Home Schooled Kids Leaner Than Traditionally Schooled Kids: Study

Children that are home schooled are leaner than kids attending traditional schools, states a new study that challenges the theory that children spending more time at home are susceptible to excessive weight gain.

The study conducted by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center (AHWC) in collaboration with researchers at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, claim that home schooled kids are leaner than traditionally schooled kids. The study focused on 7-12-year olds.  The researchers collected information on their diet and also monitored their physical activity and measured their body fat.

"Based on previous research, we went into this study thinking home-schooled children would be heavier and less active than kids attending traditional schools," Michelle Cardel, PhD, RD, the study's lead author, said in a press statement. "We found the opposite."

On analyzing the information, researchers noticed that compared to the traditionally schooled kids,  home schoolers were less likely to be obese despite the fact that kids in both groups were doing the same amount of moderate and vigorous physical activities. Except for  lunchtime, the calorie intake in both groups was the same and the kids in traditional schools were consuming much more calories, sodium and sugar at lunch.

The study data was collected from 2005-2009, the time when the new guidelines for nutritious lunch were put into practice.

"We applaud the new school meal guidelines and efforts to give kids healthy options at school," Cardel said. "We don't know if we would have seen these same results if we had included children who brought their lunch to school. We think these differences may reflect the uniqueness of the home environment in home-school families but future research is needed to know for sure."

The study was published in the journal Obesity.