The WhiteHouse.gov website has created a fact sheet that clearly lays out specificities that the HHFKA is intended to carry out:
One of the expectations of this Act is improving nutrition and focusing on reducing childhood obesity. By doing that it gives the USDA the authority to set nutritional standards for all the foods that are regularly sold in school during the day; including any school stores, vending machines, specialty items, etc. In addition, this Act builds on the work that the USDA has started to develop nutritional quality of commodity foods that schools get from the USDA, and use in their breakfast and lunch programs. Providing additional funding to schools that meet updated nutritional standards for federally subsidized lunches.
…show more content…
According to the CDC (center for disease control), five states had childhood obesity rates from 15%-19% in 2009, and in 2013 there were eight states that had rates that high. The political climate of this issue surrounds those who question the effectiveness of this Act. They believe that childhood obesity must be addressed, particularly at home by emphasizing education, instead of making it required.
What’s the Recommendation?
The best policy solution for the Healthy, Hunger-Free Act of 2010 is to amend the act to address and resolve the concerns of making healthy foods, and other programs more appealing to children.
This policy will impact the problem by making certain fruits and vegetables more appealing to children and young adults. They would be more inclined to try it rather than just throwing it away and creating more food waste.
Educational materials should also not only be limited to in school and after-school programs, but also be implemented at home. Parents want the support at home from schools and communities, and assist them in providing better healthy lifestyles for their children in their home
…show more content…
In contrast, the Farm-to-School program has been one of the USDA’s most successful implementations, thus far. If schools allowed their students to get involved with growing their own school vegetables and see all their hard work pay off, then maybe they would be less inclined to dispose of it. The Healthy, Hunger- Free Kids Act (HHFKA) reauthorizes child nutrition programs for 5 years and includes $4.5 billion in new funding for these programs over 10 years. With the reauthorization of the act still pending, lobbyist are trying to maintain funding for the Farm-to-School programs, given that they have been a huge
Many people select the cheapest food because fresh fruits and vegetables are unaffordable for many Americans (“Fixing Our Broken Food System: The Plate of the Union Initiative”). Society needs to be aware that the fruits and vegetables are being sprayed with harmful chemicals and then radiated for them to last longer (Barhr). Society needs to know they are putting their health at risk by consuming the industrial farms food. Purchasing their food at a local farms is convenient in the long run because as Barhr said “we can either pay the farmer or we can pay the hospital”.
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
Will The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act recently signed into law on December 13, 2010 by President Barack Obama be able to deliver healthier meals in the schools nutrition programs or will the bill overwhelm struggling school districts with additional unfunded mandates? Schools confront difficult issues on a daily basis that affect the learning ability of their students: struggling economic conditions, students from poor families, increased food insecurity across the country, and constant pressures to increase student performance. Providing healthy meals for children, who otherwise would eat poorly or not at all, is a necessity that our country has recognized and planned for many decades. Two measures authorized
“Childhood obesity is an condition in which a child is significantly overweight for her or his age and height.” (Mayo Clinic) With childhood obesity rates on the rise, concern among Americans is also heightening, and rightfully so. Due to this concern, many are asking, should the government be stepping in more with childhood obesity cases? Should more regulations and laws be passed to prevent childhood obesity in our children? What can our government do to help with this devastating epidemic? The government should enact higher regulations, education, and activity levels in adolescents to prevent the rise of childhood obesity rates.
Ever since Obama has come into office school lunches have become healthier and more satisfying for the students of the country. The Obama administration has worked very hard to make school lunches both healthy and appealing. The, Healthy Hunger Kids Act of 2010 required the USDA to make significant nutrition improvements in school meals, as well as to improve the overall excellence of foods at schools. Proponents of the program, such as, Michelle Obama say that the 524 schools that have withdrawn amount to a drop in a bucket compared to the other 100,000 schools nationwide that are participating in the program.
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
This legislation increases access to healthy food for low-income children, first by setting new standards to the free-lunch program that increase the number of eligible children by 115,000. This is facilitated by federal reimbursement for schools in areas with high concentrations of low-income children and the elimination of paper applications. For these children, the lunch they receive at school may be the only meal they can depend on every day. One of the goals of this legislation is to make sure that this one meal is as healthy and nutritious as possible, so the USDA has been granted authority to create nutritional standards for all foods sold in schools. The bill allocates $4.5 billion to implement new health standards, and reimburses an average of six extra cents per meal for schools that meet the new nutrition standards. Another use of the funds included in this bill includes providing resources for schools to utilize local farms and gardens that provide fresh produce. A study from Social Science & Medicine, Lee, 2012, suggests that availability of local foods is linked to healthier weights. The bill also required the USDA to develop new nutrition standards for the meals and
The spike in childhood obesity has prompted great concern in the healthcare community and resulted in vast public health efforts aimed at reducing the incidence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that in the past 30 years, childhood obesity has increased by more than 50% in children, more than quadrupled in adolescents and currently over one third of children in America are overweight or obese, according to BMI (CDC, 2012).
