Across the United States, “only 6% of the school lunch programs meet the nutritional
requirements established by the United States Department of Agriculture” (“Three Facts About
School Lunches”). A typical school lunch has about 980 calories and 48 grams of fat, almost half
of the amount that children should eat in a whole day (“Three Facts About School Lunches”).
Paying attention in class is hard enough, and eating an unhealthy lunch only slows down the
students’ performance. Serving hearty food at lunch is a step in the right direction for the
students’ health, and their future as well. Schools need to have more nutritious food because
nutritious food stimulates learning, prevents obesity, and shows kids how to maintain a balanced
Eating a healthier lunch has proven to increase the academic performance of students
(Roizman). Nutritious food is a great source of natural energy. According to Harvard Medical
School, eating foods that contain whole grains and unsaturated fats will supply energy for a
longer period of time, as opposed to foods that are high in refined sugar and starches (“Eating to
Boost Energy”). Although the sugar may give a quick energy boost, it will wear off and leave
the body feeling even more tired than before. Sugar and starches both contain glucose, which is
the fuel for the brain’s functions. (“Treat Your Brain Right”). Because of this, it is necessary to
eat a certain amount of glucose every day. However, consuming too much glucose, “can ruin
your ability to stay focused…you run the risk of delivering too much glucose to your brain and
ultimately sacrificing your productivity levels” (Del Rosario). Rather than being on a sugar high
or d...
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...n either be slightly cheaper or
slightly more expensive, but it is worth the change.
There are many reasons why schools across America should serve more nutritious food
to their students. It stimulates learning by providing energy and boosting memory, which will
be helpful to many kids in the afternoon school hours. In addition, it will make a difference in
the childhood obesity rate, and significantly lower health issues among young kids. Lastly, the
food that schools provide will make an impact on future health decisions the children will make.
Whether it costs about nine cents less or nine cents more than the original school lunch, serving
heartier food to the students will benefit the kids in a number of ways. Schools should consider
having healthier meal plans for the sake of the students and the lasting effect it will have on
The pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus in is related to the insulin hormone. Insulin is secreted by cells in the pancreas and is responsible for regulating the level of glucose in the bloodstream. It also aids the body in breaking down the glucose to be used as energy. When someone suffers from diabetes, however, the body does not break down the glucose in the blood as a result of abnormal insulin metabolism. When there are elevated levels of glucose in the blood, it is known as hyperglycemia. If the levels continue to remain high over an extended period of time, damage can be done to the kidneys, cardiovascular systems; you can get eye disorders, or even cause nerve damage. When the glucose levels are low in one’s body, it is called hypoglycemia. A person begins to feel very jittery, and possibly dizzy. If that occurs over a period of time, the person can possibly faint. Diabetes mellitus occurs in three different forms - type 1, type 2, and gestational.
If schools were to encourage healthy eating by serving a more variety of foods students would learn to like healthy eating. In the study done by Julianna Cecere she asked students through the social media app Twitter to tweet her their opinions on their school lunches and most of them were not in favor of them. One Student tweeted: “@KQEDedspace To make school lunches more appealing we need flavorful yet healthy foods. Things that are home grown, not canned. #DoNowLunch” (Cecere, 2014) Students want to have better eating habits and it 's best to teach them at a young age so they grown up to live a healthy lifestyle and live longer but not when the food is canned and not
Government date shows that in the past thirty years, rate of being overweight in six to eleven year olds is up 19% and 6% in age 12 to 19. Without support, school lunches remain high in fat. (Finkelstien) According to the CDCP, obesity is double what it was in children and triple in adolescents since 1980. Many reforms were attempted to help this problem, but many inadvertently caused more problems. (Finkelstien) A 730 calorie lunch should have no more than 24 grams of fat and no more than 8 grams of it saturated yet the average USDA lunch has 31 grams of fat and 14 rams of it is saturated. (Yeoman) These very high levels of fat are why obesity is becoming worse in children. It can be concluded that school food is still extremely high in fat and this can be directly linked to the high rates of obesity in young children and
“More than 76 percent of schools sell soft drinks and sweetened fruit drinks, but fewer than half offered bottles water. Fewer than 15 percent sell low-fat or nonfat yogurt, and fewer than one third order skim milk. Only 25 percent of schools say they've reduced fats and oils in recipes.”(Spake, 2). Choices at lunch range from greasy to unidentifiable. Most students eat school lunches five days a week. So most of the food they eat throughout the week comes from the school cafeteria. Although, the schools do tend to offer healthy choices such as salads, subs, skim milk, and unlimited fruits and vegetables. “Each week Phoenix students are served a variety of fruits and vegetables from guava to grapes and jicima to red peppers. School officials hope that by exposing children to fruits and vegetable they may develop a taste for them and request their parents to buy them.”(Bailey, 1). Real meat is becoming an issue in schools. “According to reports issued by the Physicians Committee for responsible Medicine (PCRM) the USDA dumps hundreds of millions of pounds of surplus beef, chicken, cheese, and pork on the National School lunch Program.”(Lord, 42). Chicken isn't whole white meat; some of it doesn't even taste like meat! Let’s move on to unhealthy foods. There are unlimited amounts of un...
