The Head Start Diet

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 percent of kids entering Head Start were obese, versus 12 percent of Medicaid kids and 7 percent of the others. After a year, almost 11 percent of initially obese Head Start kids became normal weight, compared with none of the Medicaid kids and less than 2 percent 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 technically obese.

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