School Lunches Research Paper

Since 2009 Schools have been improving there healthy choices of food like fresh fruits and salad bars,but those foods take longer to eat (Hellmich). Turning school lunches into an actual sit down meal rather than a feeding frenzy is a good way of improving health (Parker-Pope). Students usually have less than 20 minutes to eat lunch which makes it less likely for them to choose the healthy choice (Elsevier). Kids often like to eat there favorite foods first,not giving them enough time to eat the healthy food (Hellmich). An increase in school lunches could encourage students to eat the healthier choice(5 Elsevier). School nutritionist suggest that students need to have atlas 20 minutes to eat (Hellmich). Research shows that when people consume meals faster they take in more calories because they get hungry sooner (Chen). The shorter lunch periods are starting to lead to more and more obese and overweight kids ( Hellmich). Doctors are saying there are more and more kids getting diabetes and other illnesses due to the lunches and something needs to be done about it

School lunches are not the epitome of meals in the world. Raising the level of nutritional output would highly increase the healthiness of the student’s body. For example, if a child were to drink only water at school the health benefits would help that student, just by cutting out the sugar and the calorie intake. If schools were to serve grilled chicken instead of fried chicken, the student would not have that extreme carb intake just from the fried part alone. Chicken and vegetables should be the entrée for most school lunches, of course, this does not allow for a great variety of meals, but the healthiness of the students would increase over time and could possibly be the healthiest thing they eat that day, but the only thing that they eat at all. The poverty in Mississippi is abundant, which may mean that children do not get three square meals a day, but maybe only one, which is at school. Therefore, the best way to affect student’s healthiness is by putting good, nutritious, and energizing food on the plate in front of

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.

Childhood obesity is a horrible thing to live with. “In 2012 1 in 3 American children were overweight or obese.” (pg.1) It gives your life many struggles such as self esteem. The child may be self conscious on how they look and can be affected mentally by not being happy with their life. The part of childhood obesity is the health effects. The child can develop diabetes or cardiovascular diseases or breathing problems that can potentially lead to stroke. That is all very horrible and is even worse for a child to live with. With healthy lunches the children will make better food choices that drastically and positively change their life to good health.

Childhood obesity is when a child is well overweight for his or her age. One of the main causes are dietary patterns. According to the Center of Disease and Control Prevention, almost half of the United States middle and high schools advertise foods with high sugars, fats and salts. In addition to that, they also have a high calorie count. This makes it very difficult for students to make healthy choices. The first large school lunch project began in Boston high schools in 1894. Ever since then the government has claimed that they have been providing nutritious lunches for students. Between 1894 and 1977….. but in 1977 according to food timeline, America’s school lunches are the reflection of student’s food habits. The general accounting officer argues that, “The government subsidized school lunch served to 25 million American School Students may be harmful to their health”. This means that the unhealthy meals that are served to our students are not nutritious. He also argues that it creates sustenance for some of our children but it may lead to obesity in others due to the large portion sizes and the decrease amount of supplemental nutrients. Because America has cut spending on school lunches, they have only been able to provide a limited amount of healthy options to schools. Over time the quality of nutrition has went down and now we are at the point where we have no choice but to take action on

School lunches should promote good nutrition for kids. Healthier school lunches would lead to healthier nutritional choices throughout children's entire lifetimes. If kids are choosing unhealthy choices for lunch, then they are going to have unhealthy eating habits throughout their lifetime (Wittman, 2017). If kids are skipping lunch, then they will be hungrier after school and they would be eating twice the amount of food the next time they eat. Skipping lunch can increase a kid’s appetite later, causing them to overeat or select foods that have very poor nutritional values. Kids skipping school lunches would also be an unhealthy eating habit (Schuna, 2015b). Healthy school lunches will provide kids with one-third of their daily calories from protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, which are critical nutrients often missing from a child’s diet. Receiving these nutrients from healthy school lunches are important for kids because then they will get the calories they need and it will give them energy throughout the day as well (Fisk, 2015). Fruits supply vitamins and minerals, most especially vitamin C and potassium. “Vitamin C is a substance necessary for healthy bones, teeth and blood vessels. All vegetables supply vitamin A and folate, which is crucial for the health of your eyes, but it also encourages your body to produce healthy white blood cells” (“A List of the

