Unhealthy School Cafeteria Food Essay

Schools are a very important factor in determining obesity. Schools that resist a role in their students’ health welfare are setting their students’ up for obesity or at least poor health. In fact, “children consume 30 to 50 percent of their calories in school” (Klobuchar, 2011). Schools can be a positive influence and provide

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,

School cafeterias have been notoriously known for having unhealthy, unappealing food. Students at schools are being forced to eat these foods, when parents cannot provide regular lunches for their children. These lunches usually include the following: pizza, soda, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, and others, all filled with artificial ingredients and preservatives. To address this problem, there should be a switch between the foods and drinks being served, and I have just the ideas that will be delicious and healthy. Authors Alice Waters, Katrina Heron, and Mark Bittman all agree that some initiative needs to be taken to fix this unhealthy food problem, and so do I. Together, the student body and parents will address the school board with healthier food options that are better tasting and better for the body.

According to National Heart Lung and Blood institute, in America, 1 in 6 kids are obese. Although obesity might not seem that much of a big deal, it is. Childhood obesity can lead to much worse health problems later in adulthood, such as higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, and even cancer, among many chronic health issues all caused by obesity. Many kids get about half of their daily calories at school, and for some, school is where they get all of their daily calories. Since school plays such a big part in affecting the lives of many kids across America, special attention should be shown to nutrition. This can help kids with obesity, as well as kids that don’t have much food at home to eat and only rely on school food. For many poor kids, they don’t have a lot of healthy foods at home, because they can’t afford it. So, they rely on cheap school food for their vitamins and nutrients. Because cafeteria foods, like hamburgers or beef and cheese nachos, are highly processed and filled with unnecessary fat ,those kids that rely on school for food won’t get the nutrients and vitamins they need and will go home hungry. Since kids are growing up, it is especially important for them to get the right food they need to grow up healthy and strong, and in a place full of kids that are growing up, it is only right to provide them with good and healthy food that will allow the kids to grow up into healthy adults without obesity, malnourishment, or any kind of health

School lunches, curriculum focus, and daily activities have changed in elementary schools over the years. The nutritional value in school lunches often meet a bare minimum. Curriculum is focused strongly on idealistic future careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; but often forget teaching basic healthy habits needed for lifelong health. Physical education is no longer required every single day. Obesity has become an epidemic and not just for adults, it is increasingly affecting children as well. Children spend a generous amount of time in the classroom. They spend more time in school than at home or anywhere else. Therefore, schools have a responsibility in preventing obesity in adolescents by teaching them healthy habits, serving them nutritious food, and providing them with adequate physical activity.

In the article, “Are Our School Lunches Healthy Enough?” the author, William Rice, states how healthy school lunches are superb and should be accepted by all Americans. William Rice specifically writes about how too many American children are affected by obesity, and how students, as well as parents, should be educated on this matter. Throughout this essay you will learn the PROs of healthy and should be convinced to be on the PRO side.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “About one in three U.S. kids are overweight or obese”. This shows that unhealthy lunches can lead to obesity because the food they are getting for lunch has too many calories. So if the students eat healthy the number of students overweight will go down. If kids eat unhealthy, they are most likely obese and that can lead to health problems, including heart disease.

The current state of affairs isn’t ideal for school children as many schools offer children foods of minimal nutritional value with some schools still allowing fast food restaurants to provide their services in high schools and middle schools. The current policies actually contribute to the toxic environment that many children face both at home and at school as those most impacted by the obesity epidemic are minority and poor urban children who don’t have healthy choices at home or in school. Part of the problem

The organization of Debatewise stated that controlling the foods that students consume is important in combating obesity, as the dieting habits that most people form originate from when they were young. This is why it’s so crucial for schools to introduce healthier options in schools. If these unhealthy habits are developed, the students are “at higher risk for having other chronic health conditions and diseases that impact physical health..”, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These conditions can affect them emotionally and physically, including depression and obesity, which are important health issues both linked with the consumption of junk foods. The selling of junk food in schools is not a small problem either, as it concludes from a study by the Institute of Medicine in 2003 that elementary schools earn approximately $442 million annually from junk food sales. The importance of changing the school lunch programs to implement healthier options is high when there is so much money being spent by the students. Although obesity is a real problem due to the selling of junk food, it can lead to other problems that leading a healthier way of living could fix. For instance, the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension states junk foods, due to processing that removes vitamins, minerals, and fiber from the product, are empty calories that are ultimately worthless to the body. This alone contributes to unneeded weight gain and provides no additional sustenances that help the body grow. The Harvard Health Publications describes this to be a serious problem, and acknowledge not only this to be a complication, but mentions the unnecessarily high amounts of sodium levels in the foods, stating that “...the average

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

Buddha once said, “ To keep the body in good health is a duty...otherwise we shall not be able to keep our minds strong and clear.” A trend started across the United States several years ago towards improving the quality of food provided for students eating school lunch. “School lunch has evolved quite a bite over the last century”(Avey). In spite of this evolution, there are many reasons why the public school system should further improve their daily lunch program. These changes would still include the daily recommended balance of fruits, vegetables, proteins, and carbohydrates. The top three reasons to improve school lunches include: obesity rate, overall grades, and lifelong habits.

Today one in five school-aged children (ages 6-19) have obesity and people debate over how to decrease this number and prevent it from being more of an issue in the future. School lunches are often brought up in this discussion, some say that by getting rid of all junk food in schools would help decrease the number of obese students and prevent them in future by providing only healthy food options. On the other hand, they say that it's not that simple, the problems are at home and that getting rid of these items could decrease revenues for school activities from those products. Many people believe that junk food should be banned from schools across the nation.

Should changes be made to the regulations for the foods that are served in public schools? This can be a very controversial question to most people; children with obesity, parents who do not care and for who does care about the health of the children and teachers who only wants what is best for the benefit of the children. This paper will attempt to explain and convince the unknown of why it is very important for our public schools to have a healthy eating curriculum for the children that attends there. If society can find a way to come together for the children of the community to fight to have healthier foods in the community, come together and provide counsel to the children of what healthy eating is all about. This paper will

Junk food, junk food, junk food is around all corners of schools. Chocolate, cookies, soda, potato chips, and Sour Strings may sound delectable to some people, but are they nutritious? Some people wonder if there should be a change. Encouraging exceptional nutrition in schools is essential by reasons of students will consume foods that are better for them, schools will pay less for meals, and fewer students would go hungry.