Persuasive Essay: Universal Free Lunch In Public Schools

School lunch programs need to change, and in order to implement this, “In 2004, Congress required every single school in the district to develop local wellness policies regarding food available in school, nutrition programs, and physical activity programs”(Haugen & Musser,2012). The government was trying to put in place programs to help children be healthy in their food choices as well as ways to get healthy if they were already overweight by incorporating physical healthy programs. Schools need to limit the amount of fatty choices and put more healthy products in their school cafeterias. Nutrition education programs can help students to learn the dangers of obesity and show them that their health is something that needs to be taken seriously

5). Simultaneously, they will learn the advantages of eating healthy foods. For instance, the nutritionists will help the children understand that eating carrots helps improve their eye-sight. Also, the children will learn about the importance of daily exercise and how it can reduce their risks of developing diseases later on in their lives. Through healthier lunches at school, the children will gain more energy. By eating foods with less amount of sugar at school, children will feel less drowsy and be able to concentrate more during class time. Healthier school lunches will also help lower the rates of children obesity. According to JAMA Pediatrics (2013), “Rates of obesity were much less pronounced in states where school meals exceeding the USDA nutritional standards (21.1% versus 17.4%)” (as cited in Walsh, 2013, para. 3). The time with the nutritionists and healthier school lunches will help children acquire a taste for healthier food choices and they will encourage their families to recreate these healthy foods at home.

Completely preventable health issues - those that involve food intake - are perceived as being an epidemic in the United States by many. Unfortunately, it has plagued many school-aged children across the country, and these rates continue to climb as time goes on. A factor of this climb is not merely food intake at home, but largely food intake during school hours/in schools settings. As of today, there are 31 million students in varying homes taking advantage of school lunches; it is vital that schools provide quality lunches for students and increase the amount of healthy options, as many childhood diseases are directly correlated with unhealthy eating and students in poverty rely on these meals for proper nutrients and lifelong health.

From the time they were in elementary school, students have heard about the importance of nutrition. Although they have been taught the value of a balanced, healthy diet, students continue to ignore the recommendations given to them and even complain about the steps that the school administration takes to improve the nutritional quality of the foods within the cafeteria. While the students may not realize it, obesity in children and teenagers has been steadily increasing, and schools nationwide are taking action to combat this epidemic (Rutledge 1). Schools should continue providing healthy foods on the lunch menu, as well as in the vending machines.

When I look back at my experiences through elementary school, and think about the school lunches, my memories tend to be very vivid in my head. When it comes to lunch, usually parents would expect some sort of nutritious, put together meals. Students are now accustomed to seeing nothing but long lunch lines, hearing loud talking, and seen eating very greasy, harmful and unappealing food. I recall numerous times seeing students in my class eating nothing but disgusting junk food as the main course of their meal and others simply throwing it away in the trash. One would think that elementary school lunches are promoting healthy, successful lifestyles among the young children, but what the parents don’t realize is that how are these elementary schools suppose to accomplish that when their school meals are so unhealthy? This is one of the main reasons why parents need to provide healthier lunches containing more delicious variety of edible food that not only is seen as considerably significant for children at a young age, but also helps develop the necessary nutrition

While we cannot monitor everything children do in their daily life, healthy eating habits are essential. We need to work together. Along with parents there is certainly an onus on schools to do more to adopt healthy behaviors. In the United States over 32 million students eat school meals every day, and for many of these children, school meals account for up to 50% of their daily energy intake. Because of this schools have already been subject to new guidelines for school meals, developed by the United States Department of Agriculture. These guidelines require schools to have a higher offering of whole grain rich foods, offer only fat-free or low fat milk products, and

The goal of this program is to resolve the obesity dilemma in America within our current generation. Also studies have shown that when children don’t eat healthy they seem to be sluggish, tried, not interacting with classroom activities, less attention span and with a better possibility of falling asleep in class or misbehaving. In 2012 the first major adjustment of the school’s food guidelines were announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The goal for the new laws would be to improve the nutritional quality of the food that is served and consumed by school children daily.

