Should Schools Sell Fast Food: the Health Debate

Introduction

Junk food can offer students a sweet or savory satisfaction at breakfast or lunchtime, but these foods can contain fatty acids or a lot of carbohydrates. In middle school, we have things like pizza and cheeseburgers on our lunch menus every day, but according to the editor of 18 Banning Junk Food in Schools, Pros and Cons, these foods are not healthy for growing kids to eat every day (Editor in Chief). Junk food can cause many health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Therefore, schools should only sell healthy food to students.

Body

The Health Consequences of Fast Food

It’s every kid's dream to come home on a Friday afternoon to their parents, surprising them with pizza or going to a burger place. Now, it’s an everyday thing, but if school lunch did not include these things, then it would be more rewarding. School meals should have fruits or veggies and less fat than food that would be at a fast-food restaurant (Center for Science in the Public Interest). School meals matter the most because kids eat more lunches at school than at home, and because school lunch is not that healthy, 1 in 3 kids suffer from obesity ( Staff at Harvard University). Unhealthy eating can lead to obesity, asthma, diabetes, gallstones, and many more health problems (UCSF). Many children battle with these complications every day. “Good nutrition lays the groundwork for good health and academic success” (USDA). To put things in perspective, it costs more to buy a jug of milk than to buy a soda and chips, but it's not just a bag of chips; it’s everything that’s unhealthy. It’s cheaper to buy food that’s bad for you than healthy food (Facebook, Google). That's how they get you. Next time you are walking down the aisles of your local grocery store, look at the prices of the food because it's cheaper to buy unhealthy food. People buy it once, and then they're addicted. It's like a drug for some people. It satisfies a need that can be satisfied by something like an apple or an orange.

Arguments for Prioritizing Healthy Options

Another argument in favor of selling healthy food in schools is that it creates good habits. When we are younger, we pick up habits like biting our nails or chewing our cheeks, but we develop bad habits on the way, and one could be eating unhealthy. According to the USDA, the food we eat should encourage students to eat healthily (USDA). For example, if the school serves a salad for lunch, then students will start to pick up healthy eating habits by eating the healthy food served. “The food served at school should set a healthy example” (Hamlin). Some parents may feed their children healthy food, and when they go to school, they get unhealthy food, but while taking a lunch to school may be a choice for some, others may not be able to afford three meals a day if it costs more than the price of school lunch (Hamlin). Adults pay taxes that help pay for school food, but the food that is being provided is processed and animal protein-based, which can lead to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even cancer (Hamlin). When the world now provides so many unhealthy food items, it’s hard for children to make the right choice of what the right food to eat is without a little push, and school lunches may just be the push they need to get on the right path (Hamlin). It’s okay to have junk food here and there, but the food we put into our bodies during school should provide us with nutrients to maximize our full potential as successful students and growing children (Hamlin). A healthy diet or an unhealthy diet can change many things, like your mood, energy levels, and academic performance (Healthy Schools Campaign).

Healthier food costs more, so that means the schools will need more money. “School food is a $16.3 billion federally funded program” (Healthy Schools Campaign). The government puts so much money into this program, and we still have made the effort to talk about students' nutrition. At my school, we can go into the ala cart line and get a salad, but there are so many more unhealthy things, and in the regular lunch line, you are not forced to get fruits or veggies or even milk. School lunch should ensure that we have the nutrition we need to learn throughout the day (Vollinger, Henchy, Frac). In 2009, the meat served in the lunchrooms couldn't meet fast-food restaurant standards, let alone the one of a school (Oberst). Since 2010, school lunch has improved, but it’s still not very good for you (Oberst).

Conclusion

When one considers obesity, cancer, and type 2 diabetes, it's clear that more steps need to be taken to have healthier school lunches. While kids have plenty of time to figure out what they want to be when they grow up, they have little time to decide what food to put on their plates and to create good eating habits. With healthy school lunches, we can bring them one step closer to good decisions. It’s nice to enjoy a small bag of chips in moderation now and then, but when you have the hunger for something sweet, eat some fruit, or when you need a crunchy snack instead of chips, enjoy some carrot sticks or peppers. Every problem has a solution. There's even a solution to unhealthy school lunches.

References

1. Chief, E. in. (2019, March 19). 18 Banning Junk Food in Schools Pros and Cons. Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://connectusfund.org/18-banning-junk-food-in-schools-pros-and-cons.
   Facebook Share on Twitter Show, Facebook, & Google. (2017, September 19). Should schools sell only healthy food? Retrieved January 11, 2020, from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10444816.
2. Hamlin, A., & New York Coalition for Healthy School Food. (2018, May 29). 5 Reasons Why All School Food Should Be Healthy. Retrieved January 11, 2020, from https://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/5-reasons-why-all-school-food-should-be-healthy/.
3. Health Risks of Overweight Children. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/education/health_risks_for_overweight_children/.
4. Oberst, L., Oberst, L., & Ocean Robbins. (2020, January 9). Why School Lunches in America Are Unhealthy and 10 Ways You Can Take Action to Improve Them. Retrieved January 11, 2020, from https://foodrevolution.org/blog/school-lunch-in-america/.
5. School Food. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2020, from https://healthyschoolscampaign.org/food/.
6. Staff, A. (2019, August 21). Why School Meals Matter. Retrieved from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2016/09/20/why-school-meals-matter/.
7. Support Healthier School Food: Center for Science in the Public Interest. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://cspinet.org/protecting-our-health/healthy-school-lunches.
   USDA Proposes Standards to Provide Healthy Food Options in Schools: USDA-FNS. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://www.fns.usda.gov/pressrelease/2013/001913.
8. Vollinger, E., Henchy, G., & Frac. (2019, December 4). Benefits of School Lunch. Retrieved January 11, 2020, from https://www.frac.org/programs/national-school-lunch-program/benefits-school-lunch.

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