School Vending Machine Snacks

Due to overweight students in many schools teachers decide to remove vending machines . But that doesn't stop students from buying snacks from

Between the survey periods 1976-80 and 2007-08, obesity has more than doubled among adults (rising from 15% to 34%), and more than tripled among children and adolescents (rising from 5% to 17%)” (Thompson para9). These concluded statistics are one of the few posted in which logically support that childhood obesity is a substantial and alarming issue within today’s society in the United States. With authorized public data available, numerous of individuals can examine and predict the future forthcoming if precautions are not taken. These statistical numbers prove and form an appeal to logos as well as give an impression to fellow readers that childhood obesity is a subject worth discussing and addressed. In correlation, Li’s article also utilizes logos by providing a statistical correspondence samples of the childhood obesity epidemic with different restrictions: “Table 1 shows weighted sample characteristics. Around 67% of the study participants were from rural areas; about one third of them were the only child in their family. Less than 10% were migrant students… Table 2 shows considerable sex and regional disparities in student weight status. Combined overweight/obesity prevalence was 60% higher in boys than girls, and obesity rates in boys more than tripled that of girls” (Li para14&15). Obesity is tremendously impacting children of many assorted circumstances whether it’s different living conditions and gender. Li’s claim is strongly supported by establishing these series of interpretations. These conducted observations and astounding outcomes reveal that child obesity is predominantly an issue not only in America but also other international

Currently, the definition of obesity, determined by the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale, considers a child over the 95th percentile to be obese. Childhood obesity affects 17% of the children in the United States, and according to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention, 12.7 million American children will have the prevalence of obesity. Roberto Ferdman argues in his article in The Washington Post that “American kids are still far more likely to be overweight than kids in most other countries.” Some children are more likely to become obese based on their race or gender. “The prevalence of obesity among non-Hispanic Asian youth (8.6%) was lower than among non-Hispanic white (14.7%), non-Hispanic black (19.5%), and Hispanic

Everyone loves sugar filled snacks, especially children. A kid’s day can be made so much better just by handing them their favorite candy bar. This is something students looked forward to during their school day. Sadly, this was made to change. Schools started banning snacks, and drinks based on their unhealthy effect they have on individuals. According to Beverly Ballaro and Ann Griswold in "Junk Food in Schools: An Overview,” this change occurred when Michelle Obama launched her project for healthy eating in 2010. Let’s Move! Was her way to fix child obesity in America. This directed schools to feed children healthier options, and twice as many vegetables or fruit. This was not a necessity for public schools across the United States. Students should not be limited to what they eat in school. As long as they are being fed their basic lunch, it should not be important what they decide to snack on.

There are many factors that play into whether a child will become obese. Most of the time it is due to lack of physical activity but there are key features such as where you come from and what your race/ethnicity is. If you are from a wealthy family and like to buy a lot of junk food or fast food then you are more at risk to become unhealthily overweight. If you are poorer and come from a minority in some cases you eat the bare minimum which keeps you below the overweight line. This is an important factor to take into consideration.

One must understand the diversity of health issues in dealing with different ethnicity groups in childhood obesities. Since my research data demonstrate that minorities are more likely to be obese than non-minorities, thus I do not want to provide an image of social labeling and stigmatizing minority children who are overweight. There are many factors that play in role in children being obese that must be taken into accounts. One of the factors, the income status of the parents and how it generally affects the child quality of life, living environment. For example, if the parents have a low yearly income it can factor in the child being obese in comparison to a child’s parent having an average or high income, including affecting the living environment and the type of food eaten. In addition, obese children are prone to psychological issues such as depression, general anxiety, emotional problem, including eating disorder (Holm et al., 2014). And different race and ethnicity deal with these types of psychological issues differently.

In the United States, Healthy People 2020 tracks children aged 2 to 19 that carry a BMI greater than 95% per the Centers for Disease (CDC) pediatric growth chart. The goal is a target rate of 14.5%, with a current improvement of 10% over the baseline. There are disparities related to gender, ethnicity and race, therefore this is very important public health problem and for the future of our country and health care of our citizens. Obesity is of epidemic proportions so there was a plethora of information found at South University’s library site of which will be reviewed in this paper.

To continue on in the article it gives the statement that I found to be true, “The sale of unhealthy high-calorie snacks and drinks in school vending machines undermines these efforts to ensure access to healthy

Vending machines in school are good so students can have options between healthy and unhealthy snacks. Some may say that this wouldn’t help obesity; however, the school has the choice of what they want to put in it. First, according to Bevco inc there are healthy options “Schools can choose to have healthy snacks as an option.” (Benefits of Vending

Studies have shown that people need to snack throughout the day to maintain optima health. This is especially true for children. To begin with, having food and beverage easily accessible helps students maintain their energy and focus. Hungry and thirsty students will not learn. If vending machine are stuck with healthy food item, they can affectively help students maximize their education experience. An addition, schools often serve food at time that are difficult for students to eat. A well-stocked maintain vending can be an accommodating solution for this problem.

A big issue with vending machines in schools is the high calorie snacks and drinks cause obesity. Hopefully

Vending machines in schools, colleges are convenient alternatives for many pupils obtain snacks, bars, and water throughout the day. However, in this particular article, Codey argues by preventing junk foods within a vending machine, is most effective method to provide Americans with efficient eating habits. According to his statement, America is currently facing a crisis due to their eating habits. Nearly 20 percent of the U.S population are obese, while 300,000 people die each year due to obesity throughout the country.

As mentioned above, vending machines are loaded with junk food. Junk food is known to increase blood sugar levels which can lead to behavior problems and impaired learning ability in children. This is sometimes called the spike and crash syndrome. It is defined as “the rapid ups and downs of children’s blood sugar levels when they eat too much sugar and overly processed carbs, especially on an empty stomach” (Lapine). The children start “acting as if they’ve had four cups of coffee and are

Many times we forget about their nutrition which leads them to take bad nutritional choices can lead to diseases. Vending machines are bad for our children health in “vending machine foods: evaluation of nutritional composition by Raposo it mentions that “The findings suggest that vending machine foods contain more fat/saturated fat, calories and sodium than recommended” (448). As you can see many of our students buy fast food in the vending machines. I remember that when I was in junior high there was a little store in which you could buy chips and candies, but when I went to high school there was a lot of vending machines and also in the cafeteria when you grab lunch they will also have chips, sodas, and other things. Even though there were times that I bought chip or sodas but I was concern that it was bad for my health. In the article by Raposo it mentions that “ We must take into account that vending machines increasingly grow in number, become more prevalent and available, thus they supply daily energy intake to more and more individuals. So, it is important to accurately assess and monitor the nutritive value of vending machine products”(450). As we all know,vending machines expand real quickly,even in our schools.

One can rarely pick up a newspaper or magazine without reading about the obesity epidemic. With this rapid rise of obesity throughout our country, many people are growing increasingly concerned about the types of food that we are consuming. Specifically, the availability of vending machines has been under great scrutiny for the past several years. Many believe that the rise in obesity, is in part, linked to the easy access to junk foods prevalent in most vending machines. If vending machines had other healthier options then people would not have to make such poor nutritional choices. New methods have already been put in place to help create healthier food environments in schools, but so far other institutions like pediatric hospitals have yet to be reformed. Most people would assume that a hospital would offer the best nutritional services for their patients. Sadly, this is not the case. Most pediatric hospitals provide poor nutritional environments, especially when it comes to vending machines.