In order to help lower the amount of obese children, new rules are being put in place to make school lunches healthier for kids. Several changes will be taking place. For example, the amount of fruits and vegetables is being doubled, the amount of starchy foods, like potatoes, is being reduced, and all milk that is served must be low fat. Michelle Obama has a campaign to reduce the number of overweight children through better nutrition and exercise. She made a statement that “As parents, we try to prepare decent meals, limit how much junk food our kids eat and ensure that they have a reasonable diet. And when we are putting in all that effort the last thing we want is for our hard work to be undone each day in the school cafeteria”. I agree with Mrs. Obama that school cafeteria food is what is ruining some children’s diet, though for some children, even with the unhealthy food choices, school lunch is the best meal they will have all day. For this reason I think it is of even greater importance for the food to be healthy for the kids whose parents are unable to provide them with healthy meals outside of school. Child obesity can derive from the social problem of poverty because typically healthy foods are much more expensive than junk food. Parents who are striving to provide for their families while making minimum wage are much less likely to be able to feed their children with a healthy meal. It is much cheaper to buy your children a Mcdonald’s happy meal than it is to buy everything in order to cook a healthy dinner. As junk food is cheaper than healthier foods, children who live in low socioeconomic households are at a greater risks for being overweight or obese than children in a higher class. With school lunches being the best meal of the day for some children, I think it is of great importance for the standards of what is being served and considered “healthy” to be raised.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/us/politics/new-school-lunch-rules-aimed-at-reducing-obesity.html?ref=health
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