Should Diabetes Be Taught In Schools

The health disparities among the Blacks/African American is on the rise which is of being mostly affected by diabetes the United States and Maryland. Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are connected which can lead to increase mortality among this population. In that matter, the Health Empowerment African Americans Diabetes Program proposal includes my creating awareness which will offer diabetes education as connected to other commodities and self-management and counseling. This will be done through outreach programs in the community in health classes and health fairs through health screening, blood glucose screening, A1C, exercise activities, body mass index (BMI), weight, monitoring of individual self-monitor log, and

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

Diabetes has become an epidemic in today’s society. Diabetes affects almost every system in the body, and with an estimated 346 million people in the world with diabetes, healthcare has been heavily affected by the disease (Ramasamy, Shrivastava, P., & Shrivastava, S., 2013). One of the biggest issues for healthcare workers when it comes to diabetes, is that it is such a complicated disease. With so many different systems being affected, medical professionals have had to learn how the disease process works, what causes diabetes to work through the systems, and the best treatments to address all these issues. Through much research, the healthcare system has grown very knowledgeable on diabetes. One important aspect of treating diabetes has been in the introduction of diabetic education. In the past, nurses and dieticians had been responsible for educating patients on diabetes, but now that role is also extended to other people in the healthcare team, including the patient (Tomky, 2013). In fact, patients taking an active role in the education process, including learning to self-care has now become a priority in diabetes treatment. The following paper will discuss diabetic education, the importance of self-care and how this affects a patient’s compliance.

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.

Every weekday in America millions of kids and teens line up in their schools to buy a lunch. Many of those students buying lunch typically do not even enjoy what they are given. The article “Why Students Hate School Lunch” by Kate Murphy argues about why students are wasting much if their meals due to recent health changes whereas the article “Why Some Schools Are Saying ‘No Thanks’ to the School-Lunch Program” by Alexandra Sifferlin argues on why schools are dropping the new health programs because students are wasting food or not buying at all. Looking at both articles they both question and argue why schools and students are not satisfied with the Healthy Hunger-Free Act of 2012. This act is causing students to not eat school lunches and money to be wasted. Both articles argue against the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act but the difference between the two articles explain is that one argues a student’s opinion versus the other that explains the economic effect it takes on schools.

In LAUSD, students throw away over $100,000 in food every day. That adds up to a loss of around $18,000,000 annually, which is 10% of their food, wasted (Watanabe). Our nation's schools are losing billions of dollars annually, and our weak economy is paying for school meals that many students refuse to eat, despite the efforts of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.The government is making attempts to reduce childhood obesity by regulating school meals, PE, and health education, but it has all been to no avail. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is actually harming both the kids and their schools because the meals are more expensive, the yen up unappetizing, and many kids are left with empty bellies.

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

Thank you for your time today. I am writing to you in hope that you will understand the issue and be motivated to make changes due to it. In the united states at least 678,000 deaths each year die due to poor diet, lack of nutrition, obesity and obesity rates have tripled in children. Children all learn what they know, and that includes knowledge on a proper diet, in school, so why are schools not helping enough in this matter? Why are schools hiding healthy eating habits behind bought pizzas and chips and other junk foods in the cafeteria? We, in the united states, are required to educate children in health at schools, through P.E. and health classes, and should not undermine their work by giving out the opposite of what we suggest. Many may say that this takes away freedom or is not that big of a problem, but do children really want to be obese or unhealthy? Do students want to die young from linked diseases such as Diabetes type 2 and cardiovascular diseases? No. They would still have food choices, but they would be able to have better options to choose, ones where facts and statistics do not cause fear in parents, but happiness.

Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. What do all of these have in common? They can all be a result of poor nutrition in one’s diet (“The Risks of Poor Nutrition”). In efforts to improve the overall health and wellness of children in America, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was implemented during the Obama administration. This act directly altered the nutritional standards and quality of the food that is served in public schools (Vilsack). The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is beneficial to students’ health because it provides the necessary nutrients needed to live healthy lifestyles.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years,” meaning that America’s children need to start eating healthier, including healthier school lunches. The National School Lunch Act is a fairly recent addition to American society. For, as the world waged war a second time, the United States began to worry about the strength and health of the country’s soldiers. However, in the beginning, selling excess agricultural goods was more important than building a healthy, well-balanced meal for students. Unfortunately, many children coming from poorer families could not afford well-balanced school lunches, so in order to compensate, the School Lunch

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.

Nationally, about 17% of people under the age of 20, about 12.5 million are considered obese. School districts that serve students food that are high in calories and fat are to blame for the growing numbers of obese children. Although school lunches provide students food at minimal costs, the poor quality of food served delivers inadequate nutrition and is responsible for the rising numbers of obese minors in the United States. In order to combat this growing problem, school districts must limit student choices in the lunchroom and provide healthier food nationally. Although some school districts may argue this, it is necessary to do so as school districts in Pennsylvania and Mississippi and university studies support this claim.

Federally-funded school meal programs, including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP), serve an average of 31.3 million lunches and 11.1 million breakfasts per day at a cost to the country of $11.1 billion in 2011 (Food & Nutrition Services, 2012). These federally-funded meals are an excellent opportunity for regulation of nutrition as well as education regarding healthy choices. Obesity is clearly a great threat to the health of our nation, and the federal government must step in to defend its citizens against this growing threat. Children are at the mercy of their families, their social conditions, and their schools, predisposing them to obesity through poor nutritional options and a lack of education; the federal government must intervene through regulation of school meals and snacks to protect children from the abundance of unhealthy options while also educating them and reducing childhood obesity.

Obesity is now a common thing in America, from children to adults. Over the years fast food advertisements have skyrocketed the marketing for bad foods. In “Don 't Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko states “Before 1994, diabetes in children was generally caused by genetic disorder…. Today according to the National Institutes of Health, Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in this country.”(4) He is basically saying that because of the rising in obesity, there has been more children with diabetes than in 1994. This is a very serious issue because many children are now at risk of developing diabetes by their teenage years. As Zinczenko addresses “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention