Obesity Linked with food in American Schools
By
Mahvisha Kanwal
What’s
the issue?
In USA,
elementary and primary schools takes the responsibility of providing a free
lunch facility to the students. Although all of the schools have maintained the
quality of food, but according to a recent study, almost one third of all the
children and youth are considered as over-weight. The basic cause of this issue
is that, the nutritional value of food is not being kept in mind by the school
community. Another issue of increasing rate of obesity is that the schools food
department attract the children by making yummy fast food which is for sure not
healthy for the children. That’s why children like to eat food from the school
cafe rather to bring from home.
According to WhatsForLunchNYC.com,
a New York City-based website dedicated to overhauling the city’s lunch system,
school lunches are in dire need of a health makeover:
“In
a typical week, elementary school menus include chicken tenders, cheeseburgers,
and ‘Pizza Fridays,’ with sides of cheesy rotini, mozzarella sticks or French
fries. A healthy meal can be hard for students to come by in a public school
cafeteria, and is especially challenging for school systems to provide.” (Cited
from Reader's Digest Editors).
What’s
the Background?
Obesity is
an excessive accumulation of fat by the body which increases health risks and
problems. It is obvious that a person who is obese is more likely to get a
disease as compared to the person who is not obese. Unhealthy diet and lack of
physical activity is the main cause of obesity. Amongst children, diet is the
main issue. In schools, diet, beverages that is high in calories and lack of
fruits and vegetables contributes to obesity. In schools, due to good taste of
food, oversized portions are being eaten by the students which lead to obesity.
Due to deliciousness of food, children are more likely to eat from the school
cafe.
“About a quarter of 2-5 year olds and one-third of
school-age children (including adolescents) are overweight or obese in the U.S.
(Ogden et al., 2014). About 30 percent of low-income preschoolers are
overweight or obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011).
Overweight and obesity rates tend to be higher and have increased more rapidly
over time among African-American and Hispanic children than Caucasian children
(Freedman et al., 2006; Ogden et al., 2012; Ogden et al., 2014). The prevalence
is also higher among children living in the Southern region of the U.S. (e.g.,
Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky) (Singh et al., 2008).”
What’s
the Proposal?
There should be proper guidelines in every
curriculum. Free breakfasts should be provided for all the eligible. The
barriers related to time and space should be available for the school meal
programs. Marketing strategies can be used for promoting increased
participation in school meal programs. Every school should have a nutritionist
and a physical training staff. Health education and physical fitness should be
included in student’s assessment sheets. Experts should educate the staff
regarding the nutritional value of the food. There must be a garden in every
school, where children should plant different vegetables under the supervision
of experts. There should be a separate class weekly in which children should be
taught the benefits and risks of plant food, animal food and sweets. Staff
should cook food which is healthier in nutrients and minerals. Attractive and
cool presentation of the salads and vegetables should be kept in the display
counter. To keep this activity enjoyable, children should be allowed to help
the staff in making different vegetable sandwiches to build their interest.
Small amounts of meat, cream, butter can also be used in the menu. Sea food can
also be used in menus.
The students must be
regularly monitored bases on their body mass index.
According to WHO child
Obesity in Particular is one of the most alarming epidemic in this present era
and is considered as the one of the most important public health issue of this
century.
The main debate here is
to avoid this onslaught of obesity in the future generations of United States.
Children and kids who are obese are more likely to be obese even when they are
going to be adults. In America one third of the population of the children who
ages like 2 to 19 are considered as obese.
So to stop this from
happening we have to manage the root cause of the obesity linked with the food
in educational Institutions in the United States of America. Solid measures
must be ensured because, obesity is like the mother of all other diseases like
cardiovascular disorders, Diabetes, bone and joint problems etc.
Besides medical
problems obese people may face social discrimination in certain aspects of
their lives.
What’s the conclusion?
From the above discussion
we can draw following conclusion: only proper guidelines being implemented can
solve this problem. These guidelines can be:
1.
Implementation, and evaluation of
healthy eating and focussing on regular physical activities.
2.
Promotion of a healthy environment in
the educational institutions.
3.
Provision of the meals according to the
dietary Guidelines of America
4.
Discouraging the use of foods with high
calorie content like carbonated beverages.
5.
There must be proper session regarding
educating students about the need of a healthy diet in our lives.
6.
There must be proper collaboration
between school authorities and the families to cope this problem, as this is
the most important part to be played by both parents and authorities of the
schools.
7.
There must regular wellness programmes
encouraging students to take part in the physical activities.
References
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