods, by region SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

11 Figure 5:Contract with companies to sell drinks/snack foods, by percent minority enrollment SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

12 Calories Out

13 Figure 6: Schools with no scheduled recess, by grade level SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

14 Figure 7: Distribution of schools’ days per week of scheduled physical education, by grade level NOTE: One percent of the schools did not have any scheduled physical education for elementary grades (not shown in figure). Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

15 Differences by poverty concentration The percent of students eligible for free or reduced- price lunch at the school was used as a proxy for poverty concentration. High poverty schools (75-100% free or reduced-price lunch) were less likely to have any scheduled recess or daily recess, compared to schools with lower poverty concentrations. When the times for physical education and recess were combined, high poverty schools had lower averages in minutes per week.

16 Figure 8: Grade 1—Time spent in recess and physical education, by poverty concentration SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

17 Figure 9: School programs to encourage physical activity SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

18 Weighing students and notifying parents

19 Figure 10:Extent schools calculated students’ BMI and measured height and weight NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

20 Figure 11:Sent information on students’ BMI, height, and weight to parents SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), “Foods and Physical Activity in Public Elementary Schools: 2005,” FRSS 87, 2005.

21 Availability of Report Print copies available from ED Pubs in June 2006 Contacts for more information: Mike Bowler, IES Communications Director (202) Bernie Greene, FRSS Project Director (202)