America is facing a crisis because of eating habits. Six million adults are obese and three hundred thousand people die from obesity every year (Cody). There has been a sharp increase in the availability and consumption of junk food in recent years and this may have contributed to rising rates of obesity. Junk foods are defined as items that are high in energy content, fat, and/or sugar and low in nutrients. So from this we gain that junk foods are not just foods full of sugar, junk foods can be any foods that are bad for you. It can be anything from a piece of candy to processed food (such as canned food, ramen noodles, cookies, etc.). Schools never think about the positive and negative effects of having junk food in schools. School representatives …show more content…
(Van, Mikolajczak, and Bemelmans 1-9). Based on these results it is easily seen that school representatives normally do not put a lot of thought into the food that they serve at schools. This should change, and soon. “Junk is the key word. Junk means trash, it is as simple as that. Why even bother? It is unhealthy, processed, gross, and high in fats, sodium, calories, cholesterol, carbohydrates, trans fat; this isn 't what students need to eat. Junk food is not healthy for a child, teen, or an adult.” (Mercola). It is time to stop and control what is being consumed by students, now. Having junk food available to students in schools is a decisions that has to be thought through all the way. Though junk food in schools may appear to be a good idea, in reality, junk food adds to the obesity epidemic, should be left for the parents to decide, works against the holistic well-being of children, and is more expensive in the …show more content…
Most parents believe that they should be able to control the amount of junk food their child consumes not the schools. Schools should at least have healthier options for the child to choose, instead of only offering sugary foods. I asked Larry Bowen, as a father, how he felt about junk food being available to students in schools and he said, “Junk food shouldn’t be available period because junk food has a lot of sugar and white flour products and those things cause cancer along with obesity.” However, at the same time some parents do not have a problem with their child eating junk food. I asked Teresa Vanesse, a mother in Georgia, how she felt about junk food being available to students in schools and she said, “In moderation, there is not anything wrong with it.” But how can anyone know if it is really in moderation, when the parents of a student sees one side of their child’s day, while a teacher sees the other side of their day? This is why I believe that junk food should not be available to students in schools because it should be the parent’s choice whether or not the child is able to eat ‘junk food’. There is no way to be exactly sure how much a child intakes when they have junk food availability in two different places. It is bad enough already. People in North America already eat out on a regular basis and having junk
Schools with enormous food courts where students can buy meals and drinks from commonly known franchises, such as McDonalds and Coca-Cola, are the schools with the most health problems. Fast-food franchises are showing up everywhere, but do these businesses belong in high schools? No! Schools are here to enlighten students for life after school. If high schools promote bad eating habits by placing fast-food franchises in their cafeterias, then how can students eat right and healthy beyond high school.
Unhealthy foods are what make the money for schools and that is why they serve them for students. (Schlafy) Schools feel like they need the extra money in the budget, even though it is at the student’s expense. Data shows that nearly 60% of all middle schools in the US serve soda from vending machines. (Schlafy) Soda is very high in sugar and is not at all good for children, but it is still sold in school vending machines. The ways food in schools is now are way too high in fats and sugars. This is not good for the children and very bad in the long run. Elementary schoolchildren have an estimated $15 billion of their own money that they can use to buy whatever they want in schools, and parents have almost another $160 billion to give students for food money. (Schlafy) Big businesses see this as a big source of profit and therefore encourage children to buy their products, and want them to be offered in school because of th4e likelihood of children buying the business’s product. All in all, obesity in the US is greatly influenced by the foods offered in schools
Food To Students." Points Of View: Junk Food In Schools (2013): 2. Points of View
This doesn’t help kids focus in the classroom for hours after consuming these fatty and sugary foods. The kids will get a sugar high but then crash hours after and won’t be focusing in class but instead, falling asleep during an important lesson. Anita states that, “school cafeterias, of all places, should demonstrate how a healthy, low-fat, well-balanced diet produces healthy, energetic, mentally alert people,” and teaching this at high schools is the best place to change the food because in this generation, kids are becoming overweight and unhealthy because of all the “junk food” they are eating. Teenagers in high school tend to eat more when they are stressed, so if they serve unhealthy foods in the cafeterias then the student will eat the “junk food”, but if the “junk” is switched with fruits, vegetables, and some salads then the students wouldn’t have the sugar high and be focused
"All Food Sales in Schools Should Offer Healthier Options." Should Junk Food Be Sold in Schools? Ed. Norah Piehl. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.
If nothing is being done about what students eat at school, it is just helping our younger population to become corpulent. “Junk food plays a major role in the obesity epidemic. By the year 2050, the rate of obesity in the U.S. Is expected to reach 42 percent, according to researchers at Harvard University. Children who eat fast food as a regular part of their diets consume more fat, carbohydrates and processed sugar and less fiber than those who do not eat fast food regularly”(debate). Parents can also be responsible for how the child eats.
