Poor Food Quality

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Introduction Poor Quality of Food in Public Schools: A Fundamental Threat to Health and Society The growing obesity epidemic in most public schools across the United States of America has led to a general outcry for urgent regulation to curb this crisis. Research has shown that the quality of food served in public schools has greatly contributed toward this epidemic and the situation will continue to exacerbate until something is done with a sense of urgency (CDC, 2010). Given the severity of this problem, the question no longer is if changes should be made to the regulation for foods that are served in public schools, it is how soon? Currently, the regulation that is in force, allows for vending machines that sell drinks and snacks with a very high calorie content. Additionally, the foods served to students include processed milk and less and less portions of fruits and vegetables (DC Healthy Schools Act, 2010). This should be reversed, allowing for the removal of all soda and snack machines that sell foods with a high calorie content. This effort will help reduce obesity and significantly lower sugar intake. Most importantly, heavy emphasis should be placed on teaching students healthy lifestyle habits and a mandatory 45 minute of daily exercise should be incorporated into the school curriculum. The Problem Research conducted by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) shows that in the 1970s and 1980s, only about five percent of public school students were obese. By 2000, over 13 percent were obese and the 2010 statistics show obesity to be leveling off at approximately 18 percent (IOM, 2010). Although obesity appears to be leveling off, the amount of excess weight gained has continued to be rising at very alarming proportions. This situation is caused by “excessive daily caloric intake, relative to daily caloric expenditure” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention,

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