Getting families to focus on health issues for children can be an important step for schools seeking to improve student achievement and to prepare students to be successful in life.

As highlighted in numerous studies, health and learning are connected.

That connection is pointed out in “Families as Partners: Fostering Family Engagement for Healthy and Successful Students,” which was produced by the National School Boards Association.

Here are some examples of those connections:

• Children who eat a complete, nutritious breakfast either at school or before school perform better.

• Obesity or being overweight is associated with poorer performance levels.

• Asthma, the most prevalent chronic health condition among children, is the greatest cause of school absenteeism.

• Student test scores improve after students have been physically active.

• Addressing behavioral and emotional dimensions of health improves education outcomes by reducing failure rates, absences, and disciplinary referrals and improving grade point averages.

• High school students with higher grades tend to engage in fewer health-risk behaviors than their classmates with lower grades.

This information can be downloaded at www.nsba. org/Board-Leadership/ SchoolHealth.