Poll: Should States Ban Junk Food at Schools?
By: Denise Tausig,
SparkPeople Blogger
5/10/2012 10:00 AM
: 59 comments
: 10,724 Views
Earlier this year, Coach Tanya blogged about the changes being made to school lunches, but five years ago, the state of California had already started to cut down on junk food in school cafeterias. With the changes that were made in California high schools, there have been some interesting findings that may help reduce childhood obesity. The law in California put limits on the amount of fat, sugar and calories that are found in their cafeteria’s, along with the foods and snacks that are available on school grounds, such as vending machines.
According to a recent study, the ban on junk food in California high schools has been found to help the students consume fewer calories (approximately 160) each day compared to students in other states. While 160 fewer calories may not seem like much, cutting back just that small amount each day can still help teens avoid long-term weight gain, along with reversing the rapidly rising obesity rates. Even with this study, it seems that schools still have a long way to go in regards to offering complete nutritious meals and snacks. However, California seems to be starting a healthier trend for students while at school. While the students may not be eating all healthy foods at school (or at home), there is now more emphasis on providing healthier options for students by setting some nutritional requirements on the food that is avaliable to them.
Dr. Taber, an author of the study does mention that he recognizes that the "school-based laws have a limited scope because students only consume about 25 percent of their calories at school" and that "no one sector or environment is going to be the magical cure." Knowing that students consume 75 percent of their calories outside of school, perhaps this will be just one piece of the puzzle to help slow the rising childhood obesity trend.
Do you think banning junk food from schools will help with reducing childhood obesity?
According to a recent study, the ban on junk food in California high schools has been found to help the students consume fewer calories (approximately 160) each day compared to students in other states. While 160 fewer calories may not seem like much, cutting back just that small amount each day can still help teens avoid long-term weight gain, along with reversing the rapidly rising obesity rates. Even with this study, it seems that schools still have a long way to go in regards to offering complete nutritious meals and snacks. However, California seems to be starting a healthier trend for students while at school. While the students may not be eating all healthy foods at school (or at home), there is now more emphasis on providing healthier options for students by setting some nutritional requirements on the food that is avaliable to them.
Dr. Taber, an author of the study does mention that he recognizes that the "school-based laws have a limited scope because students only consume about 25 percent of their calories at school" and that "no one sector or environment is going to be the magical cure." Knowing that students consume 75 percent of their calories outside of school, perhaps this will be just one piece of the puzzle to help slow the rising childhood obesity trend.
Do you think banning junk food from schools will help with reducing childhood obesity?
Should states ban junk food at schools?
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Comments
This isn't about choice this is about nutrition and health. If a parent objects to their child eating healthy foods there is a serious issue with their parenting!!
There is no reason what so ever for soda, candy, and chips to be sold in a public school. Ask any teacher how easy it is to teach a class of kids that are either hyped up or coming down from eating sugar, artificial additives, caffeine and fat! - 5/16/2012 1:50:19 PM
Do you think this would have a positive reaction since we don't think of serving junk food in the dining room. - 5/15/2012 6:52:25 PM
corn,
2 cookies,
pizza,
milk
bread roll
I am sorry but not only no but HELL NO!! except for the miniscule pieces of onion and bell pepper on the pizza where is the veggies?! Corn is not a veggie it is a grain. how about this
1 pizza slice
green beens
apple slices
milk
1 cookie
If you must have "extra curicular" junk food use it as a reward. when I was a kid if I got a A on a big test my grand parents took me to the DQ for a dilly bar. See when you use junk foods as a reward they get it into there heads that junk food is a some times thing. so ban junk foods from school lunches and vending machines. and use the junk food as a reward simple easy and efficent - 5/13/2012 2:00:44 PM
There is nothing wrong with a burger or a slice of pizza for lunch for a growing active kid. I think we have enough focus on "don'ts" when it comes to our young folks. Don't play here. Don't hang out in the park. Don't skateboard, rollerblade, bike here. We block them from doing normal healthy things that young people do out of fear that they may get hurt, and then we gripe that they are all fat and sitting in the basement on the computer all the time. Let go a bit, and trust that you raised a smart youngster.
Healthy kids will automatically regulate their diets if given options.
I would be more interested in schools cutting back on the pre-packaged, over nitrated crap and giving options that contain actual foods. You can make mass amounts of macaroni and cheese from a recipe just as effectively as you can make boxed powdered frankenfood macaroni and cheese.
- 5/13/2012 10:57:41 AM
To some extent, you have to make sure the kids will eat something. To the same extent, you don't have to provide the worst of the worst junk food.
