SCHOOL LUNCH STANDARDS WON'T STOP CHILDHOOD OBESITY

This is my latest post on America's culture of obesity. I have previously discussed the need of regulation in fighting obesity as well as the role of parental responsibility in fighting childhood obesity. A key area of dealing with childhood obesity is school nutrition. Unfortunately, recent developments in school nutrition shows the extent to which a complete overhaul of our school food system is needed.
School nutrition must be revised in a way that ensures nutrition will actually improve. The National School Lunch Program was revised for the coming 2012-13 school year. New requirements included the extent to which children must be given whole grains, more fruits and vegetables, and reduction in flavored milk. While these guidelines may sound good on the surface, they have not been set up in a way that guarantees meaningful change.?

The new school nutrition standards have left far too many loopholes that allow junk food in our schools. For example, Congress specifically allowed pizza to be counted as a vegetable under the new rules (due to the pizza sauce). Furthermore, a recent article from the East Valley Tribune shows that Arizona is satisfying the guidelines by offering whole grain cookies and whole grain chocolate muffins. These can hardly be called "healthy" options; a whole grain crust pizza (covered in processed sauce, processed cheese, and high in saturated fat), and a whole grain cookie will continue America's rise in childhood obesity. New guidelines as to what children must eat are virtually meaningless if these foods are delivered in high fat, high sugar, and highly processed options. Regulation of school lunch must remove junk food from the schools, as opposed to making junk food slightly healthier, in order for nutritional regulation to be effective.?

Parental responsibility must be made a part of correcting childhood obesity. If parents are not willing to accept responsibility for their children's health then they must be made to do so. Recent years have shown several examples of parents being negligent in regards to child nutrition. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver greatly overhauled the school nutrition systems in both Huntington, West Virginia and Los Angeles, California. However, many parents began sending their children to school with junk food when the children complained of "not liking" the healthier school food. Similar parental action has taken place in California. It is the role of parents to ensure that children are making the right choices, this why parents are the legal guardians of their children. Parents must be supporters of healthier school lunch programs and not be the ones teaching their children that obesity is acceptable.

Childhood obesity is a national crisis. We must stop to consider the fact that our future soldiers, workers, and societal leaders are being raised in a culture where being overweight/obese is becoming the norm. Also, America is facing a national crisis in terms of rising health care costs (largely due to obesity related health problems). Furthermore, we have one of the world?s higher divorce rates (which can expected given that obesity causes depression and general unhappiness). Finally, America?s consumer debt is out of control (a symptom of people spending to satisfy unhappiness, which is partially caused by obesity). Tackling childhood obesity is critical solving many of these problems.

Contact a Las Vegas personal trainer if you wish to begin a weight loss program.

Source: http://www.lukes-fitness-blog.com/2012/07/school-lunch-standards-wont-stop.html

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