Better Vending Machine Choices Should school vending machines ban sugary snacks and drinks and be replaced with healthy food? Vending Machines should have healthier snacks for students and not be filled with junk food, such as chips, sports drinks, and candy. They should be filled with things like nutrition bars, baked chips and trail mix. School is where most children spend the time. Some students either don’t eat lunch at school because they have to pay or don’t like what is served so there only other option is the vending machine. There is ongoing debate Nationwide about what should be but in vending machines or if there should even be vending machines at high schools. I strongly believe that school should keep vending machines, the government should just do a better job on regulating what gets put in the machine. A huge amount of child’s life is spent going to school. “Poor eating habits developed at an early age lead to a lifetime of real health consequences…and it is where we lay the foundation for healthy habits” (Codey p2). Hence the students …show more content…
If nothing is being done about what students eat at school, it is just helping our younger population to become corpulent. “Junk food plays a major role in the obesity epidemic. By the year 2050, the rate of obesity in the U.S. Is expected to reach 42 percent, according to researchers at Harvard University. Children who eat fast food as a regular part of their diets consume more fat, carbohydrates and processed sugar and less fiber than those who do not eat fast food regularly”(debate). Parents can also be responsible for how the child eats. The students should go home and show their parents what good eating habits they have learned in school; however, students cannot go out by themselves and buy their own groceries, the parents have to do their part and help the child get the necessities he/she needs to live a healthy
Schools have policies on what food is being served in their cafeterias or in the vending machines. Cafeterias sell greasy foods such as curly fries, poutine, pizza and multitudes of cookies and other baked goods. The cafeteria food that is purchased is significantly cheaper in large frozen, junk food quantities which will keep the prices of foods down for the school. Nutritious food has not always been thought out for the children who are purchasing the food from the cafeteria or vending machine. The boards tend to care more about the costs saved on junk foods rather then the rise of obesity within the child generation. Cafeterias with greasy foods and vending machines that are stocked with chips, chocolate and pop continuously allow childhood obesity to be on the rise. Schools have vending machines that sell junk food which contribute to the evolution of childhood
Unhealthy foods are what make the money for schools and that is why they serve them for students. (Schlafy) Schools feel like they need the extra money in the budget, even though it is at the student’s expense. Data shows that nearly 60% of all middle schools in the US serve soda from vending machines. (Schlafy) Soda is very high in sugar and is not at all good for children, but it is still sold in school vending machines. The ways food in schools is now are way too high in fats and sugars. This is not good for the children and very bad in the long run. Elementary schoolchildren have an estimated $15 billion of their own money that they can use to buy whatever they want in schools, and parents have almost another $160 billion to give students for food money. (Schlafy) Big businesses see this as a big source of profit and therefore encourage children to buy their products, and want them to be offered in school because of th4e likelihood of children buying the business’s product. All in all, obesity in the US is greatly influenced by the foods offered in schools
...ars of school. Once kids eat their lunches they normally want to go run around and use some of that energy from the food so they can concentrate better in class. It is also a good thing to require because school gym is the only exercise most teens and children get throughout the day. It helps cut the growing rate of diabetes and obesity. Sports are also a good way to stay active and healthy. Not only are you constantly moving and getting tons of exercise, but sports teams normally offer a good healthy snack after games such as peanut butter crackers and juice boxes or nutrition bars and bottled water. It all makes a huge difference in the development of children and teens. If we take these small steps to change, we can easily redirect the lives of children and teens health. Having more nutritious lunches can have a positive impact on the health of American teens.
High levels of trans fat, sugar, and salt have become prominent in many processed and fast foods, causing Americans to become addicted to these unhealthy preserving additives. In many school settings, students only have access to junk food when searching for something to eat in either the cafeteria or school vending machines. Many high school students consume three hundred and thirty-six calories a day purely on school vending machine snacks. (Koebler) Possible solutions to the growing childhood obesity problem are to provide healthier options, such as fruit...
Looking around, candy, soda water and junk food are in the hands of fellow classmates. Simply walking down the street countless unhealthy food advertisement are seen and influence our choices as they are intended to do. In America, one in three children, about 22 million children, are obese or overweight, and that number is only rising. The government must aid in the fight against childhood obesity and reform the influence of unhealthy food in children’s lives, increase the availability of beneficial foods, mandate physical education, and inform our children of healthy habits.
In “Hooked on ‘Caramel-Colored Gold,” Melody Nelson claims “Despite the increased awareness of the benefits of good nutrition, we are a nation hooked on junk food, and many school administrators are taking advantage of the situation ” (par. 3). Nelson propose a ban on vending machines in schools because junk food is unhealthy for children, and they risk future health problems. I agree with Melody Nelson and believe that vending machines should be banned from school campuses, because they sell unhealthy food, they cause more money to schools for hiring extra custodians, and they are affecting children learning abilities.
