Educational research, practice, and institutions regularly highlight the significance of factors outside of schooling that affect children's engagement and participation in classroom learning. The health of children and families is one such issue with implications for the quality of children's school experiences, treatment in school, and academic achievement. This review focuses on risk(s) to children that results from educational and health disparities. In this review, the authors first focus on health problems and health risk behaviors, particularly chronic illnesses, and then they address health risk behaviors and their influence on academic performance. They examine lingering issues of physical and mental health in research and in practice, followed by a consideration of the possibilities for academic achievement and the improvement of children's health. They conclude with a discussion of the importance of schools as sites for addressing health problems of children and families. (Contains 1 note.)