Childhood Obesity: A Case Study

The foods that are available in schools play a huge role in the overall consumption of food/calories eaten in a day by our children. This in turn gives our children the energy to learn in class. An improper diet can lead to childhood obesity and other health problems (diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer) which can stem from being overweight, both physically and emotionally. One article states how childhood obesity, ages 2-19, tripled from 1980 to 2008 and as of June 2014, 17% of children were obese (Cluss, Fee, Culyba, Bhat, Owen, 2014) and another article states that as of September 2014 one-third of our children, ages 6-19, are overweight or obese (Hennessy et al., 2014). My priority issue focuses on bringing healthier food menus to schools

and this paper will try to address the importance of how providing healthy meal options can help improve the health and reduce the prevalence obesity of our children. I believe that if we offer healthier food options that the children will choose them.

Key Points
Last year, and now this year, I have noticed an increase of fried food options in my children’s school meal menu. A few meal examples are (Oxford school meal menu, 2015):
• Chicken nuggets, tater tots, Frozen fruit slush, biscuit and milk
• Mini corn dogs, carrot coins, pears, kids munchie mix and milk
• Chicken tenders, Spudster potatoes, grapes, Doritos and milk
Don’t get me wrong there are some healthier ‘type’ options given with the meals but they are not fresh options and I am sure that the current options have a higher sodium or carbohydrate content then what our children really need. I believe if our children are given healthier options they would learn to eat healthier. Children are very impressionable and since they spend a good portion of their lives at school then the school system needs to set a good example. However, there are many factors that can inhibit this possibility such as (Lucinelli et al., 2014):
• Economic Influences: Not enough money for the schools to be able to purchase healthy food options
• Family Influences: Lack of support from parents/family for students outside of school to eat healthier
• School Foods/Meals: Lack of budget to purchase healthier food options for meals (i.e. whole grains, fresh fruits/vegetables)
I also understand that there are other factors that can contribute to childhood obesity besides poor diet such as a sedentary lifestyle, genetics and a poor diet intake outside of school. The one thing I am most impressed with is the fact that the teachers my children have had over the past few years will only allow healthy food options for their daily snack. I believe it’s a small start but can make an effect on our children.

Empirical Evidence
Childhood obesity can lead to adult obesity and obesity health problems can continue into adulthood which can include arthritis, stroke, liver disease and a reduced life expectancy (Riis, Grason, Strobina, Ahmed & Minkovitz, 2012).

Medical costs related to obesity can reach astronomical amounts and in 2008 an estimated cost of $147 billion dollars was spent on obesity related problems which was an increase of $68 billion in 10 years (Riis, Grason, Strobina, Ahmed & Minkovitz, 2012). Obesity is a profound problem that can impact the individual health, community health and the healthcare systems - it can cause financial burdens at many levels. Therefore, it makes sense to offer healthier food options in order to try and reduce childhood

obesity.
The National School Lunch Program is a federally funded assisted meal program and provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children ("National school lunch program (NSLP) | food and nutrition service," 2013). This program is supposed to increase the availability of fresh fruits/vegetables and whole grains to school meals. Local food authorities determine the meal menus. This program only gives basic guidelines and really leaves too many questions unanswered when it comes to determining a proper menu for the schools.

Policy Priority Issue
In my research I discovered a study that was done to determine the food purchase patterns of students called the HEALTHY Armstrong initiative. This initiative studied three questions (Cluss, Fee, Culyba, Bhat, Owen, 2014):
1.

If healthier options are available would children purchase them?

2. Any negative consequences associated with alternating the menus?

3. Do food supply costs increase when healthier options exist?

This initiative introduced a system of Go, Whoa and Slow for children to have an understanding of what makes better choices than others. This initiative resulted in a positive lunch sale pattern towards healthier food options. Further research was suggested to see if there was increased food waste and an increase of children bringing lunches from home.

I would like to do a similar study in my school system to try and reduce the number of fried and unhealthier food options. Our menus are very limited and do not offer a variety that is necessary to try and get our children to expand their horizons and explore food. I am not sure how far I can get by myself and I know I would need to try and get the school district administration on board. As a parent, I would be willing to pay more for healthier options for my children. They just need to be an option. The HEALTHY Armstrong initiative is a great start and maybe contacting the researches for advice could be a beginning as well.

Conclusion
I believe it is possible to make the necessary changes that are needed to improve healthy food options to schools. It will take participation by the schools administrators, parents, teachers and the students themselves in order to achieve a positive outcome.