As a health teacher, I take notice/interest in what my students are eating. Last year, during my first year of teaching it amazed me how much junk food they consumed in one day. When the kids entered the building in the morning, the most common things that I whiteness them eating was, chips, McDonalds, pop, and candy. Throughout the day, the ‘junk food’ trend continued; it was a never ending cycle of sugar, fat, sugar, fat, sugar, fat.
Last year our high school was held in a Baptist church while our new building was under construction. Because this facility was not intended to be a high school, the cafeteria was very inadequate, lacking kitchen equipment needed to prepare hot lunches. At another site, the lunches were put in containers, warmed and then sent over to the school in warmers. By the time they reached the students mouth the food was utterly disgusting! I attributed their poor food choices to avoiding the grotesque cafeteria lunches and the lack of healthier alternative options.
This fall our kids were moved into the permanent building that is equip with a full functioning kitchen, producing (in my opinion) great food. There are several alternatives for the students such as a different set meal each day, a la carte options, salads, cookies, vending machines full of candy/chips/pop. With all of the alternative options available now, I really did expect more of the children to take advantage of them. Although on occasion I do see some of the students eating healthy, the majority of them continue to make extremely poor food choices, eating high fat items off of the a la carte menu, paired with chips and a sugary pop from the vending machine.
A recent study shows that when students are faced with unhealthy a la carte school lunch options, they will typically make the unhealthy choice. “Reporting in the American Journal of Public Health, Kubik said the children who were allowed to choose food outside the standard school lunches ate more fat and fewer fruits and vegetables than the government recommends.”
http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/07/01/health.lunch.reut/index.html I found the research reported in this article to be particularly applicable to the students at my high school. It is also stated in the article that unhealthy a la carter options are more profitable to schools.
But is the profit worth the damage that is being done to our children?
What should be done about this problem?
Would taking away these options be interfering on student’s right to choose the foods that they desire despite the negative health consequences?
Another relevant website on this topic: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/446200/the_debate_over_school_lunches_with.html?cat=4
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We have an unhealthy eating epidemic throughout our country. There was a movie "Super Size It", that would make anyone never want to eat fast food again. It was about a healthy guy who, as an experiment, ate only fast food for a month, and the dramatic effect it had on his health and on his size. anyway - with so many adults eating poorly, what can we expect from our children? I agree that something must be done - but I think it has to be from the top down.
ReplyDeleteAt my high school, they turned off the vending machines during school hours. We had many choices for lunches, but many were still unhealthy. I do remember going through a phase that I bought a salad or soup. But on pizza day we the biggest day to buy lunch- which was at least twice a week.
ReplyDeleteThis year at my school they just revamped the entire lunch menu. The hot lunches can not have saturated fat and need to include fruits or vegetable. Some of the students have complained but for the most part they are pretty happy with their choices. They have a turkey sandwich daily, another sandwich of the day and a bagel to choose from also.
I think we need to give students choices but also need to limit how much junk food they eat. In the real world they have to make choices for themselves and will have the option of both healthy and unhealthy. If we never let them have the unhealthy foods they will crave them when they are available.
Students are children. Adults/parents regulate almost all aspects of their child's life except what they eat. Childhood obesity is a problem in the US and adults must take action in order to stop and or curb it. This article has some interesting ways to do so.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/69021.php
-- At least one serving of fruit, vegetable, whole grain, non-fat or low fat dairy food.
-- Sugar should form no more than 35 per cent of total calories.
-- No snack should have more than 200 calories per portion.
-- No more than 200 milligrams of sodium per snack portion or 480 milligrams per a la carte entrée item.
-- Fat should form no more than 35 per cent of the total calorie value of a food item.
-- Total ban on items containing trans fats.
-- Juice drinks limited to 4-ounce servings in elementary and middle, 8-ounce serving in high schools.
-- Water should be freely available, tap or bottled
Lastly students should be taught the importance of eating right and exercising. If we teach them how to take care of their bodies and give them options such as a salad bar option at all schools, and banning junk food, we could see the results of their actions and our efforts.
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ReplyDeleteI think "choice" by kids is almost always a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteConstrained choice, perhaps. And the constraints should be set in such a way as to maximize the children's long-term interests, which, because they are children, they often don't know.
hello friends, excellent blog to think of our son and his food, daily life does not allow mothers to develop the appropriate lunches for their children, given the little time remaining between household work and recreation time, mothers forget to prepare healthy foods, however food preparation quick and easy to prepare, nowadays it is called unhealthy foods, should reflect on the damage it can cause a lar-term health of children
ReplyDelete