...when your mom or dad used to pack your school lunches? Remember how excited you were when you opened your lunch box and found a treat waiting inside, maybe a pack of fruit snacks or a brownie? Now imagine this, as you go to take a bite of that brownie or a fruit snack from your pack, not only your treat, but your entire lunch box is taken away from you. Wouldn’t you be heartbroken (and also hungry)? Well, unfortunately this is the case for may children all over the country. Their entire lunches are being snatched away if they are deemed “unhealthy” by school staff. Parents are infuriated and for good reason. Kids are being left without food for lunch and/or snacks even though their parents are packing food for them daily....
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...02/23/2013 Improvements in Health and Nutrition for Schools Changes in schools reveal the analysis of kids getting unhealthy menus which causes them not to get enough nutrition. In today’s society schools as a general, most kids are not eating healthy. The school lunch menus have a lot of unhealthy items on them. Kids do not get enough nutrition eating what schools have for lunch. The best place to start out is at a young age where kids are getting the right nutrition. On menus at schools kids eat unhealthy items like pizza and tater tots. Some snack machines have unhealthy items in them too. I think there should be an improvement in the health and nutrition of kids. As stated by (Michelle, 2004), “snacking is a common feature of the diet of adolescents and promoting healthy snacks that may constitute a starting point in the fight against tooth decay and non-communicable disease later in life”. In school lunch programs fruits and vegetables are what kids can start out eating at their young age. I think most kids aren’t eating healthy because some parents can’t afford to feed them. For parents who can’t afford to feed their kids they are participating in the school’s government free lunch program, but the free lunch program still has a lot of unhealthy items on it. Here are some quotes stated by people and their opinions of the school program. As stated by (Domel, 1997), “a questionnaire was used to gather information about school adolescents’ dietary, their sources of nutrition...
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...Up for an Unhealthy Lifestyle Raymond S. Jackson Professor: Gabriel Smith ENG 215 31 August, 2012 The United States is facing a growing obesity epidemic. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Obesity now affects 17% of all children and adolescents in the United States - triple the rate from just on generation ago” (CDC.gov 2012). Is it the children’s fault? No! The fault lies with our society, its leaders, mentors, adults, and parents. It is up to the older generation, to properly teach our children the rights and wrongs of life, and today, we are teaching them the wrong way to eat. Public School Lunch Programs are teaching them that processed foods, high sugar drinks and snacks, are part of a balanced diet, and this is setting up our children for a lifetime of health issues, and adding to an already elevated obesity problem in the United States. Our society, public school system, and parents themselves are setting up our children for an unhealthy lifestyle and a future of health problems by teaching them unhealthy eating habits and feeding them unhealthy food. The days are long gone of the “Farm to Table” cooking methods in our schools that our older generations depended on. Today, we rely on processed foods that are full of additives, fats and sugars. The National School Lunch Program was created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), when President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch Act in 1946...
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...College Obesity: The Killer of Our Youth An Explanatory Essay Everyday across the country, children practice unhealthy eating habits. Throughout the day they indulge in fatty foods that greatly affect their health, especially during school lunch. Schools lunches normally consist of quick and easy options like pizza, chips, soda, etc., all foods that when eaten regularly can lead to serious health problems. Children are prone to these eating habits everywhere and have learned from school. It’s for reasons like this that obesity in children has doubled in the last 25 years. What was once known, as Adult-Onset Diabetes is now common within our youth and caused from childhood obesity. An article from USATOADAY titled “Unhealthy Risks for Kids Tip Scale” explains this, also going into detail about the debate between enforcing healthy lunches for students and keeping junk food in schools. Though fattening foods may be easily prepared, is the timing really worth the lives of our kids? Could a healthier diet at school make for a healthier lifestyle? These questions need answers. Let us begin. In order to get something accomplished, you must involve the government. An article from the Washington Post titled “Junk Food Widely Available at U.S Elementary Schools Despite Anti- Obesity Push” explains this and how federal regulation is necessary in order to enforce healthier school lunches. With childhood obesity increasing, more people are witnessing the epidemic and wanting an end to it...
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...obesity that connects to the way schools serves lunch. The (CDC) Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that if control childhood obesity is not under control by 2018, 40% of the children in America will be obese. According to Ann Cooper, the most noticeable cause for childhood obesity is today’s children, is the way that children eat at school. The schools supply the children with food served in bulks and are less expensive, instead of supplying them with nutritional meals. In order for schools in America to help with weight issues of school age children they must be will to replace the food with healthy alternatives. The foods served at private and public schools are processed foods and are highly unhealthy for children. Children need foods garden grown and will be fresh when children go to receive their lunch. Ann Cooper found in her research, if schools don’t change their system children would not receive nutritional foods that will help aid in loosing weight and giving them a energy. The ramifications of not making these changes would be harmful to today’s young children, whereas it could be prevented if schools would provide healthier lunches during school hours. The reason for this study is to help inspire families, members of the church, communities, and school officials to advocate change in the different types of foods that children will receive while in school. Through giving the proper education to school officials and parents the comprehensive...
