Schools Should Provide Nutritious Lunches

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School lunches leave students with limited options, leaving no room for improvement in the fight for childhood obesity that one in three children suffer from. (8) Having the same, repetitive, items that are high in fat, sugar, preservatives, and additives(1) increase chances of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in students to name a few.(2) Even with the additional ameliorates directly from the White House, they only affect federally funded schools, excluding private schools. (4) With these weaknesses in our school lunch system, reform is definitely needed to conquer these common issues.

School lunches are notorious for being unhealthy. Perhaps we are now more aware of this due to First Lady, Michelle Obama’s campaign for healthier eating in the school settings. In 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture released new rules that helped boost the nutritional quality of meals eaten by over 32 million students, whose schools participate in the National School Lunch Program. These rules involve changes encompassing more fruits,vegetables, and whole grains, less fat and sodium, and rational calorie limits. (3) However these rules are only eligible to schools that comply with the National School Lunch Program, in which private schools are not part of. The program in itself is a great step towards reform to healthy school lunches. But as senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research in Princeton, N.J. Anne Gordon said "We need to explore other ways of making change” (2) Gordon later went on to say

“[this] could include items such as providing more training and technical assistance to schools, providing more funding for nutrition education.” Providing training or additional funding would not only be beneficial ...

... middle of paper ...

...dy Finds Health Value To Children of National School Lunch Program. Iowa State University , 9 Nov. 2012. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. .

7. Gross, Bambi. Personal interview. 9 Feb. 2014

8. Diaz, Von. What Ever Happened to Michelle Obama’s School Lunch Program?. ColorLines, 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. .

9.D, Elizabeth. A Healthy Lunch. Teen Ink, 2013. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. .

10. Jalonick, Marie C. School Lunches To Be Healthier: Have More Fruits, Vegetables, Whole Grains. Huffington Post, 25 Jan. 2012. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. .

11. Hughes, Madison. Personal interview. 6. Feb. 2014.

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