Abstract
<p>This study examined the relationships between Weight Category (healthy-weight and overweight/obese) of middle school students and school-related factors such as academic achievement, number of school absences, student engagement, student self-beliefs, and student interpersonal support. A sample of convenience of teachers (<em>n </em>= 20) and students (<em>n </em>= 227) was taken from a middle school in Connecticut. The teacher participants completed the RAPS-TM for each student in the study which measured teacher perception of student engagement in language arts and mathematics learning activities. The student participants completed the RAPS-SM which measured student perceptions of engagement, self-beliefs, and interpersonal support. In addition, the CMT Reading, CMT Writing, and CMT Mathematics scores and the number of school absences were recorded for each student participant.</p>
<p>These data were analyzed through causal comparative and correlational designs to determine if there were relationships between Weight Category and school-related factors. The results of the MANOVA indicated overweight/obese middle school students scored significantly lower on the CMT Reading test (<em>F </em>= 6.780, <em>p </em>= .010, <em>partial eta squared</em><em> </em>= .031) and CMT Writing test (<em>F </em>= 4.262, <em>p </em>= .040, <em>partial eta squared</em><em> </em>= .020) than healthy-weight middle school students. Overweight/obese students had significantly more absences (<em>F </em>= 11.085, <em>p </em>= .001, <em>partial eta squared</em><em> </em>= .049) and were significantly less engaged in Mathematics learning activities (<em>F </em>= 8.362, <em>p </em>= .004, <em>partial eta squared</em><em> </em><em> </em>= .038) than their healthy-weight peers. The results of the multiple linear regression indicated that Language Arts Engagement, Domain Engagement, and Weight Category were significant predictors of CMT Reading scores (<em>F</em>(3,208) = 24.254, <em>p </em>< .001); Language Arts Engagement and Square Root of the Absences were significant predictors of CMT Writing scores (<em>F</em>(2,209) = 32.343 and <em>p </em>< .001); and Mathematics Engagement and Domain Engagement scores were significant predictors of CMT Mathematics scores (<em>F</em>(2,208) = 35.029, <em>p </em>< .001).</p>