The food that is served at schools has too much fat. You don’t want to be fat do you? People bully others that are fat. This is why we need healthy lunch! If we don’t start getting healthy lunches, we are going to have to start packing our lunches. School lunch contains fat vitamins.

68 percent of students say they buy food from the cafeteria every day. Proper nutrition is tied to better academic performance. This means that kids will not do their best in school if they are fed unhealthy lunches (Black). The unhealthy lunches kids are given at school are the main contribution to childhood obesity. According to scientists, children who eat too much fat, sugar, sodium or processed food and too few vitamins and minerals are likely to develop a higher risk over time for several chronic health problems (Angela). These health problems include heart disease, and diabetes. At this time, more than ever, 55 percent of Americans are obese and 20 percent of Americans are overweight (Three Facts About School Lunches). Many schools offer healthy choices, but they did not decrease the calories in them, and they typically still offer unhealthy snack items (Three Facts About School Lunches). In a school cafeteria with both healthy and unhealthy choices offered to kids, most kids are not willing to choose the healthier choices over the unhealthy ones. So where an apple is avoided and a bag of potato chips is selected as a child’s first choice for a snack

How are students supposed to be content and satisfied with school lunches? (Rhetorical Question) Michelle Obama’s Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act is one of the main causes why students are not happy with lunches. This act was supposed to make kids healthier while keeping them full but instead it did the exact opposite. In protest to school lunches, and Michelle Obama’s Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act students, administrators, and school officials need to get involved to help change school lunches. School administration needs to start paying attention and change school lunches because the lines are too long and students do not have enough time to eat, school lunches are too expensive and the kids can barely afford their lunch, and the lunches are

School lunches are different in different schools, the meals and the sides. Obesity in the population has grown a lot in America. Schools giving out unhealthy foods to children is making the problem even worse.

Calories, obesity, epidemic―these words flash through daily conversion like wildfire. The American public today is severely concerned with the nation’s growing health problem, as they should be. Recently, the nation’s school lunches have had major renovations due to the alarming increase in childhood obesity. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) has set out to fix the problems concerning nutrition in school lunches. Because the National School Lunch Program is required to follow the most current version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), school lunches are undergoing massive reform at the cost of students.

a) The motivation is to convince the readers that school lunches have become healthier as to erase the perception that cafeteria food is terrible. As well, these statistics are being used to determine if healthier school lunches "will help ease the obesity epidemic among the nation's children." This study was done as to determine the influence of school lunches on the obesity epidemic and to show whether the government has taken the right approach to lower obesity rates or need to take a different approach.

For example, when I was in grade school, lunch was $2.00, and every morning my mother laid out that money for me to take each day. By the time I got to high school that two dollars went towards more ice cream, and cookies from the snack stand than actual school lunch. Given the choice, I chose sugar, as do millions of other students. School lunches are contributing to the epidemic this country is facing of childhood obesity and negatively impacting the health of our youth. School lunches are corrupting youth by robbing their bodies of the nutritional value they need to succeed in their studies.

While studies have and will always continue to be conducted all over the world regarding school lunch programs and their effect on children’s health, one study in the Michigan area concluded some alarming statistics. Children who ate school lunch compared to children who did not eat school lunch were more likely to be overweight, and have higher levels of cholesterol

Better nutrition in schools is critical being students will eat food that is better for them. Research shows students that eat school meals are more likely to obtain a healthier weight than students that bring a lunch if the school abide National School lunch program (NSLP). This shows that school lunch is healthier by