School nutrition is such a hot topic right now because of its contribution to childhood obesity. No longer will you find some schools with easily accessible pop machines or vending machines filled with cookies and candy. Some schools are now offering nothing but healthy choices in their vending machines.
It's not just the vending machines that aren't providing healthy options for kids, some school lunches aren't that much better. With choices like corn dogs, pizza, hamburgers, nachos and cheese, tacos, and chili dogs, it's no wonder childhood obesity is on the rise. And maybe these types of foods weren't an issue years ago, but in today's "super-sized" society, a hamburger these days has way more calories than a hamburger of years past.
In the June 23, 2008 issue of Time, there were some very interesting articles on how times have changed with today's kids. Active lifestyles are down and portion sizes are up, and this trend is leading to the explosion of childhood obesity at an alarming rate. No longer are diabetes and heart disease an adult problem. Now kids are developing diabetes, and some are even in the early stages of heart disease.
It seems that childhood obesity is on everybody's mind these days, and while the government has stepped in to help schools get a handle on what they're serving their students, the problem is many schools are still failing. In fact, according to TIME, the USDA says that less than one-third of public schools are meeting the recommended standard for how much fat and saturated fat should be in their meals served.
While some schools are doing a better job to make their lunches healthier, another problem that's being noticed is that kids choose to neither pack a lunch or buy a lunch from the cafeteria line. Instead, they get through the day on Mountain Dew and a bag of cookies from the vending machine. That's why schools are starting to crack down on vending machine use. Some schools have gone so far as to "lock" the pop machines and vending machines during lunch time, and they don't open them back up until after school is finished for the day.
The good news is that efforts are being made to make school meal choices healthier. Independent School District in Spring, Texas was just awarded the honor of being the District of the Year in School Nutrition.
Independent School District was recognized for its efforts in areas such as providing many low-fat meal options for breakfast and lunch, providing fresh fruits and vegetables in the classroom, low-fat, flavored milk options, whole grain choices, and very inexpensive meals with elementary breakfasts costing $0.90 and secondary lunches costing $1.75.
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