Furthermore, schools have become a paradise for fast-food franchises . Vending machines stocked with candy and soft drinks are unacceptable: nearly 19 out of 20 high schools in the U.S. have vending machines that sell pop, while almost 60 percent of elementary schools do. More than 70 percent of high schools sell can...
Also, since over 12 million children are in child care centers every day, there are not any regulations against feeding children unhealthy food during the day (Salisbury). This impacts the growth and development of children at a young age. If the food is not regulated, than it is very possible that they could be prone to involuntary obesity. According to the Journal of School Health, students tend to gravitate toward less healthy foods and bigger portion sizes. Unfortunately, this leads us to another cause of obesity, which the increased portion of the foods and drinks that are in vending machines. This means that they are eating a lot of extra
When we think about this problem, we point fingers at unhealthy fast food restaurants and school lunch programs, saying their foods and serving sizes are to blame. People argue that ad campaigns aim at young children, making them victims of the fast food industry. Schools are selling unhealthy food to children during school hours whether it is during lunch time or having a vending machine placed in every corner of the school full of unhealthy snacks. “However, all human beings have power to exercise free will, even young children” (Vigarello, 15). Children follow the people who are around them the most which are their parents. Parents influence children the minute they are born. Children will always follow what their parents do and if the parents are living an unhealthy lifestyle, soon enough their child will be living the same one. Until we stop children from eating at fast food restaurants and change their eating habits and exercise routine, obesity in the United States will not go away.
To begin, school meals do not set a solid foundation for children regarding the diet habits they will have for the rest of their lives. For example, they are teaching kids that greasy pizza and corn dogs are a part of a healthy, nutritious diet. One student says, “We think school lunches are healthy because they have all these posters in the cafeteria telling us to eat healthy food and be active; we think the school is doing their part by serving us healthy food too, but they are not” (Jimenez). Not only do children think that this cheap food is a good choice, but schools also think they are benefiting because of how much money they conserve.
Vending machines should be allowed is because it provides snacks , candy , and drinks . I think vending machines should be allowed in school is because if you are hungry you can go up and by one . Also if you didn’t have breakfast you could get something to eat from there. Last it could help the students in school .
To conclude, unhealthy foods in the cafeteria and the vending machines are the worst examples for the kids to maintain the healthy eating habits. Us Parents have to step in to make changes for our kids because in doing so would determine what kind of foods our kids are consuming. We do know for facts they are not getting the proper nutrients while in school, although they do spend in average of eight to 12 hours in schools. We, the parents, can start to make a difference, by attending the school meetings and being active in our kids functions in schools.
Although there is a risk of upsetting people who are not worried about the health and wellbeing of today’s youth with selfish reasoning for wanting to keep junk food, ridding schools of junk foods will prove itself to be very beneficial. Children can choose healthier options without being ridiculed by others, wondering if what they are eating is good for them, and/or worrying about negative effects. One’s health cannot be overlooked as it is the livelihood of that person and much more. It is not a subject that can be taken lightly. Action to change the current conditions of America’s population’s
The situation of child obesity has been brought up on many occasions .Obesity is a very serious issue in America and it could all start from school..In many school’s around America they serve chips,juice, and candy which is also known as junk food.The food that is served in the cafeteria can be nasty , therefore students tend to buy junk food and it’s not the healthiest choice.The schools should make their lunch food better so it won’t be a major problem with the government taking junk food out of school.It would be nice if they gave students the chance to have junk food once a week but not five days of the week.Parents can also help by changing their way of eating so the child wont feel like he/she is the only person that has to deal with this.Junk food should be banned from school because it can cause obesity and cause major health problems in your adulthood.
Some people may question why schools are only banning soft drinks and not junk food as well. Authors Beverly Ann and Ballaro Griswold address the concern recanting that schools do not want to only ban junk foods, because they amount to tens of thousands of dollars to schools profit annually. It is ridiculous to think that only banning soda will change anything overall. Even the artificial coloring and preservatives used in junk foods attribute hyperactivity in students(pars. 2-4). When I was in school, the lunches consisted of pizza sticks, biscuits and gravy, every kind of chip, and every Little Debbie snack imaginable. As it was back then, children can buy unlimited snacks and drinks. Some kids used to eat two or three pizza sticks, a bag of chips, “meatloaf”, all washed down with a Dr. Pepper. Making a little dent in the issue by banning sodas is chipping away at the bigger problem of things, sure, but it is not enough to make a remarkable difference. If students have such poor eating habits, they most likely stem from the home they grow up