Laura Rudkin, PhD2011-12-202008-12-092011-12-202008-06-162008-04-21etd-06162008-104504http://hdl.handle.net/2152.3/119Childhood and adolescent obesity has developed into a major public health concern in the United States. The overweight and obesity rates of our children continue to rise and have been increasing dramatically for over 40 years. The rising health concerns coupled with alarming increases in health care expenditures related to obesity has caused the government to take action. The goal of this Capstone is twofold: The first is to determine what the minimal requirements for public school programs related to obesity are as set by Texas State Law. The second is to explicate what the select population of Galveston County schools of interest is actually doing. Programs that will be included are those related to physical activity, physical and health education and nutrition. By identifying and cataloging current program use and implementation as well as examining laws and their execution in the population of interest, determinations can be made regarding efficacy of these statutes and programs as they pertain to obesity in school-aged children.electronicengCopyright © is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the TDL web site by The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.obesitycommunity-based obesitychildhood obesitytext