More handpicked essays just for you.
Healthy school lunches essay
Childhood obesity and underlying health conditions
Causes of childhood obesity essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
School cafeterias and school vending machines do not encourage the best eating habits in schools, high schools in particular. It is more convenient to serve frozen foods like pizzas and frozen lasagnas almost every day. Without realizing how those unhealthy foods are really affecting the kids performances in school and their everyday life activities, such as in physical education class.
The vending machines which have mostly sodas and chips are also convenient for kids, but they are consuming tremendous amount of sugars that are so unhealthy for their diets. In high schools, their hormones are changing and when they eat or drink foods that are not healthy, their hormones respond to those, by making them hyper, unable to learn and to comprehend subjects better in schools.
Furthermore, those unhealthy foods really affect their grades, which in turn, the school grade drops to a “C or D” school in the district. Researchers have shown how unhealthy eating habits have affected high-schoolers in schools. In addition, eating a healthy breakfast in the morning before a big exam, the FCAT in FL, shows an increase in the high-schoolers grades.
Moreover, the controversy over cafeteria food is whether or not it is healthy for all students from elementary schools to colleges. Numerous factors lead to unhealthy eating in schools and on campuses. Sometimes options with better nutrition are offered, but when there are, they tend to be less appealing than the unhealthy foods which turns to obesity. Many schools are undergoing budget cuts and changes, and healthy food tends to take a back burner when deciding where the limited amounts of money should go (Gupta). Unfortunately, when schools do have healthy ingredients, the food is usually prep...
... middle of paper ...
... in food in the cafeteria lead to clogging the arteries that eventually lead to heart diseases (Ardis). Nevertheless, artificial sweeteners have not been tested in humans and show kids they are healthier, rather than real sugar and real sweeteners, when in reality they contain ingredients that can cause cancer.
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.
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
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
...can get. Others may claim students may become hyper after eating too much sugar. This all goes back to parents limiting how much money students can take to school. If needed, teachers can monitor how much sugar a student consumes. Students should know their boundaries. If all issues against school stores can be solved by implementing rules, then it’s not so unhealthy to have a school store or vending machines.
Instead of getting rid of vending machines in schools, they could stock them with healthy options. Adults are in charge of what goes into the machines. Parents are for the most part giving kids the money to buy snacks, so they could have a say in what the kids are buying with that money. There are many foods that could be given instead of chips, and soda. There are many companies, ensuring that their snacks are healthy. Vending machines should not be removed from schools to ensure that kids have access to food at all times during or after
“More than 76 percent of schools sell soft drinks and sweetened fruit drinks, but fewer than half offered bottles water. Fewer than 15 percent sell low-fat or nonfat yogurt, and fewer than one third order skim milk. Only 25 percent of schools say they've reduced fats and oils in recipes.”(Spake, 2). Choices at lunch range from greasy to unidentifiable. Most students eat school lunches five days a week. So most of the food they eat throughout the week comes from the school cafeteria. Although, the schools do tend to offer healthy choices such as salads, subs, skim milk, and unlimited fruits and vegetables. “Each week Phoenix students are served a variety of fruits and vegetables from guava to grapes and jicima to red peppers. School officials hope that by exposing children to fruits and vegetable they may develop a taste for them and request their parents to buy them.”(Bailey, 1). Real meat is becoming an issue in schools. “According to reports issued by the Physicians Committee for responsible Medicine (PCRM) the USDA dumps hundreds of millions of pounds of surplus beef, chicken, cheese, and pork on the National School lunch Program.”(Lord, 42). Chicken isn't whole white meat; some of it doesn't even taste like meat! Let’s move on to unhealthy foods. There are unlimited amounts of un...
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.
The regulations passed by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act make it harder than ever for schools to provide adequate nutrition to students by having such rigorous guidelines. While some schools have had no issue following guidelines, not every school is able to source viable food while staying in budget. It is vital that cafeterias are able to successfully meet guidelines, but it is also important that they provide food that students will eagerly consume as well as help them become better students.
Williamson, D. A., Han, H., Johnson, W. D., Martin, C. K., & Newton, R. L. (2013). Modification of the school cafeteria environment can impact childhood nutrition. Results from the Wise Mind and LA Health studies. Appetite, 61, 77–84. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2012.11.002
Many cafeteria workers and staff members in 49 states have said many students do not want the governments new school lunches. Almost 7 out of 17 schools with have been seen with students throwing away some or all their fruits or vegetables, even the cafeteria workers are suffering under these new standards. About 60.3 percent of school districts want flexibility to be given to all schools to improve their ability to provide and give good nutrition without harm to any instructions and school district operations. Schools should know by now what is good for students and what is not, but they should not go overboard with the wheat and whole grain items. Another example that shows that schools should be responsible for providing a nutritious lunch is knowing that there are a variety of ways to make healthy foods taste good for school students. Healthy tasty food that will risk diabetes and obesity .One of the biggest reasons people do not eat healthy foods is because they feel it as if it will not taste good. The problem is, if your health food does not taste good, you are eating the wrong health food. Just because something is good for you does not mean it has to taste nasty, boring, or completely gross. There are plenty of ideas out there for eating healthy without making sacrifices on taste. “It is silly that people are worried about kids throwing things out. There are many ways to make
Children who eat from the national school lunch program are not receiving healthy foods. “Worldwide there are now more than 40 million overweight or obese children below the age of five” (Lang pg. 64). ”In most schools, the fare is a mix of chicken nuggets, tator tots, canned fruits and vegetables, chocolate milk that contains more sugar than soda, corn dogs and pizza pockets, Cheap food that cost less than a dollar a day” (Cooper pg. 25). Sugary foods cause students to sleep in class, students tend to go for the sugary and unhealthy food when they receive their lunch tray. Children are the people most affected by the chemicals used to produce and process food. They eat more foods than adults, which means that antibiotic and hormone residues in their foods collect in greater concentrations in their bodies. In addition, kids are eating foods that are unhealthy leading to addiction. "American children are increasingly enduring obesity and general...
Have you ever tasted school cafeteria food? I don’t think you would want to. In school story books, do you have characters saying that the food tasted good at school cafeterias? Nope. Why is this? Cafeteria food is often cheap, bought in bulk, high in calories, malnutritious, and microwaved. Student polls and opinions prove this. Therefore, this leads to a suggestion: Healthier, tastier foods and a better, advanced lunch system should be implemented.
The popularity of the vending machine has failed students to realize the red flags that pertain to the vending machine. These machines are stocked with junk food and sugary soft drinks every single week allowing a quick access to food; however, what we don’t know is how students and schools view the vending machine. Schools generate extra income from vending machines despite the health concern of students who rely on the vending machines as a daily source of nourishment. This is also because the vending machine selections are often based more on what will make money as opposed to what is healthy. School lunches alone are unhealthy with servings of burgers, pizza, and French fries everyday which can lead to chronic illnesses such as obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart disease at young age. Therefore, to avoid unhealthy snacking, discouragement of healthy eating, and the concerns that come with childhood illnesses, vending machines need to be replaced with healthy options allowing healthy lifestyle and academic concentration.
Well, vending machines with any unhealthy foods do not exist. (Nasbe.org) For instance, federal regulations have striped junk food from schools and vending machines. Also, the USDA requires any food sold in public schools to meet calorie, fat, sugar, and sodium limits. (Usnews.com) Which means there have been problems fixed.
Schools have been debating if vending machines are truly necessary in schools, they can provide many benefits but also be seen in a negative way. The big issue with having vending machines is that the high calorie snacks cause obesity. But, not all snacks are unhealthy. Having vending machines give students the right to make the decision to eat healthy or unhealthy.