Selling Obesity At School

This editorial is about childhood obesity and how schools are trying to make small changes to their lunches to make them more healthy and nutritious.

Childhood obesity has become a huge problem in the United States. In the last four decades the obesity rate in adolescents has tripled. This editorial focuses on childhood obesity and how schools are not doing everything they can to help the problem. About thirty years ago, the federal school lunch program, which helped pay for meals for underprivileged children, was created to fight malnutrition. A breakfast program was added during the 1960s, and both were made to help improve the nutritional value in schools. The writer suggests that now more must be done to help fight the obesity problem in the United States and that the place to begin is in schools.

Many schools in the United States sell junk food and soda in vending machines which are located at every corner. Snack bars, and a ‘la cart lines are also components in the rise in childhood obesity. The writer not only blames schools for the rise in obesity in children but they also blame the federal government. This author says that federal rules for food in schools has not been changed in thirty years and until new rules are made, the children who are served healthy food in school, will continue to eat candy bars, soda, and high-fat snacks.

Luckily, Congress has seemed to pay more attention to the nutrition in schools and has passed a bill to update nutritional standards. A lot of schools have made little steps in helping to make their food more nutritional. According to this author there are some schools however that will resist, especially those that sell junk food to help finance there athletic teams and clubs. The author suggests that those districts should look at a study that showed the cost of switching from soda to healthy drinks such as fruit juices, milk, and water and that even if the switch cost a little bit more, the schools should not be trading the student’s health to buy office supplies.