What is your favorite part of your work day? The traffic getting to work, finding the parking spot that doesn’t exist, or Steve, the annoying co-worker across from you? No, we all know that lunch is your favorite. You get some time off to just relax with a good sandwich, some chips, an apple and maybe a cookie. This may be awesome for you but for students lunch has gone downhill. The food has been affected by the Healthy Hunger-Free Act. Causing schools to cut out the “unhealthy” parts of lunch. Because of these changes lunch has become semi-tasteless. If not tasteless, there is no flare to it, no layers of taste. This is causing less kids to buy the lunches and school is losing profit. Yet the Healthy Hunger-Free act is still seeing fewer

School lunch programs supplement children’s nutrition needs and without them many children would go hungry, be malnourished and lack the fuel needed to learn. Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, passed into law by President Barack Obama, reauthorized funding of the original Child Nutrition Act of 1966. Changes impacting not only the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs but also Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Summer Food Service Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Child and Adult Care Food Programs. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, for the first time in over 30 years, reformed school lunch and breakfast programs thereby improving nutrition for

Under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 the U.S. Department of Agriculture was mandated to revise their nutrition standards for the first time in almost 15 years (SNA, 2017). These new standards require school cafeterias to offer more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains and to limit the students’ calories, unhealthy fat, and sodium in every school meal, breakfast and lunch. Under these standards schools must offer fruits and vegetables with every lunch and increase the portion

Comparing the “Nutritional Standards in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program students are receiving twice the amount of fruit and vegetables than before (fns.usda.gov). The vitamins these foods provide are a necessity to all children, especially those who may not otherwise receive them. Lessons from the Lunchroom: Childhood Obesity, School Lunch, and the Way to a Healthier Future concluded that students who were receiving free or reduced priced lunches at school consumed more fruits and vegetables more often than students not in the program (Hayes-Maslow,

These meals not only feed children from poor households, but they also encourage them to stay in class and learn (“Resources, hunger”). One big concern regarding the education system is the inability of many parents in developing countries to send their children to schools because of local economic and social conditions (“Resources, education”). Because of the harsh economic problems that developing countries are facing it is very hard to provide suitable training for all young people (“Resources, education”). One touching story I read was a about a young girl named Eliza. Eliza always looked forward to going to school because she knew that when she got there she would get food. Not only that, but she is also happy that she can learn and work towards achieving her dreams of becoming a journalist (“Resources, hunger”). This story made me start to think about my own school and community. Since the 2014-15 school year Rutherford County Schools has been fortunate enough to be able to provide free breakfast and lunch to every student. I am realizing more and more children are like Eliza and this is a much needed service to students and families not only in our county but all around our nation. It has been proven that 12 percent of people could be lifted out of poverty if all students in poor countries had basic reading skills (“Facts”). Students cannot be expected to

This underscores the need to provide fresh, healthy lunches that form strong eating habits and give students the nutrition and energy they need to focus when they return to the classroom. Serving nutritional meals in schools will result in energized, focused, healthy, and successful children. There are people who are starting to join the fight against childhood obesity. According to Glazer, “The effort to ensure that our children live longer and avoid obesity has many voices, including former President Bill Clinton, who recently teamed up with the American Heart Association, and now Nickelodeon, to get the message straight to our youth about the importance of developing healthy eating habits (2005).

Childhood obesity is one of the leading causes of adult health problems and America’s schools are the one place that kids can find nutritious food. Most children have a very unhealthy diet, which majorly affects their health as a child and as an adult. An unhealthy diet can cause health problems such as diabetes, heart problems or cancer, in the present and the future. As hard as America tries to provide healthy foods for kids, unhealthy snacks are still available. Most parents do not have the money to buy healthy foods or food at all, so school is the only place a kid can find a healthy meal. The school systems have improved the meal choices, but should America’s children really be eating something that is frozen or premade. It could be considered their responsibility to feed kids healthy food, it might take extra work, but won’t it be worth it when a kid eats instead of going home hungry.

It is no secret that a nutritious diet is not only important for the health of a student, but their academic performance as well. A student’s dietary habits begins at an early age in school. Many pediatricians advise parents to give their children meals full with nutrients to help with proper development and brain function. However, the meals provided for students at public institutions in the United States are not meeting this simple standard. Despite efforts to improve school lunch programs, public schools in America are still providing students with processed unhealthy meals in addition to not allowing them enough time to consume their meal, which is affecting students’ obesity rates and mental health.