Analysis: Are Our School Lunches Healthy Enough

Have you ever taken a bit in your school lunch and just want to spit it all back out? Or how about the little portions you get? These types of school lunches should not be allowed to be given to the students because there are many reasons why school lunches are bad for health reasons. Although the school lunches are supposed to be healthier and better for our well-being, school lunches should change because it’s not very appetizing, there are little portions, and there isn’t any difference in the health level before.

In the United States many citizens face hunger, starvation and malnutrition on a daily basis. This food insecurity affects millions of Americans. Food insecurity is caused when Americans don’t have enough money to purchase food for themselves and their family. When children experience hunger if affects them both physically and psychologically. “Children who are denied an adequate diet are at a greater risk of not reaching their full potential as individuals. Undernourished youngsters have trouble concentrating and bonding with other children and are more likely to suffer illnesses resulting in school absences.” (Karger, p 371) It is important for children to meet their full potential in order for society to continue thriving into the future. If children are not receiving an adequate education because they have an empty stomach, then they will not continue to higher education or they will do poorly. In order to combat hunger in children the federal government responded with several major programs. Two of the programs the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) are targeted towards school age children. These programs provide students with breakfast and lunch while they are at school.

One of the most controversial issues today is the question of how to address childhood obesity. Because of the large proportion of meals that children, particularly low-income children, consume in schools, cafeteria food has been targeted by dietary reformers as in need of a major overhaul. However, while many different types of new school menus have been proposed, the extent to which healthier foods can be offered remains controversial. Opponents to reform state that children will not eat healthier lunches, and that changing the food that children eat will have minimal impact, since the children will either bring food from home or eat food at home that is more 'kid friendly.'

The first reason why the healthy hunger free kids act is a good idea is because it improves student nutrition. Four schools in massachusetts did studies and they showed that the new law did have a positive impact. After the program, students wanted/ate 16% more fruits and veggies. Students were suddenly moving veggies from the side of the plate to the middle. (C) (B)This shows that kids

One in three Americans kids are obese or over weight which is a staggering and alarming rate at the same time. So looking 20 years into the future that number could double if nothing is said and done about what we are eating. The public school food in school lunches are unhealthy for many alarming reasons, but not much can be done immediately due to strict guidelines and budgets that schools must follow. A lot of it goes to kids not exercising, and more time watching TV, or playing on the computer. And now days more families have less time to make nutritious home made meals. So they tend to eat School cafeteria lunches that have minimal nutrition’s and harmful calories. To prevent your kid from being over weight mean adapting what you eat, and having to exercise at least 60 minutes a day. If the changes are made to change school lunches, it can help them from being obese, children can improve their lifestyle choices, and lastly it prevents them from getting harmful diseases.

Children in America are faced with different choices every day. Some of these choices can be either good or bad for them. But these children don't really know the consequences of their actions, but the school does. Schools are serving unhealthy and un properly cooked meals to children every single day. These food companies make big money from these schools because the schools just buy the lunches so the kids will eat something. The schools don't really care what goes into the students stomachs, but as long as the school meets the requirements it's okay. Then the students just eat it because it looks and taste good, but they don't have an idea of what their eating is made out of or where it has been before. The government needs to start making school lunches more healthy for these students, if not then then unfortunately the number of obese children will rise.

If school lunch prices do rise in cost, then one out of three people in Hebron would probably be struggling to provide food for their kids and family. While some people may be able to afford this change of cost for school lunches, many people who qualify for ALICE were already struggling and making the lunch prices go up by even as little as 10-20 cents could make things a lot worse for these people. Although the lunches are healthier, it’s not worth making them healthier if students can’t afford them and therefore bring unhealthy lunches. Aside from that, students could just buy the unhealthy option from, for example, vending machines opposed to the healthier school lunch just because it costs less which would make the whole change overall,

Schools take control of students every move from the amount of homework they get to

Childhood obesity is a major cause for concern within the United States. This is mainly due to children not getting the require nutrition that they need. Although study show that there is a decrease in obesity in children, it still remains at an all-time high. Children are failing to eat as healthy as they should, and it has become an even bigger problem now that they aren’t getting the require amount of food in their diets. The USDA made a decision a couple of years ago to reduce the amount of food given to children while they are at school. This hurts them tremendously, because the majority of the food they eat comes from being at school all day. The other half lies on the parents when they go home and eat dinner. It is very important for children to eat healthy and eat the required amount of food according to various dietary guidelines. First Lady Michelle Obama has started a new campaign to help kids and parents combat obesity in children. One thing that the campaign has placed emphases on is getting healthier food within school. Although they are getting healthier foods in school they are beginning to change the proportion they are giving students. Through the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign students should be giving healthier foods and also be allowed to have the correct proportion to help them maintain a healthy diet.

The author’s intention is to inform the reader that the healthy lunch programs are failing. The author provides plentiful information and research on the failing school lunch programs in the U.S. “In the war to get America’s children to eat healthier, things are not going well.” Kids are not eating their vegetables. This has become a big problem in America and steps need to be taken to stop unhealthy eating. Like The Agriculture Department mandating that students in the federal lunch program choose a fruit or vegetable with their meals. This solution didn’t work and actually worsened the problem. “Their consumption of fruits and vegetables actually went down 13 percent after the mandate took effect.”

In the article about fixing kids lunches and diets is ,Besides the menu changes, the new law makes it easier for low-income and foster kids to have school meals.In the article it’s important to note that the goverment only sets guidelines,local

The school's lunch food, while distastful, are simply not worth the money. Especially when there is an option to spend the money on a richer in flavor and healthier choice. To put it another way, the value of the food does not compare to the price required. [Adding Metacommentary]. Likewise, the vending machines were funded money to replace the foods with healthier choices. Which did not improve students' health but decreased the students' contribution. "A greater food selection does have a positive effect upon participation" (Marples and Spillman). In Marples and Spillman's study, 43% of the students rated the school lunches as poor and only 5% referred to the lunches as good. This percentage went up significantly when asked if they would participate in school lunches if quality changed. Nearly two-thirds of the students stated that if the lunches were to become tastier they would eat it more often. Therefore, the quality of foods has a significant input when it comes to student

While reading this article my viewpoint was challenged. Childhood obesity in the United States and school lunches have always seemed to go hand in hand because of all the national attention public school have been receiving within the past ten or so years. However, the studies that Sloviter provided made clear suggestions that school lunches in the United States may not be so terrible or unhealthy as I have been assuming. It is still slightly odd that this is so, considering in my previous research statistics have shown American school lunches to be high in fats, carbs, and sugars.

In her presentation “what’s wrong with school lunches” Ann Copper (2007) stats that school lunches is a social justice issue. In the United Stats there are a series of problems in the food system . only few companies control the most of the commercially produced seeds in America, it makes people’s grocery choose lack. Also there are a lots of chemicals be used in animal husbandry, but government allow these kind thing happened. Further more many companies invested huge amount of money on advertising non-nutrient food, this will mislead our children on their food chooses. Moreover the thing is much more prisoners than farmers, so we do need import food from other countries. These kind things bring out very considerable consequences such as our

There needs to be some sort of regulation imposed on school lunches, in order to fight the growing obesity epidemic. Many people disagree with this statement, and have their own thoughts on the matter. The National School Lunch Act was passed in 1946 by President Harry Truman. All over the country, school districts joined lunch programs designed to feed children at free or reduced prices. In doing so, school districts had to follow specific guidelines that these programs required. Over the years, these standards have changed increasingly in order to provide children optimal nutrition. While many districts have fully taken advantage and successfully made the turn for the better, others struggle or are taking a little more time in