I also agree with comments about vending machines. We NEVER had vending machines in my schools, so when I saw them when I started teaching a few years ago, I was astounded. Do kids really need access to gummy snacks in the middle of the day? - 5/13/2012 9:22:09 AM
i had all this stuff when i was a child i was never introduced to healthy foods and i have been obese my whole life, i feel like maybe if i had better training at home as far as what to eat and how much to eat i would not have been so big when i was a child and may not be struggling now at 39 and 400 pounds , not that im blaming anyone now that im an adult but i feel like if i was taught to make better choices as a kid i would make better choices now - 5/11/2012 2:53:56 PM
On the other hand, why do schools have vending machines with anything other than drinks in them? I went to two different high schools while growing up - one had no vending machines at all and the other only had soda machines.
Another thought - my sister and I ate the same school lunches every day for years. She was overweight and I was almost nearly underweight. There are LOTS of factors involved in which children become obese and which don't. - 5/11/2012 8:55:42 AM
From the age of 14-16 the school lunch was pretty much the same but with an extended salad bar. You had the choice to buy sweets from the after school club which made me gain quite a bit of weight the first year but that was later removed so you would have to walk to the shop to get sweets.
Lastly from the age of 17-19 the school lunch was yet again similar but with an even more extended salad bar and the choice or sour milk with muesli.
Yes people could go to town and eat a burger if there was time or buy sweets at the school cafeteria afterwards but most people that I knew had the school lunch as it was free. - 5/11/2012 5:56:06 AM
My wish is that the producers and manufacturers of healthy food, both in retail and wholesale would take their eyes of the almighty dollar and work to lower their costs so eating well wouldn't be so expensive. Pipe dreams I know, but great things have started with dreams!
- 5/11/2012 12:01:51 AM
WE are the caretakers, parents, teachers, and community that raise our children. We can say no or even an occasional say yes to fast food and bake sale treats. That a law banning toys from kids meals is on the books but that ALL school kids aren’t provided 2 healthy meals a day aggravates me. That we let physical activity be removed from schools and fail to upkeep and maintain the safety of the areas children play exasperates me. When there is such outcry over obesity and its long term risks and costs, why are we not “nipping it in the bud” by feeding school children properly and exercising their bodies and brains because it's simply the right thing not the legally mandated thing to do?
- 5/10/2012 6:41:57 PM
1) If someone is a concerned parent, there is a very easy option. Pack the kid's lunches at home from the foods and ingredients the parent approves. No more worries about what those kids are eating at lunch.
2) Be VERY wary of banning / removing junk food and replacing it with typical "healthy" school lunches. Making bad food = delicious stuff adults take away and good food = yucky stuff adults make you eat does NOT encourage healthy eating habits. It encourages those with lunch money to skip lunch and go to the convenience store on the way home. - 5/10/2012 2:56:18 PM
I also think we need to choose our battles, and the battle to provide nutritious food to our children (and our neighbor's children if their parents can't or won't) is one worth fighting. - 5/10/2012 2:12:02 PM
My beef, which may not seem related to obese children, is a huge concern of myself and my two sisters that our mother is in a nursing home. Every day, twice a day at snack time, they come around with the cart-what's on it? chips, cookies, soda...very little health in that, I'd say! But they are always "allowed" to have fruit, but it's not offered! it's out in the dining room, and they can have it if they ask for it specifically, at any time of any day. Problem is, my mother had a stroke which left her unable to verbalize, and sometimes her skills don't let her think of things if it's "out of sight, out of mind". So what do we do then? She becomes heavier and heavier each passing year, and with a broken hip at one point, she now has no mobility and continues to get heavier, already exceeding 300 lbs I'm sure. It makes me sad that our children and elderly are forced to live these kinds of lives. It's not THEIR choice! - 5/10/2012 1:44:09 PM
It is possible to put more nutritious items in the machines if schools still want them. This is probably even a good idea because it could help kids maintain a better blood sugar. Cafeterias should definitely be serving nutritious meals. That's part of educating our children. Introducing units on nutrition into the class room curriculum at early ages is also an important part of this education process--as is having posters that promote good nutrition in the lunch rooms or hallways at school. (Probably widening this to more general good health practices). - 5/10/2012 1:19:06 PM
Also... unless the schools ban junk food from being brought to campus at all, things won't change. We have some parents who show up EVERY DAY with a happy meal from McD's for their kid, so many who bring McD's or donuts for breakfast, and lunch boxes packed with lunchables and candy. I have seen kindergarteners walking to lunch with whole, full size bags of chips. Just because the school provides healthy options doesn't mean that the kids will eat it. Our kids don't eat much at school and then I see them at Sonic on my way home.
Our kids are required to have 135 minutes, I think, of "PE" time... but the kids who are already overweight and obese can't do all the activities... so they sit out or whine to the coach that they don't feel good, or just stand there. Just lowering calorie intake isn't going to help these already obese kids. And I'm talking K-2 here. I can think of 4 morbidly obese students just off the top of my head, all under 8 years old. They need a health intervention and a specialized program involving the parents.
Every little bit helps, I suppose, but without parent education and commitment, it won't really change. - 5/10/2012 11:48:56 AM
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