Should Lunches Be Allowed In Schools

There are many avenues to travel in order to fight childhood obesity. The primary road is the changes that have occurred in the school lunch programs across the nation. Parents and students alike are complaining that lunches are being thrown away on a daily basis as they are unappetizing to students, in addition to students walking away hungry from the decreased amount of calories provided. All of this is happening because I think that the government is too involved in the lunch programs in our school districts and they need to get out.

Childhood obesity is particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start children on the path to health problems that were once confined to adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol

Schools continue to eliminate time for recess and replace gym class with other academic classes such as driver’s education or health class. These other classes are important and necessary, but could utilize a student’s study hall time, instead of taking the place of the only calorie burning class students have throughout their day. Fighting obesity through changes in the school lunch program has not been very successful because more and more students are bringing their lunches from home. These lunches from home includes foods that children shouldn’t have as a regular meal, such as chips and Little Debbie snacks. Additionally, we are in school for an education, which would make one think that healthier eating habits begin with

Children spend much more time playing video games, watching television, on computers, or on their cell phones. Years prior when electronics were not readily available, children had no choice but to play outside, listen to the radio, dance, or walk around town or the mall with friends. My parents tell me of the days when they would regularly go bowling or to the skating rink for fun, but many of these places are few and far between due to cost or liability. “The United States Department of Agriculture, which administers the school food program, does maintain nutrition regulations, albeit anachronistic and frequently counterproductive ones” (Julian 45). Schools are not helping in the fight against sedentary lifestyles. They continue to try and decrease or eliminate recess time for children and gym classes in middle and high school. “A balance needs to be struck in the choice of foods and nutrients consumed and far more attention needs to be paid to encouraging children to be more physically active” (Buttriss 312). Health class should not replace a semester of gym class and driver’s education class should not replace another semester of gym class. These classes should take away from a student’s study hall time, which happens to be another sedentary part of the school day. The amount of time that students spend doing homework can become a problem as well. Many students bring home several