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Healthy school lunches essay
Healthy school lunches are a lost cause
Healthy school lunches essay
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Darla Mariduena Group C
Critical Writing Rabiyya
School Lunch Reforms- Draft 2
Five million child deaths occur every year because of lack of nutrients, also known as malnutrition. Many studies have been done in order to figure out how school meals affect the student’s behavior in, and out of the classroom. Low test grades, low attendance rates, and misbehavior has been mostly noted in students who are at “nutritional risk.” Also, students who come from low-income families, depend on school meals, and if the meals are not fresh and healthy, the malnutrition percent will increase. Academic achievement depends on how well your mind and body is; if a student is at risk of malnutrition, his/her academic achievement will lower. Schools should provide healthy meals, and encourage the students to take part in the school’s lunch program. By providing students with unappealing and unhealthy meals, the students will not be at the top of their game for the day. This could affect their education and future in the long run.
According to Jane L. David in “What Research Says About School Meals and Learning”, there have been changes in the students who face malnutrition, ever since schools began a breakfast program. Students with malnutrition or at nutritional risk, have a behavior that stands out comparing the data to regular students. For example, these students have low attendance, tardiness, anxiety, and aggression. This affects their ability to achieve their academic goals. Even though an opposing view could say that behavioral issues can only be fixed within oneself, one can not simply fix the surroundings that are affecting one. In this case, what needs to be ...
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...ts so that their mental and physical state wont be damaged, and they can keep up with their academic needs.
In conclusion, schools should take a stance in their students’ lives by presenting them with healthier school meals. Not having a proper meal with the necessary nutrients can have a great toll on students’ academic achievements and future. Schools should change their ways in order to decrease malnourished student rates, and increase the chances for students to prosper and and have a better and healthy life. By changing the lunches, students will not only be able to concentrate in school, but it will also decrease obesity rates among the city. Once the students are in good shape, it will be easier to control them, and make changes and implement new things within the school. Take action in your school by signing petitions, fundraisers, and raising awareness.
We all remember that day when President Obama took office, and our school lunches changed forever. First Lady Michelle Obama, felt that too many American kids are overweight, so she thought she needed to make our school lunches healthier, with more fruits and vegetables. One of the major changes she made was how many calories the school cooks were able to give the kids. The new requirements are as follows: up to 650 for children in kindergarten through fifth grade, 700 for sixth through eighth graders and 850 for high scholars. These numbers are consistent with the Mayo Clinic’s recommendations ( Kuczynski-Brown). The main goal of cutting calories and taking away junk food, was to insure that kids are getting served a healthy lunch. At each lunch, schools must still provide a cup of fruit, a cup of vegetables, two servings of grains, two ounces of dairy, and a cup of fluid milk, so that students can get their needed vitamins and nutrients (Anonymous) . They are also wanting more local farmers to be involved, and give more of the food they grow to the school. At the high school I went to, we built a green house, and planted a garden to give us some local grown food. It was part of our Ag Science class. More and more schools are starting to do the same thing. The stats of overweight kids is really high. The guidelines are as follows:
Studies have shown that there is a link between food security, performance in the classroom, and obesity. If this issue is not faced head on, America will have a generation of children not fully prepared for the workforce and high health insurance rates due to obesity health issues. In providing help to people who find themselves in food insecure households, people can be found who are skeptical of their true need. One of the biggest myths of the disadvantaged is that they have poor shopping habits or shop in convenience stores where prices are extremely high compared to those in grocery stores. Another myth is that in America, the land of plenty, those that cannot afford food are lazy or cheats.... ...
Schools are meant to give our children a healthy and nurturing environment, and yet so much of the lunches in schools are fattening; does this stop schools from achieving the aforementioned goal? Childhood obesity in the United Sates continues to be a growing problem despite so any new programs to help combat it, and new research is showing how schools may be playing a large role in childhood obesity. School lunches are showing to be the problem, they encourage poor nutrition in our nation’s students, and simple reform is proving to not be enough to stop the rise in obesity rates.
According to the Journal of Law and Health schools that have not banned junk food have had an increase in students more excited to learn because of the sugar count unhealthy foods. Looking at the evidence regarding school lunches from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), students need equal grain and protein proportions to have a healthy daily diet, and over the course of 5 years schools that don't have a healthy lunch program have had their students overall GPA almost completely equivalent to the schools that have had the healthy lunch program. Although having tremendously unhealthy school lunches may not harm your GPA it can immensely harm your health. Lots of average students health are in danger just because of unhealthy school lunches, it is very necessary that schools realize that a healthy lunch program is always a beneficial option. Scientists have found that children who have healthier breakfast and lunch get better grades and have increased brain power. Some evidence points to unhealthy food but healthy food is always the answer in an effective school community. Sometimes unhealthy food is cheaper and tastes better but it can be very costly to your health especially as a
...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.