Junk food is any food that is perceived to be unhealthy and of low nutritional value.Since the schools were acquainted with garbage nourishments, children began to buy and consume uncontrolled.poor eating habits developed at an early age lead to health consequences.school is where children's spend most of their time and it is where we lay the foundation of healthy habits.Junk food is bad and not good for our health.America is facing the crisis because of our eating habits, Majority of the people die of obese and remaining have problems associated with overweights.Infants are likely to be more attracted towards unhygienic food like chips, candies, beverages. What we eat is what is going to show on our body.According to the health foundation,
In “Hooked on ‘Caramel-Colored Gold,” Melody Nelson claims “Despite the increased awareness of the benefits of good nutrition, we are a nation hooked on junk food, and many school administrators are taking advantage of the situation ” (par. 3). Nelson propose a ban on vending machines in schools because junk food is unhealthy for children, and they risk future health problems. I agree with Melody Nelson and believe that vending machines should be banned from school campuses, because they sell unhealthy food, they cause more money to schools for hiring extra custodians, and they are affecting children learning abilities.
Though J. Justin Wilson argues that by removing unhealthy snacks, “it undermines student’s ability to learn how to make healthy decisions for themselves.”, not all students have been informed about the consequences of consuming junk food and often times need someone to guide them in making the right choice. If schools are promoting unhealthy snacks, students are encouraged to purchase the snack. If healthy snacks replace junk food, students have easier access to healthy food and junk food won’t be an option. When students are hungry, they will be forced to eat healthier because it will be the only option being offered. It is crucial that the government gets involved in this issue and acts now because “80 percent of teenagers who are obese remain obese as
Pink slime, gray burgers, enough preservatives to mummify a small dog: all examples of what a child attending a public school could be eating in school day. Although awareness concerning childhood obesity has been spread, the food being consumed in schools is still unsatisfactory. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in teenagers since 1980, leading to type two diabetes and other health concerns (Yeoman). This is no doubt due to the new fatty foods being produced and served in the lunch room. The National School Lunch Program has set standards on what school lunch should be like, but these standards are rarely met by schools (Curtis). Furthermore, this only applies to the school lunch being prepared, and not for everything being sold; cookies, candy, and chips don't have any requirements. The food that is served has been preserved with large amounts of sodium and frozen in order for it to be stored for months before use, which is very unhealthy. The meat being imported doesn't even meet popular fast food companies' standards, and because of this, it's been concluded that school lunches are actually less healthy than fast food.
To conclude, unhealthy foods in the cafeteria and the vending machines are the worst examples for the kids to maintain the healthy eating habits. Us Parents have to step in to make changes for our kids because in doing so would determine what kind of foods our kids are consuming. We do know for facts they are not getting the proper nutrients while in school, although they do spend in average of eight to 12 hours in schools. We, the parents, can start to make a difference, by attending the school meetings and being active in our kids functions in schools.
In the article, “Junk Food In Schools” its states, “Most snacks sold in school would have to have fewer than 200 calories. Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, low-fat milk or 100% fruit or vegetable juice.” This shows the healthier options that could be taken into effect if the switch is
New Jersey, in 2007, became the first school to completely ban all types of junk food from school grounds; soon after, many schools did the same. (Junk Food) Why try to change the way people want to live their life? Others would not want people to be involved in their life and tell them what to eat and what not to eat, so why is it okay to step into a kid’s life and tell him or her what they will and will not eat? “Many obese people live long, healthy lives...as many as one out of three obese people are considered “obese healthy.”” (Is Obesity a Disease?)
Hunger and malnutrition are a problem everywhere although, not everyone has access to nutritious foods. The convenience of junk food is tempting to consume, although people don’t realize what they are putting in their bodies. Junk food is everywhere, although location has to do with your diet. People who have more access to healthy foods may not be as tempted to putting junk in their bodies. There is a lack of access to healthy foods because no transportation, the location, low income, or simply too busy. With more exposure to healthier foods and reasonable prices the number of serious health conditions will lower because of people having a healthier diet.
Junk food has been proven to be unhealthy long time ago. Junk food started to grow more and more recently and spread fast all over the world. Junk food reveals any food with high calories and low nutritional value. A big problem with junk foods is that satiation value of them is low, that means people need to eat a large amount of that unhealthy foods to feel full. So it is like eating a lot of poisons for a long time, what do you think the result will be on the health condition of the humans? Another problem of junk foods tend to replace other healthy foods; people who drink a lot of soda there is no room for healthy natural fruit juice in their stomach, people who are snacking on cookies, they’re not eating fruits and healthy vegetables (WebMD