Junk Food in Schools

Junk Food in Schools

There is something wrong when salsa passes as a vegetable in the school cafeteria and students can buy soda and candy from vending machines on campus. With this in mind we can only begin to wonder what the future holds for today's adolescents. When students are exposed to a life of poor nutrition, the result can be obesity and regrets (CBC, 2006).

For countless children, breakfast or lunch drops out of a vending machine at school. This can be a can of soda, perhaps washing down a chocolate bar followed by a bag of potato chips. Students may be junk food junkies but the schools are hooked as well and have become increasingly dependent on the revenue that soda and candy machines bring in each year (Mueller, 2007). While soda sales may help supplement the school's bottom line, health experts are increasingly worried that soft drinks are contributing to a student's poor health. It was concluded that teen-aged boys' soda consumption has tripled in the last 20 years and doubled for girls (CSPI). Teens now drink twice as much soda as milk. On the other hand, children are taught in the classroom about good nutrition and the value of a healthy lifestyle, but we continue to make the junk food available to them. Our children's eating habits are engrained in them from a young age, so what are we teaching our children? At what cost is it ok for junk food to be available to them at school?

Studies have shown there is an increasingly large amount of our children with Diabetes Mellitus type two. This disease was at one point an adult's disease, but the lifestyles we now lead this has become an issue for our children. The rate of type 2 diabetes is at an all-time high in American children. In September last year a report by the Institute of Medicine had criticized the efforts to tackle child obesity (CBC, 2007). The report said although many measures were in place they were proving ineffective. We are not only seeing Diabetes but we are also seeing other adult diseases due to childhood obesity. Inactive lifestyle practices coupled with a shift in diet to junk foods are the main reason behind this explosion of overweight or obese children. Obesity is linked to the so-called lifestyle diseases like hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, heart disease, poor self-esteem, and a lower health-related quality of life. Essentially we are killing our children. Our society has become one of convenience and our children are suffering for it. As adults we need to stop this from happening. We need to protect our children. Junk food should not be allowed in our schools.

However, there continues to be the one source of access for our children, and that is the vending machines that have been placed in the school hallways, and cafeterias. Giving them the opportunity to choose anything they desire invariably results in a pre-packaged diet. Even if your child avoids the soda machines in school hallways it will not prevent the other kids from indulging. Healthy food choices are surrounded by vending machines, school stores and fundraisers offering low nutrient density options. Schools can and should provide an environment that exemplifies a healthier relationship with food. A recent research report from the University of Kentucky showed that 84 percent of food sold in school vending machines is "junk food", such as soft drinks, candy, fried foods and pastries (CBC). It is important for people of all ages to maintain a healthy weight. Children spend a lot of time in schools and are afforded a great deal of freedom in selecting snack foods. Parents and teachers (as well as public health professionals) are understandably concerned about the recent rise in obesity among young Americans. Just as understandable is the desire to do something to stem the tide. One action, embraced by a number of schools across the nation is substituting supposedly "healthier" foods for so-called "junk" foods and beverages in school vending machines. With that in mind what is considered "healthier food?" Vending machines can't spit out fresh fruit, vegetables, or a wholesome whole-wheat sandwich that our children require for a healthier lifestyle. So what do they really have to offer our children? Maybe they replace soda with juice, but juice is still loaded with sugar. After a couple of juices each day from the vending machine on top of the larger than normal portion sizes from other foods we obtain from the machine we are still looking at children with health issues, obesity being the main one (Mueller, 2007).

With soaring levels of childhood obesity in American children it has prompted an expert panel to recommend new nutritional standards for the nation's schools. Banning junk food from schools is