Are School Lunches Contributing to Childhood Obesity?
Recently, my brother and I were laughing about all of the disgusting lunches our elementary school served. We joked about the hexagon “Mexican” pizza, the freezer burned salisbury steak, and the mashed potatoes with chunky gravy.
We started searching pictures to refresh our memories of the lunches we ate for nine years, when I realized that so many schools nationwide serve very similar food. None of these meals were particularly balanced or healthy. I recalled that towards the end of my elementary school years, there was a transition to slightly healthier meals.
In 2012, the Department of Agriculture updated the nutrition standards to school lunch programs across the nation. The mandate stated, “This rule requires most schools to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals; reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals; and meet the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements.” These updates were meant to help increase children’s intake of nutritional food and reduce the likelihood of obesity.
However, in 2011–12 the CDC reported the childhood obesity rate from ages 2–19 was 16.9 percent and it increased to 18.5 percent in 2015–16.
The 2015–16 report provided the figure below, which demonstrates a significant increase in childhood obesity from 1999–2016.
Even though the improved health mandates to school lunches did not “fix” or improve childhood obesity rates, lunch is only one meal and there are a variety of other factors that influence a child’s eating habits. Additionally, there are plenty of environmental aspects that can impact how and why there has been an increase in childhood obesity.
The nutritional standards set forth in 2012 was a positive first step in creating healthier lives for children. Some schools have even taken the initiative to create opportunities for children to learn more about healthy foods and how to prepare them by offering cooking classes to students as well as nutrition classes. These children will be in a better position to take those lessons into their teenage and adult years.
Going forward, I am hopeful that more schools will teach young children how to make healthy choices and teach them the importance of moderation. Children and adolescents are often at a loss at what a healthy diet entails and can end up either overeating unhealthy foods or restricting themselves from the occasional dessert or snack.
There are a plethora of factors that determine an individual’s health, but having a strong foundation early on can serve as a basis for future health decisions — hopefully resulting in healthier individuals across the nation.