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...Promoting healthier eating habits in schools is a major issue across the United States. However, there have been major changes made to improve the nutrition and health of the students eating breakfast and lunch at school. Helping students develop healthier eating habits at school can be an important part of the struggle against childhood obesity and ultimately help improve the health of students in elementary, middle, and high school. A relationship between childhood obesity and school feeding programs has been prevalent when the availability of snack foods and beverages in schools began to increase (Grainger, Senauer, & Runge, 2007). Children may not realize all of the benefits they are receiving from eating a healthy lunch, but their bodies will certainly respond to the healthy food. These days, many schools are taking shortcuts and serving unhealthy foods to save time and money, which is at the expense of the children. Instead, we need to focus on these benefits of the effects on kids of eating healthy cafeteria lunches (Salisbury, C. G. 2004). The involvement that promotes healthy eating can work if the schools are willing to enforce healthy eating habits during breakfast and lunch. School food service directors often must focus on ease of preparation rather than healthy options because they lack both the skilled staff and facilities necessary to do more (Grainger, Senauer, & Runge, 2007). Since there are many schools that depend on major food service vendors to supply...
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...childhood obesity: school lunch. Usually, lunch time is a kid’s favorite time of day at school because they receive a chance to socialize with their friends. However, the cafeteria, where children enjoy spending time the most, is also a place that exposes them to harmful eating habits, such as the unhealthy foods the cafeteria offers which can influence them to continue wanting to eat these foods and may change the way these kids live their lifestyle in the future. Therefore packing a lunch is highly beneficial to a child, rather than buying lunch. A recent study with one thousand sixth-graders in southeastern Michigan has shown that those who regularly had the school lunch were twenty-nine percent were more likely to be obese than those who brought lunch from home. Of the one hundred forty-two obese children in the study for whom dietary information was known, almost half were school-lunch regulars, compared with only one-third of the seven hundred eighty-seven who were not obese. The school cafeteria systems have improved over the years, yet many of the foods still exceed recommendations for fat and many bad choices are made. Most school lunches rely heavily on high-energy, low-nutrient-value foods, because they are cheaper. In the typical school cafeteria, kids can choose an unhealthy mix of foods, especially the less nutritious often available such as a a la carte meal or from the vending machines. Below grade foods are used in nine out of ten schools. But it is not merely...
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...it should be chosen wisely and in a healthy manner. Nutrition is a sensitive case especially when it involves children and adolescence. Schools should provide healthier and nutritious meals for the students. Both breakfast and lunch programs should be improved and directed to healthier choices for all students. Recently, there has been a big improvement to the breakfast and lunch programs in many schools across US. Although they still needs some work, these programs are already changing many children’s lives dramatically. Nowadays, most schools provide fast food such as donuts for breakfast and pizza, French fries and burgers for lunch. This problem is seen in most schools around the nation but specifically in areas with economical disadvantages. The economic situation defiantly affects the school food choices but this problem should be overturned. If we look at research done regarding this case, minorities such as African American and Hispanic children are at higher health risk due to the food decision they make. This case is tightly connected with their economical issues because most minority schools are seen to be serving unhealthy breakfast and lunch programs. This problem should be taken seriously and solution should be proposed. This is why the new programs target schools around areas that are economically challenged and schools with more minority students. Being healthy is very important to kids. Not only to live longer but also to pass it down to the next...
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...What causes childhood obesity? ENG. 122 January 29, 2012 What causes childhood obesity? Childhood obesity is a serious condition that affects over 25 million American Children. It is very important to completely comprehend the scope and nature of this epidemic. Children spend the majority of their day in school and most of them eat breakfast or lunch at least once a day in the school cafeteria. Is it possible that high calorie processed foods that are served in school cafeteria’s can be contributed to childhood obesity? In this paper, I will discuss the effects of childhood obesity, what I believe contributes to it, the proper nutrition that children need to stay healthy, and what can be done to prevent this from happening in the future. It is important to understand what our children are eating at school and if the foods they are eating can potentially cause them to become obese. Childhood obesity has escalated over the past decades and is only getting worse. According to The National Academies Press, (2005) “Nationwide, roughly nine million children over six years of age are obese— with elevated risks of both health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and poor quality of life, possibly throughout adulthood”. Obesity can cause numerous health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and even death. Obesity in our children is now, more than ever, becoming a serious threat...