Glucose is a sugar that plays a big part in a human’s health and well-being. This sugar is a major source of energy for the body’s brain and cells. The Cells that receive energy from glucose help in the building of the body’s muscle and tissue. Although glucose may be important to the body too much of this sugar can cause a chronic condition called Diabetes. Diabetes, also known as Diabetes mellitus, is a chronic condition that is caused by too much sugar in the blood. This condition can affect all age groups. In fact, in 2010 a survey was taken by the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, on the number of newly diagnosed diabetes. Out of 1,907,000 people: 24.38% were ages 20-44, 55.17% were ages 45-64, and 20.45% were ages 65 and greater. Diabetes is a very serious condition, and it can be deadly if left untreated. This paper will help better educate the reader on the signs and symptoms, the testing process, and the management of diabetes.
A. One condition is known as hyperglycemia, which means that the blood glucose gets too
Allowing healthier school lunches will decrease obesity in children because it will give them the proper nutrition to reduce the risk of health issues. Since obesity causes many health issues, maintaining a proper nutrition will reduce the risk of health issues. According to Star- Telegram, a daily newspaper that serves Fort Worth and areas of North Texas states, “[School lunches that have] a meal of pizza sticks, a banana, raisins and whole milk has given way to whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce, a whole wheat roll green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, kiwi and low-fat milk … This change will help more than 2.4 million Texas students who receive a free or reduced- price school lunch to lead healthier, more active lives—in and out of the classroom”(Par. 2 and 4). School lunches are supposed to guarantee students a well balance meal, so they can have the energy to proceed with their classes throughout the day. Meanwhile, students who receive a f...
Wilde, Parke, and Mary Kennedy. "The Economics Of A Healthy School Meal." Choices: The Magazine Of Food, Farm & Resource Issues 24.3 (2009): 25-29. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
Yee, Vivian. “No Appetite for Good-for-You School Lunches.” New York Times, October 5, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/nyregion/healthier-school-lunches-face-student-rejection.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
Education plays a dominant role in the lives of students all over the United States. Since most students spend roughly eight to twelve hours in school, it is important to make sure that they are provided with a healthy and nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack.
...in sources of energy. When cells cannot absorb sugar, you can become fatigued or feel exhausted” (Healhline), complain of blurred vision” In the short term, high glucose levels can cause a swelling of the lens in the eye. This leads to blurry vision. Getting your blood sugar under control can help correct vision problems. If blood sugar levels remain high for a long time, other eye problems can occur” (HealthLine), experience nocturia “Elevated glucose levels force fluids from your cells. This increases the amount of fluid delivered to the kidneys. This makes you need to urinate more. It may also eventually make you dehydrated” (Healthline), and have sores and cuts that will not heal “Elevated glucose levels may make it harder for your body to heal. Therefore, injuries like cuts and sores stay open longer. This makes them more susceptible to infection” (HealthLine).
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.
One reason our school should get a new lunch menu is many students do not like the food served. For example, a survey was taken and of the 31 students 100% said they disliked the food. As student Bryan Huang said, “The lunches are horrible, they need better choices and more choices.” 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 in 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. But, if they do not like the food served they won’t eat so they starve for the rest of the school day, which can
“The Impact of School Lunches on Students Performance” Healthy Body Healthy Mind. CampbellsVille University. CampbellsVille University, Dec 6, 2017. Web. Feb 14, 2018.
Why is this a problem? Cafeteria food is often cheap, bought in bulk, high in calories, malnutritious, and microwaved. Student polls and opinions prove this. Therefore, this leads to a suggestion: Healthier, tastier foods and a better, more advanced lunch system should be implemented. First of all, students aren’t motivated to eat unhealthy, not-tasty food.