Nutrition also plays an important role in student health. Proper nutrition promotes optimal growth and development of children. Researchers generally find that a higher quality diet is associated with better performance on academic test scores and that nutritional status can directly affect mental capacity among school age children (Frisvold). Teaching students about the benefits of good nutrition will help them stay healthy throughout their growing years. “My plate” is one of the easy and interactive tools they can avail to assist them in making healthier food
President Harry Truman initiated The School Lunch Program (NSLP) in 1946, it was established under the National School Lunch Act. The program provides nutritionally balanced, low‐cost lunches to more than 32 million boys and girls each school day.The NSLP ensures the nutrition,portion, and safety of our children food, over the years do to the rise of childhood obesity the The USDA School Lunch Program is constantly evolving to meet the needs of our youth. Many concerned citizens, such as Eric schlosser author of Fast Food Nation believes that the USDA is not providing our children with the right nourishment. Many parents are taking it into their own hand and creating and joining advocacy groups. It is crucial that our youth receive nutrient
Buddha once said, "To keep the body in good health is a duty...otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear." Students need a healthy body which leads to having a healthy mind. Once a child is in good health, they will feel better about themself which will make them succeed in everything else they do. A huge debate that is going on all throughout the United States is this- Should schools provide one healthy meal for students to help end the fight of childhood obesity? Schools are beginning to pick up the slack for the lost direction that children should receive at home. Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic all through our country. If we do not begin to take the initiative and stop this problem, then it may begin to spread worldwide. Americans need to realize the severity of the situation and begin to take in more seriously rather than brush it off as a light topic.
Many cafeteria workers and staff members in 49 states have said many students do not want the governments new school lunches. Almost 7 out of 17 schools with have been seen with students throwing away some or all their fruits or vegetables, even the cafeteria workers are suffering under these new standards. About 60.3 percent of school districts want flexibility to be given to all schools to improve their ability to provide and give good nutrition without harm to any instructions and school district operations. Schools should know by now what is good for students and what is not, but they should not go overboard with the wheat and whole grain items. Another example that shows that schools should be responsible for providing a nutritious lunch is knowing that there are a variety of ways to make healthy foods taste good for school students. Healthy tasty food that will risk diabetes and obesity .One of the biggest reasons people do not eat healthy foods is because they feel it as if it will not taste good. The problem is, if your health food does not taste good, you are eating the wrong health food. Just because something is good for you does not mean it has to taste nasty, boring, or completely gross. There are plenty of ideas out there for eating healthy without making sacrifices on taste. “It is silly that people are worried about kids throwing things out. There are many ways to make
Williamson, D. A., Han, H., Johnson, W. D., Martin, C. K., & Newton, R. L. (2013). Modification of the school cafeteria environment can impact childhood nutrition. Results from the Wise Mind and LA Health studies. Appetite, 61, 77–84. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2012.11.002
School lunches should provide the healthiest options for students. Ann Louise Gittleman, one of America’s top nutritionists, stresses that “Healthy eating gives energy and concentration skills opposed to unhealthy processed foods which slow one’s brain down and cause sugar crashes in children.” thus making children bovine. If students crash, their focus can be shifted and lessened. According to the School Health Policies and Programs Study in 2006, 11.7 percent of elementary schools, 19 percent of middle schools, and 23.5 percent of high schools included meals from fast food restaurants, such as Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, amon...
In other words, the food is not delicious and there are not many choices. Also, when children don’t get proper nutrition, they have trouble focusing on school. Most students do not buy lunch because they feel it is unappealing and do not like the food served. Many students go to other kids and ask for food. In addition, many students do not eat breakfast, so they rely on lunch to fuel them for the day.
There are many benefits and many possible drawbacks for the participation in a federal school breakfast program. The USDA sponsors the federal school breakfast program. The relationship between hunger and the ability to learn are very closely related. Of the many benefits to a school breakfast program, one includes the assurance that the children are eating a balanced meal during the school day. In turn researchers believe that eating a balanced healthy breakfast leads children in enhancing attention and alertness, energy and motivation, concentration and self-discipline (Ragno, 1994).
That leads to the children adopting the lifestyle to their adulthood stage of life, making the world to be full of obese and overweight unhealthy individuals prone to many diseases (FamilyDoctor.org). The schools should have healthy diet menus to have mentally alert students who are excellent in their academic work without depression and anxiety to avoid cases of school strikes and dropouts which are in association with the poor eating habits. For the students to participate in sports fully and to determine their talents, there should be no junk foods in schools for them to be strong without complications related to severe eating such as weak bones which can hinder them from taking part in sports. Lastly for the parents not to spend so much money on their children’s food, the schools should provide the healthy diet which is cheaper and its consumption is not frequent, unlike the junk whose serving is at any time leading to
...ints of hunger. For the kids who need additional calories, schools are starting to create after-school snack and supper programs. Students are also encouraged to try the new menu items in hopes of getting them away from the old favorites served in the past, which may have less to do with taste and more to do with familiarity. Food service staff can attend trainings to learn how to season food without salt, how to lower the fat content in meals, and teachers, parents, and others involved with students can model healthy eating. To help encourage this program among children, schools can involve students in menu planning and conduct taste tests to figure out student preferences and expose students to new foods. These options will encourage students to eat the healthy lunches, thereby helping to reduce plate waste and benefitting the children eating these healthy meals.