Education Policies and Regulations: Fostering Healthy Student Lifestyles   Tags: biotechnology_law, education_law, health_law  

With obesity, especially childhood obesity, in the news recently, legislatures have taken action, introducing bills that address the obesity issue by regulating schools and education policies. While many factors can influence a person's health choices (advertising, home life, income, etc.), schools can play a large role in fostering healthy student lifestyles.

This research guide focuses on health education and the recent obesity "crisis", with slight detours into physical education and sex education. The discussion of the obesity crisis includes some discussion of recent litigation against the fast food industry. While recent legislation has focused on obesity, much of the previous focus in this area involved whether the food the children eat meets the children's nutritional requirements. Therefore, much focus in the caselaw has been placed on the federal legislation regarding school lunch programs. The cases and regulations for physical education and sex education shed light on other ways schools have encouraged healthy student lifestyles, especially because physical education is often cited as the best option for improving student health choices.

This research guide focuses on Georgia and federal regulations and cases, but other jurisdictions will be mentioned where appropriate. While this research guide covers many areas, it should be seen as an introduction to the issue and a way to approach researching these issues instead of a comprehensive guide to all state and federal health education policies and regulations. For example, another way that schools help children lead healthier lives is through vaccination programs, but since vaccination is not a lifestyle choice, it was not included. Study of the cases where school vaccination issues have been litigated would shed more light on the breadth of the schools' powers, though. 

David Barrett Ritter is a third year law student at Georgia State University College of Law. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English at the College of Charleston and his Master of Arts degree in English from Clemson University. He grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, but now calls Atlanta, Georgia, home. His interests include elder law, First Amendment, and copyrights.

This web research guide does not constitute legal advice. Please contact a lawyer if you need help with a particular legal issue.

Bibliographies on this Web site were prepared for educational purposes by law students as part of Nancy P. Johnson's Advanced Legal Research course. The Law Library does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided. Thorough legal research requires a researcher to update materials from date of publication; please note the semester and year the bibliography was prepared.