Table 2.

Total number of days absent and present, total enrollment days, and percent of days absent for the sample of 920 fourth-grade children by BMI percentile category, Palmetto Achievement Challenges Tests (PACT) composite score, socioeconomic status (SES), and school year.

	Days Absent	Days Present	Total Enrollment Days	Percent of Days Absent
BMI Percentile Category1
Underweight/Healthy Weight	2,517	81,173	83,690	3.0
Overweight	815	31,150	31,965	2.5
Obese	931	30,718	31,649	2.9
Severely Obese	573	17,395	17,968	3.2
PACT Composite Score2
4	1,204	26,966	28,170	4.3
5	827	25,754	26,581	3.1
6	691	22,969	23,660	2.9
7	560	22,635	23,195	2.4
8	420	16,305	16,725	2.5
9	487	17,137	17,624	2.8
10	320	13,714	14,034	2.3
11	203	8,963	9,166	2.2
12	124	5,993	6,117	2.0
SES3
Low	4,201	134,090	138,291	3.0
High	635	26,346	26,981	2.4
School Year
2005–2006	3,146	107,757	110,903	2.8
2006–2007	1,690	52,679	54,369	3.1

¹BMI percentile categories were defined as underweight (< 5^th percentile), healthy weight (≥ 5^th and < 85^th percentile), overweight (≥ 85^th and < 95^th percentile), obese (≥ 95^th percentile and < 99^th percentile) and severely obese (≥ 99^th percentile) based on the Expert Committee’s 2007 recommendation.¹⁶ For the current article’s analyses, the underweight and healthy-weight categories were combined due to low frequency in the underweight category.

²PACT composite score is the summation of the numeric value of each child’s categorical performance level for each of the four sections, with “below basic” = 1, “basic” = 2, and “proficient/advanced” = 3.²² (For the current article’s analyses, the “proficient” and “advanced” categories were combined because few children were classified as “advanced”.) These composite scores range from 4 to 12, with 4 indicating that a child had a performance level that was “below basic” for all four sections, and 12 indicating that a child had a performance level that was “proficient/advanced” for all four sections.

³SES is determined by the individual child’s eligibility for free/reduced-price school meals. “Low” indicates that the child was eligible for free or reduced-price school meals and “high” indicates that the child was not eligible. To be eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, families must have incomes ≤ 130% or between 130% and 185% of the poverty level, respectively.²⁴