Persuasive Essay On Healthy School Lunches

Healthy School Lunches A balanced diet for a child helps contribute to their physical and psychological development. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is the main source of food in schools, reaching around 31 million children (Jeon, Kim, and Kim). Children consume around a third to a half of their daily calories in a school setting (Schanzenbach). Schools are the best place to implement policies to provide students with nutritionally balanced meals, as children consume a large portion of their daily nutrition there. Schools should be required to provide healthy meals, which meet a child’s daily nutritional needs, to every student. The School Meals Initiative requires schools to provide meals with an adequate number of calories, limited calories from fat, and that meet nutritional standards (Jeon, Kim, and Kim). The schools have not yet caught up to the national legislature, and some of the legislature is lacking. Congress is shooting down the plans of the USDA to …show more content…
Obesity in childhood can lead to lifelong health problems. 16% of children ages 6-19 are obese (Schanzenbach). In a study, children’s height and weight was measured at the beginning and end of kindergarten and at the end of first, third, and fifth grade. The students studied were divided into groups by children who eat school lunches versus those who bring a lunch from home. When the results were analyzed it was found that “children who eat school lunch are substantially more likely to be obese” (Schanzenbach). Schools need to reduce the high levels of fat in school lunches. These meals should contribute to healthy students and not their risk of being obese. Unbalanced diets are “cited as the most frequently occurring chronic disease risk behavior among youths aged 12 to 17” (Kubik, Lytle, Hannan, Perry, and Story). Schools need to provide a way for their children to be healthy and build lifelong healthy habits rather than build unhealthy