The increasing prevalence of consumerism in contemporary society often equates happiness with the acquisition of material objects. Consuming Schools describes the impact of consumerism on politics and education and charts the increasing presence of commercialism in the educational sphere through an examination of issues such as school-business partnerships, advertising in schools, and corporate-sponsored curriculum. First linking the origins of consumerism to important political and philosophical thinkers, Trevor Norris goes on to closely examine the distinction between the public and the private sphere through the lens of twentieth-century intellectuals Hannah Arendt and Jean Baudrillard. Through Arendt's account of the human activities of labour, work, and action, and the ensuing eclipse of the public realm and Baudrillard's consideration of the visual character of consumerism, Norris examines how school commercialism has been critically engaged by in-class activities such as media literacy programs and educational policies regulating school-business partnerships.

In Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat, historian A. R. Ruis explores the origins of American school meal initiatives to explain why it was (and, to some extent, has continued to be) so difficult to establish meal programs that satisfy the often competing interests of children, parents, schools, health authorities, politicians, and the food industry. Through careful studies of several key contexts and detailed analysis of the policies and politics that governed the creation of school meal programs, Ruis demonstrates how the early history of school meal program development helps us understand contemporary debates over changes to school lunch policies.

Looks at the way corporations and advertisers target children as a profitable demographic, as well as their methods for getting past parental safeguards to make products of all kinds appeal directly to even the youngest children.

Concern over increased childhood obesity has spurred various school-based interventions. However, these interventions often have little positive effect and may inadvertently contribute to unhealthy behaviours during weight loss attempts. Indeed, a general emphasis on appearance and weight (rather than health) can promote eating disordered behaviours. This book provides a conceptual model for understanding both obesity and eating disordered behaviours. Specifically, it advocates for body acceptance and intuitive eating -- a flexible, healthy eating behaviour involving awareness of the body's hunger and satiety cues. Within this context, the chapters review evidence-based school interventions in nutrition, self-regulation, exercise, body acceptance, media literacy, and mindfulness. Guidance is also provided for identifying, referring, and supporting students with emerging eating disorders. Without empirically supported guidance, schools run the risk of implementing ineffective or harmful programming in an effort to do good. Thus, this book is a much needed resource for teachers, administrators, counsellors, nurses, and other school personnel.

Children's health has made tremendous strides over the past century. In general, life expectancy has increased by more than thirty years since 1900 and much of this improvement is due to the reduction of infant and early childhood mortality. Given this trajectory toward a healthier childhood, we begin the 21st-century with a shocking developmentâ€"an epidemic of obesity in children and youth. The increased number of obese children throughout the U.S. during the past 25 years has led policymakers to rank it as one of the most critical public health threats of the 21st-century. Preventing Childhood Obesity provides a broad-based examination of the nature, extent, and consequences of obesity in U.S. children and youth, including the social, environmental, medical, and dietary factors responsible for its increased prevalence. The book also offers a prevention-oriented action plan that identifies the most promising array of short-term and longer-term interventions, as well as recommendations for the roles and responsibilities of numerous stakeholders in various sectors of society to reduce its future occurrence. Preventing Childhood Obesity explores the underlying causes of this serious health problem and the actions needed to initiate, support, and sustain the societal and lifestyle changes that can reverse the trend among our children and youth.