When I was younger, I vividly remember the vast amount of delicious food that was offered every day in my school lunchroom. The food that I use to describe as “good” food, I am beginning to undoubtedly recognise for the unhealthy junk that it actually is. There are countless others who also notice how horrible these foods are to feed children in school cafeterias. Today, those same cafeterias are tremendously different from the ones I remember from when I was little, and they are always continuously changing. The amount of options we are offered have not lessened, they have simply changed. Instead of having the option to purchase nachos, we now are given the option of baked fries. Also, instead of having a dessert of an innutritious brownie, we now are given a large variety of sweet fruits to choose from instead. While some students distinguish these changes as a catastrophe, I can understand the importance of having students skip dessert during a school lunch. Allowing the NSLP to regulate what is served in school lunches would help parents trust that their children would be getting healthier foods at school, help to combat the epidemic of obesity and malnutrition in the United States, and assist in educating children on healthy diet choices.
There are policy solutions at the state level and community level to address the issue such that the potential of these policies at an individual level can influence to slow down or revert the trend of childhood obesity, nationally. Government also support policies that reinforce healthy eating and physical activity with the goal to provide a shift in lifestyle behaviors (Ben-Sefer, Ben-Natan, & Ehrenfeld,
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 requires USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) to establish nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools. This will offer healthier snacks to children, while limiting junk food intake. Due to Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move" initiative, the USDA recently outlawed junk food in public schools in the United States, along with the starting healthy lunches to decrease obesity in the United States. However, the banning of junk foods in schools is likely to be ineffective for three main reasons: there are other options, psychology states human beings do what they know they shouldn't, and teaching kids is the job of the parents.
You may be familiar with recent regulation, which was initiated for the 2014-15 school year, where the United States Department of Agriculture enforced regulatory guidelines on food items sold in schools across the nation. Although there was previously a nutritional requirement for food in school, as Marion Nestle, a Professor of Nutrition at New York University, points out in her very influential article of the time, “this requirement [did] not apply to foods sold outside of school cafeterias in snack bars, school stores, or vending machines" (Nestle 308). Many proponents of the recent regulation are astonished that such regulation was not in place from the beginning. Unfortunately, this action was influenced by an ever-rising concern for the obesity rate in the US population, and not a desire to proactively encourage a healthy lifestyle.
Due the rising childhood obesity rates, schools everywhere have begun to implement various health food standards. In 1946, the United States Department of Agriculture created the National School Lunch Act, which has lead to the development of our
Childhood obesity is the constant build up of excessive fats that impair the health of a child. When children are obese, they have high cholesterol and high blood pressure that threatens their lives with CVD. It also causes extreme breathing problems, joint problems, and an increase in contracting type 2 diabetes. Nearly one in three kids in the United States is obese and that is more than triple the amount from the 1960’s. Childhood obesity is taking control of many kid’s lives throughout the country, and they need help (Par, 1-2). Childhood obesity has had a dramatic increase over the past fifty years due to many low budget families and cheap fast food. This makes it more convenient for families to buy their products. The government has taken part in trying to reduce this epidemic by doing a number of things. To start off, they have promoted better eating habits, and enforcing the younger ages to not eat fast food as much as they do now. The first lady, Michelle Obama, has put childhood obesity at the top of her list of problems in the Unites States. Let 's Move, “a federal program intended to increase the rates of physical activity among children and educate them about nutrition and proper eating” (Par. 3), was launched by Michelle in 2010. This is one prime example of how the government is helping fight this epidemic. Also, the FDA and the USDA have brought together some health and marketing experts. According to the experts, a guide with a set of principles
The two most costly programs for the federal government are spending on nutrition assistance and farm subsidy programs, both governed in the Farm Bill which is re worked every five years (Wallinga,2015). Agricultural concerns are huge in the nutritional value of the food the country consumes because some government interventions in agriculture influence the quantities of food produced and the price of food as well. Farmers growing commodity crops, such as corn or soybeans, benefit the most from government support, but commodity crops do not offer important nutrients that other crops could. (Hefferson,2014). The Farm Bill also authorizes funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and in addition to SNAP, our government has the Women Infants and Children program (WIC), which provides healthcare and nutrition to pregnant and breastfeeding women, and their children under age