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...Audience: School Officials that believe Students should Consume Junk Food LaVonia Sauls Kim Sale ENGL 1102 CC 30 Mar 2015 Junk Food Should Be Banned In Schools For many years now, obesity has become a problem for our nation and especially for the children growing up in society today. In our generation, a lot of parents are finding it harder to prepare their kids breakfast and lunch, let alone prepare meals for themselves. Like a new trend, skipping breakfast has become quite popular in schools with many students coming to school unfed. This result has led children to eating unhealthy foods like fried food sold in the cafeteria, or snacks out of the vending machine. But this isn’t the answer, not only are the students already under-nourished from skipping breakfast, but they are digesting a large amount of fat and unhealthy food. Because child obesity is on the rise and school officials feed students greasy, salted unhealthy foods, the use of vending machines and junk food should be banned. There is a law going through congress right now about banning junk food in schools, and before you form an opinion, open your mind to see how the quality of life is being affected by junk food. Junk food can be so destructing towards your well-being and we all know that it makes people overweight. According to an article by the Irish Independent, “Globally, about twenty two million children, under the age of five, are overweight or obese” (Irish Independent Par 6). First of all,...
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...The Public Needs To Know Arlette Perez Professor Traci Wilmoth English Composition 115 2/07/2012 Childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years. In 1980, the obesity rate of 6-11 year olds was 6.5%; in 2008 it tripled to 19.6%. For toddlers and preschoolers aged 2-5, the obesity levels have risen from 5% to 12.4% in the same amount of time. Schools do not generally provide healthy food options, and kids with meal assistance plans have no choice but to consume unhealthy food items. Even kids with options often have an array of processed snacks, fried foods, sweets and sodas to purchase, and very few healthy options (Spark 2009). It is time to change the way our youth eats. According to a recent Brookings Institute report, health economists have estimated that obesity will cost the U.S. about $215 billion. The report identified the four major categories that contribute to that amount: direct medical costs, productivity costs, transportation costs and human capital costs (Hammond, Levine, 2010). In other words, obesity has a direct effect on four areas that usually have a direct effect on the American economy. With more than 60 percent of Americans considered at least overweight and one-third considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it will not be long before obesity is an expected portion of taxpayer money (CDC.gov). Obesity does affect the economy, healthcare and unemployment. And it will take more than grassroots movements in...
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...specifically in Central DeWitt High School, teens are disappointed by the quality of school lunches. The problem of bland, unpleasant school lunch has been around for as long as any high schooler can remember, however, they are unaware of the long lasting dietary habits school lunches are or are not placing into their minds. Unlike the Physical Education department at Central DeWitt, which provides multiple classes such as regular PE, Personal Fitness, and Lifetime Wellness to help students create and maintain lifelong workout routines, the lunch provided is not as beneficial. While there are nutritional guidelines supporting the department, lunches students consume are still high in carbohydrates, sodium, sugar, and other ingredients. According to...
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...day in school, it is the schools responsibility more than the parents to give each student the daily amount of exercise, healthy meals choices for breakfast and lunch, and to educate students to eat nutritionally well. The movie, Supersize Me, is a documentary film where the experimenter, Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald’s food for 30 days straight for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Besides eating just fast food, Spurlock and his team also did several investigations on contributing factors to obesity such as what is in the food that people eat, and the amount that a person can get at one time. In the movie, Spurlock spent time connecting obesity, fast food, and children. Spurlock went to three different schools and analyzed how the schools foods contributed to childhood obesity. The first school in Naperville, Illinois shows how school staff turns a blind eye towards what students buy and eat. Even when a student buys nothing but candy or chips, the staff believes they brought a sack lunch with healthier foods, this is realistically never happens. This particular school food is serviced by Sodexho, which is one of the lowest and cheapest food services around. Sodexho supplies over 400 kindergarten through twelfth grade school districts nationwide providing foods such as Little Debbie snacks, Gatorade, and candy bars to students. Sodexho also operates prisons and feeds thousands of inmates worldwide with the same kinds of foods fed to children in our schools. A Sodexho...
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...Since the 1900s, lunches were served in schools. Over the decades, there were dramatic changes in school lunches and to make it clear, it recently changed. The latest political battle in DC- your lunch. They have been changed constantly health-wise from the 1900s to now. In the 1990s, school lunches hit its peak of unhealthy foods and most recently, people take a stand on changing, keeping or altogether getting rid of them. Two people currently taking a lead, first lady Michelle Obama who decides to keep school lunch standards but, on the other hand, Aderholt thinks these standards need to be changed greatly because it is too strict. Well, what do I, a 6th grader currently attending Miller Middle school think? Two main things, that need to change, is the schools lunch standards and who controls them. They are a...
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...for a change. In 2010, Michelle devised the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. In simplified form, this act was put into place to change the school lunch standards to include meals that were higher in nutrients and lower in fats, among other things. Some, out of the many, new regulations include replacing white bread with whole-grain or wheat, including either a fruit or vegetable in every meal, total fat of every meal must be less than or equal to 35% of the total calories, and total sugar levels must be less than or equal to 35% of the total calories or less than...
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