Forty percent of children attending United States public schools are overweight, with more than twenty percent classified as obese. Improving the school food environment will only be improved by strengthening school policies and acts which have been the major concern and priorities both locally and nationally (DeJong, Cozier, Greece, Kratze, Quatromoni). School lunch was not a nationwide event, but rather something that took place in individual states and cities over an extended period of time. The purpose of this paper is to show how, overtime school lunches have changed and negatively impacted students. The author will give some background information on the history of school lunches and illustrate how the student body was effected through
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It 's even more difficult to prevent obesity among students when schools allow students to purchase a la carte foods. La carte foods are other optional foods for students seeking foods that are rich in calories meaning it contains a lot of fat, sugar, and sodium (Kubik, Lytle, Hannan, Story). This includes other nutritional factors such as vending machines and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages also have been identified as contributing factors to the increase in weight gain for students within the United States of America (Stroebele 77). Effects of poor nutrition from school lunches go beyond weight gain such as having severe chronic health problems (Schuna). These health problems can include diabetes, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Students that are allowed to have free reign over the foods that are available to them during lunch are at a higher risk of dietary issues. Needless to say that when nutritional foods are not taken into consideration by schools it can cause long health issues which could potentially kill someone. Aside from physical health effects, another factor that can occur due to unhealthy school foods is mental …show more content…
These factors provoke students to causing students to drink carbonated or sweetened beverages (Hannan, Kubik, Lytle, Story). A student that loses valuable key nutrients from a meal consistently will suffer internal repercussions and it can potentially harm brain growth and function. The brain needs amino acids and choline from dietary intake to maintain necessary amount of neurons (Rausch 1). When the brain is able to obtain a sufficient amount of amino acids and choline the human body will release chemicals known as serotonin, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine. Without these chemicals specifically serotonin the body will not be able to function properly (Rausch 1). The serotonin controls almost all of the aspects of the human body which is closely related to essential nutrients. Poor dietary habits can cause people to lose essential nutrients that influence and affect memory capacities, fine motor skills, social skills and languages skills into early adulthood and beyond (Schuna). Apart from mental factors another aspect that correlates with the student body concerning unhealthy lunch is academic
It 's even more difficult to prevent obesity among students when schools allow students to purchase a la carte foods. La carte foods are other optional foods for students seeking foods that are rich in calories meaning it contains a lot of fat, sugar, and sodium (Kubik, Lytle, Hannan, Story). This includes other nutritional factors such as vending machines and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages also have been identified as contributing factors to the increase in weight gain for students within the United States of America (Stroebele 77). Effects of poor nutrition from school lunches go beyond weight gain such as having severe chronic health problems (Schuna). These health problems can include diabetes, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Students that are allowed to have free reign over the foods that are available to them during lunch are at a higher risk of dietary issues. Needless to say that when nutritional foods are not taken into consideration by schools it can cause long health issues which could potentially kill someone. Aside from physical health effects, another factor that can occur due to unhealthy school foods is mental …show more content…
These factors provoke students to causing students to drink carbonated or sweetened beverages (Hannan, Kubik, Lytle, Story). A student that loses valuable key nutrients from a meal consistently will suffer internal repercussions and it can potentially harm brain growth and function. The brain needs amino acids and choline from dietary intake to maintain necessary amount of neurons (Rausch 1). When the brain is able to obtain a sufficient amount of amino acids and choline the human body will release chemicals known as serotonin, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine. Without these chemicals specifically serotonin the body will not be able to function properly (Rausch 1). The serotonin controls almost all of the aspects of the human body which is closely related to essential nutrients. Poor dietary habits can cause people to lose essential nutrients that influence and affect memory capacities, fine motor skills, social skills and languages skills into early adulthood and beyond (Schuna). Apart from mental factors another aspect that correlates with the student body concerning unhealthy lunch is academic