Childhood Obesity Persuasive Essay

Childhood obesity is a problem. Today, approximately one out of every three American children have a BMI that qualifies as overweight or obese. These children experience a wider range of health problems in adolescence that can become devastating in adulthood (“Overweight in Children”). In schools across the nation, steps have been taken to combat this epidemic. A common step to take in schools is the banning of “competitive foods and beverages (CFBs),” snacks and drinks sold in schools outside school lunch programs. Because these CFBs are usually higher in fat and less healthy than food sold as lunches, regulation appears to be a logical way to build healthy habits in young Americans (Datar and Nicosia). As counterintuitive as it may be, prohibiting children from purchasing junk food, in fact, harms

A study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that while there may be a correlation between CFB policies and lowered BMIs, the correlation is weak for all children except those in the most advantaged socioeconomic classes (Sanchez- Vaznaugh et al.). Less advantaged families cannot afford to buy the expensive school lunches and end up bringing in unhealthy foods from other places. Another study, published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, conclusively found no statistical relationship between overweight children and schools with policies banning junk food. (Datar and Nicosia). The majority of children are not positively affected by these policies, and it makes logical sense that they would not be. If a child goes to school 180 days out of the year and buys lunch every day, they eat 180 meals from the school per year. In an entire year, if the child eats 3 meals a day, only 16% of meals throughout the entire year are from the school. The overall health of a child depends more on exercise and what they eat at