Schools
What Our Readers Are Saying About Riverhead School's High Obesity Rate
Tell us what changes you'd like to see in the school district to combat the childhood obesity rate. Some readers say more time to exercise and more time for a healthy lunch need to be priorities.
Childhood obesity within the Riverhead School District are amongst the highest numbers on Long Island, according to data collected by the New York State Department of Health. In fact, the Riverhead Central School District had the 10th worst stats, where 24.7 percent of students were reported to be obese.
After Patch posted a story, readers started a discussion on Facebook. Here's what they had to say:
Breyan Minnick wrote, "Not surprising when the children barely have time to eat lunch so they wind up scoffing it down and then they barely have any time for recess so running around and playing with their friends is minimized. For some children school is the only place where they do get any excercise. Maybe stop all this testing BS and add some time to their gym class. Also the fact that healthy food is so damn expensive that most families can't afford to feed their children with nutritional food."
Kristy Wilkinson wrote, "Probably because the kids are trying to learn the common core math that they don't have time to play."
Kathleen Kocan wrote, "We need two things. Chef Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and an FFA program in our schools. Teach them how to eat and how to make a living by growing healthy food. Preserve the east end and our youth."
How do you feel about Riverhead's high obesity rate? What can be done to combat it? Tell us in the comments below.
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