Childhood Obesity In Schools

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and today, nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese. (“Data & Statistics.” Childhood Obesity in America, childhoodobesityinusa.weebly.com/data--statistics.html). The reasons why the numbers are increasing are because children are eating more empty calories than ever before. Instead of healthy fruits, veggies and nutritious snacks and lunches, parents are packing and serving processed snacks that contains high fructose corn syrup. If this problem is not solved, one third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some time in their lives. (National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, letsmove.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/learn-facts/epidemic-childhood-obesity). Childhood obesity should be prevented because it is a risk to kids' health, low self-esteem, and they can be bullied because of it.

The organization of Debatewise stated that controlling the foods that students consume is important in combating obesity, as the dieting habits that most people form originate from when they were young. This is why it’s so crucial for schools to introduce healthier options in schools. If these unhealthy habits are developed, the students are “at higher risk for having other chronic health conditions and diseases that impact physical health..”, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These conditions can affect them emotionally and physically, including depression and obesity, which are important health issues both linked with the consumption of junk foods. The selling of junk food in schools is not a small problem either, as it concludes from a study by the Institute of Medicine in 2003 that elementary schools earn approximately $442 million annually from junk food sales. The importance of changing the school lunch programs to implement healthier options is high when there is so much money being spent by the students. Although obesity is a real problem due to the selling of junk food, it can lead to other problems that leading a healthier way of living could fix. For instance, the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension states junk foods, due to processing that removes vitamins, minerals, and fiber from the product, are empty calories that are ultimately worthless to the body. This alone contributes to unneeded weight gain and provides no additional sustenances that help the body grow. The Harvard Health Publications describes this to be a serious problem, and acknowledge not only this to be a complication, but mentions the unnecessarily high amounts of sodium levels in the foods, stating that “...the average

What is this food doing to our children? The childhood obesity epidemic has increased because of the contribution of junk food that is being served in public schools. It has been found that children who eat fatty school foods are more likely to become obese than those who brought lunch from home. Why is this we may ask has a lot to do with the above student that I stated brought their lunch from home daily. You can count the intake of calories that is in your lunchbox but you have no idea what is in the food from you school, half of the time you will not even know what the food is. Also, the specials that are provided for students on special food days increases their calorie intake as well such as; pizza day or wing day. On these days children have shown to intake more food because these are the days that they provide greasy foods that taste swell and the children like them so they will gravitate to them because they do not have the proper knowledge to know what this food can do to your body.

The obesity epidemic is a widespread problem in children and turning it around will be a huge challenge. However, the right place to start attacking the epidemic is at our schools. American children and teenagers are consuming more unnecessary calories than ever, resulting in health problems and rising obesity rates. Schools should provide healthier foods to promote good nutrition and to prevent obesity and health problems. According to an article titled “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause” published in the New York Times in 2011, systematic approaches to lower the obesity rate include schools increasing the price of unhealthy foods and drinks, schools providing a larger selection of healthy food, and introducing

Many people in today 's generation are constantly are craving junk food. It is patently evident junk food plays a major role in the cause of obesity. According to a study called "Psychological science", Obesity leads to numerous health issues including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. The treatment of these health issues cost billions of tax health dollars (Physiological science, 2014). Permitting junk food in schools will cause greater chances of obesity. Students will be heading on a venture. Furthermore, obesity is a continuous major problem since the past several years. In 2010, a 4 year old girl named

The obesity epidemic in America is ever increasing. It has spread across various age groups, areas and economic statuses. Obesity is the condition of being grossly fat or overweight. The spreading of the obesity problem has caused, “rates [to have] doubled in adults and tripled in children in recent decades” Dr. Frieden said (Hughes). This problem can be greatly reduced if schools took action in providing a healthy environment for students. In particular, Valencia High School can encourage healthy eating on campus by banning the selling of junk foods on campus and providing appetizing, healthy foods for the students to eat.

“Today, more than one-third of people under age 19 are overweight or obese,” (Schools Struggle to Feed Kids Healthy Food). Students are not getting the needed nutrition that their body needs to function. Many of the school food programs across the U.S. serve unhealthy food that is bad for the students eating it.

American public schools have poor nutrition, and it causes obesity in teenagers. As a former student of the American public school systems, the condition of the food has been a problem for years. Over the past two decades, obesity has been an issue in the U.S, and it is due to poor school nutrition. The public schools lack a variation in the healthy meals they contain. Inadequate nutrition can lead to an abundance of health problems. Although spending money on food can be expensive, the government needs to invest in the health of students, and a great start is to provide better nutrition. Even though it may cost a lot of funds to improve school food, U.S school food regulation for public schools should be changed because public school food is unhealthy and it causes health problems in America.

According to The State of Obesity (Trust for America’s Health, 2014), in the United States today, 31.8% of children are obese or overweight, 16.9% of that number are obese. Nurses are at the forefront of promoting health, so what can they do to eradicate this prevalent disease? Research by Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal (as cited in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014) states that from 1980 to 2012, the percentage of overweight or obese children more than doubled, totaling to greater than one third of all children and adolescents as overweight or obese. Childhood obesity is an epidemic that is sweeping the nation and becoming a severe problem. Besides the obvious risks of cardiovascular disease, bone and joint issues, low

Junk food, junk food, junk food is around all corners of schools. Chocolate, cookies, soda, potato chips, and Sour Strings may sound delectable to some people, but are they nutritious? Some people wonder if there should be a change. Encouraging exceptional nutrition in schools is essential by reasons of students will consume foods that are better for them, schools will pay less for meals, and fewer students would go hungry.

Don’t you love being able to buy snacks and Gatorade for lunch? Well, schools are trying to get the delectable snacks extracted for good. Although junk food is unhealthy, school should continue to supply them because healthier food is more expensive, students may not even eat the healthier lunch, and lunch is too short for students to eat lunch while relaxing and talking to their friend. It may seem like the schools are trying to do better, but they are just wasting their time and money trying to get people to eat healthy. It’s true that numerous students are getting obese, but trying to get them to change their eating habits is not going to suddenly make them healthy. It is a two-way-door having to eat healthier, but to exercise too. Just because someone is slim doesn't mean that they are healthy.

The controversial topic of childhood obesity has been going on for a long time and because of it, many schools are debating if they should ban junk food from school cafeterias or not. There are many opinions on what step should be taken to solve this problem. Some say too ban junk food and some say it should not be banned. It should be up to the kids and the parents as too what kids eat and not the government. By banning junk food in one place doesn’t mean it's going to stop them from eating sugary foods they can get it from another place.

One of the most controversial issues of recent date is that of how to treat America's obesity epidemic. The increased rate of obesity amongst children is particularly alarming. Children are beginning to develop diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses linked to weight gain at very high rates. Given this concern, many solutions have been proposed. Some have suggested bringing back mandatory PE; others have suggested improving children's diets within the public school system and banning fast food-related advertising on the airwaves.

A growing concern of junk food availability in schools has contributed to the childhood obesity epidemic (Datar & Nicosia, 2012).

Childhood obesity is on the rise in the Unites States. We know that children are not as active as they have been in the past. Desktop computers, handheld computers, mobile phones, video games and television have replaced students playing, moving and being active. As a result, there has been a negative impact on student achievement. As a progressive district, we must address this issue by educating teachers on the importance of healthy eating and incorporating movement in the classroom. To do so, I propose we revamp our approach to health and wellness in the school community.