| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) estimate that roughly 20% of school-age children are obese, making childhood obesity an urgent American health problem. Schools are in a unique position to address this pressing issue because of the amount of time students spend with teachers. The purpose of this study was to investigate, through the lens of social cognitive theory (Nutbeam et al., 2010), perceptions of educational leaders and physical education teachers regarding their roles in battling childhood obesity and to examine factors within and outside schools' control in addressing the issue. This qualitative case study used data collected from 11 educators (eight teachers and three administrators) to address this important problem. Three themes surfaced as factors within an educator's scope of impact that can make a difference in addressing the obesity epidemic: the informative role of educators, the impact of school culture, and goal setting and journaling. Other factors outside educators' control were also discovered. The implications from this study suggest that increased funding and provision of daily physical education, the implementation of goal setting and journaling, fostering a robust school culture that actively addresses obesity, and working collaboratively with parents may each reduce the incidence of childhood obesity. |
