Lunch Menu: Potential Regional Differences

I had the pleasure of observing a counseling session between Mrs. Natalie Porta, RD, LDN and a twelve year old male with his mother. The male’s pediatrician was concerned that the patient had gained a tremendous amount of wait from his last visit. The boy wanted to lose weight and change his eating habits. He mentioned that during the week at school he eats the schools lunch they provide and he brings a snack from home. He also mentioned that sometimes at home he has to cook whatever is available because his parents work a lot. Mainly he said he eats fast food a lot due to availability and the convenience for his parent’s busy schedules. The main strategy’s Mrs. Porta chose was goal setting and educating him and his parent on ways he can diet. After counseling the patient, the boy agreed to change his

Minden, Cecilia. Lunch by the Numbers. 2008 ed. United States of America, 2008. 28. Print.

Childhood obesity is a source of great debate in the United States. Many studies have shown the problem has become epidemic. Adults in the United States are increasing in weight and so are children and teenagers. Many factors are contributing to this growing problem. The influence parents have on their children can affect them negatively. Children of overweight parents are more likely to be overweight themselves. Another issue adding to the childhood obesity problem is the fact that children and teens have more options when it comes to food choices. School lunches, vending machines, and cheap calorie-packed snacks all contribute to this issue. Healthy foods are also more expensive and not as readily available as

Childhood obesity is a rather new reality in the United States due to intake of sugary snacks and beverages, childhood obesity is the result of a sustained energy imbalance. Most youth never eat the required daily servings of fruits and vegetables; its noted only one in five eat the required servings (21%) (Moore, Wilke, & Desrochers, 2017). The availability of sugary snacks and beverages in schools are what one would call “junk food”. According to a study conducted by Ashlesha Datar and Nancy Nicosia (2012) students could purchase more than one single food and beverage items either

The improved nutritional standards of public school lunches benefit one’s individual health by providing them with the necessary nutrients to human

The United States has seen childhood obesity rates double in children and increase four times in adolescents since the 1980’s.1 The Center for Disease Control reports that in 2012, over one third of children and adolescents were considered obese or overweight.1 There is an urgent need to address the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, as obesity has been shown to have deteriorating immediate health effects and increase the risk of chronic disease such as diabetes, osteoarthritis and cancer in adulthood.1 Although there are many influential factors in a child’s weight, nutrition is one of the main ones to consider, as a complete and balanced diet also promotes healthy growth and development.2 Research indicates that school encompasses a significant portion of a child’s time, cognitive, physical and social development, and as such, has the responsibility to promote a healthy lifestyle for children.3 Because of the nationwide concern surrounding childhood obesity, recent federal wellness policy for public schools mandate that nutrition education, physical activity and other wellness promoting programs must be part of the school environment.4 The purpose of this review of literature is to evaluate if school nutrition is one of the major contributors to childhood obesity and how policy changes have affected the problem.

For years, it has been a heated debate of what should be served in a school lunch. Healthy food is recommended, but there is a problem with serving healthy food. The students throw away most of the fruits and veggies. The health institute has to give the students the complete nutritious meal because some students are not well-fed at home. It’s required for them to give a balanced meal at school. The argument is not to cancel school lunches, but rather to serve better tasting food that’ll be appealing to the students.

Evaluation: (How was the target population served?): The children were very receptive the information given. All goals were met as the children were eager to talk to their parents about properly nutrition not only for breakfast but in their future as well. A readiness to enhance their daily routine by incorporating healthy breakfast options was noted. Being that healthy foods are lacking into today’s generation, this population of children seemed as though they understood the topic how to read nutrition labels, measure out serving sizes and calculate the amount of sugars in various foods.

In scientific research, it was discovered that children who eat school lunch have a heightened chance of developing obesity. To add more, only 6% of schools monitor the USDA guidelines for school lunches. This results in many schools essentially having unhealthy school lunches that could enlarge the chances for obesity. As a student, this prominently shocks me due to the fact the food that I consume practically every day could affect my health. Although the percentage amongst chances of obesity by school lunch and without school lunches are low, it still could affect us in the future and may lead to a disease,” Recent data shows that while an estimated 30.6 million US students eat school lunches, only 6% of school lunch programs meet the nutritional requirements established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As a long-time Nutritional Coordinator of the Morgiana high school, I would like to propose to the Director of food services of our school that a formal analytical report be prepared in order to serve healthier school lunches in our school cafeteria. Over the past several years, I have observed that our school lunch program serves lunches that, for the most part, consist of fatty and sugary foods that supply little more than empty calories to our students. We need to change our school menu so that our students can learn and perform better, both academically and athletically.

The obesity epidemic as a whole is a relatively new phenomenon that encompasses the United States as well as other countries around the world. Adolescent obesity is an especially important area to research because the teenage years are a period in one’s life that knowledge of health and nutrition should be comprehended and the decisions one is capable of making can have a life-long impact. Obesity in adolescence has far-reaching health and social consequences. Gaining insight into the changes in our society can offer various explanations for the cause and initiate numerous proposals for reversing the obesity epidemic. As a mother of two young children, who love their pizza and pop-tarts, I am hopeful that conducting research in adolescent

National School Lunch Program feeds more than 30 million students. However, the national standards and meal requirements for these meals were created more than a decade ago. The planning model used to develop current nutritional standards and related meal requirements is based on the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for American and the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances. Virginia A. Stallings and Christine L. Taylor edited “Nutrition Standards and MEal Requirements for National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs,” a 2008 study sponsored by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. In this 180 page document, Stallings et al. examine meal programs across the

About one-third of children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 are considered to be overweight or obese(NIH). Obesity has become the most common pediatric chronic disease in todays time.(TRINITY). An approach to this would be to make a dietary plan to help the youth overcome this sickness .Many illness that occurs in obese teenagers are a result of their eating habits, minimal excise time, and continual depression.

Every day, millions of school children around the world take advantage of school lunch programs. Depending on the financial situation of their families, some of these students may qualify to get these lunches for free. For the poorest children, this may be the only meal they get all day. For the rest of the children who are not living in poverty, these program allow them to purchase a hot meal during school at a very low price. While these school lunch programs help out countless students in many countries around the world, there are numerous problems associated with them. Often, standards for food preparation are not high enough. In countries like America, these lunches commonly lack the proper nutrition children need. Instead,

One of the most noticeable physical changes in adolescents at this stage is the sudden increase in height and weight along with other bodily changes like maturation of reproductive system and changes in the body composition. Therefore, with rapid growth and development of the body, there is a need for an increase of nutrients being supplied through their diet. Adolescence boys require greater amount of nutrients and energy as compared to adolescence girls due to the differences in their developmental process. (Sharlin and Edelstein,