New Changes to School Lunch Menus Ciera Jimerson Strayer University Dr. Jeff Kersh ENG115 August 19, 2012 One of the biggest epidemics in this country is children being overweight. As adults we are here to guide and educate children on the benefits, and how important it is to keep our bodies healthy. We have created a new menu for school lunches to ensure children are getting more fruits and vegetables. Changing the menus to school lunches will allow children to lead healthier lives and can also increase life expansion. Lack of nutrition can cause obesity, poor academic performance, and an increase in diseases.
Almost one-third of adults in the U.S. are obese, and more than two-thirds of adults are overweight. Obesity rates have increased by 214 percent between 1950 and 2000(Livestrong.com). Also According to livestrong.com, the main cause for the increase it weight among American’s is lack of exercise, as well as the convenience of fast food, and caloric increase. This rise in obesity has increased diseases such as heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. As a country, we are spending over $190 billion a year treating these diseases, diseases that could be prevented by increasing exercise and decreasing calories.
Good nutrition is the balance of an adequate diet combined with with regular physical activity and is essential for good health. Inadequate or poor nutrition can lead to decreased health and lowered immunity increasing the risk of disease. Insufficient nutrition can also result in impaired mental and physical development. Once food is ingested by the body it can be broken down into macro or micro nutrients. Macro nutrients are the structural, energy providing parts of food they are required in small amounts by the body.
(2011, August 06). As Americans' debt has soared, so has obesity. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved from http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-08-06/health/os-debt-obesity-20110806_1_debt-counseling-obesity-incharge-debt-solutions As Americans’ debt has soared, so has obesity uses old and recent statistics to show comparison of debt and obesity. Jameson used data from credible sources such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and University of Mainz.
The foods I replaced were cheese, eggs and potatoes. I replaced theses food items because they are where most of my fat intake came from. I wanted to lower my bad fat intake and up my healthy fat intake. It is important to stay within the guidelines for fat intake because if you don’t it can lead to some serious health problems. It can lead to cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.
This is great for people like me who aren’t ready put down the meat. 2. Richard Corliss writes in a Times Magazine article, "Studies shows that consuming more of plant-based foods reduces the risk of chronic diseases. a. Eating more plant-based product will provide great benefits to your health because it contains lower fat and high nutrition.
(www.thefreedictionary.com) Body: I. New American Epidemic A) Fifty eight million Americans living in the United States are obese, and eight out of ten people who are over twenty-five are overweight. B) This is the fastest growing health concern. 1. obesity condition is not limited to only adults. 2.
Russell Merlino Mrs. Moslow EN 110 Nov. 30, 2009 OVERWEIGHT IN AMERICA Between 1962 and the year 2000, the number of obese Americans grew from 13% to an alarming 31% of the population. 63% of Americans are overweight with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 25.0. 31% are obese with a BMI in excess of 30.0. Childhood obesity in the United States has more than tripled in the past two decades. According to the U.S.
As obesity and its effects gain awareness, Americans are making more efforts to encourage a healthy lifestyle. Many restaurants are incorporating healthier choices into their menus and “policy-makers are taking action to protect children from the fast-food trend” by limiting “food advertising aimed at children” (“Fast Food”). In 2004 the health campaign Verb was launched, using boldface names to promote physical activity and healthy decision-making. Unfortunately, Verb was terminated in 2007 due to a lack of funds (Kluger 227). The problem with the current endeavors, then, is that they are not void of any possible defects.
Everything is becoming more fast pace, mechanized and technology based. With this in mind, the nutrition status for middle and low-income families have an increase in consumption of animal fat, refined grains and added sugar due to more production of highly processed foods to save time and money for companies (Gortmaker et al., 2011). It is important to stay up-to-date with the trends of obesity, but with the increasing rates is has become a high pubic health priority to prevent obesity (Penman & Johnson, 2009). Policies have been placed that increase taxes for unhealthy food, but this still makes it hard on lower income families who are still not able to afford healthier foods but instead are forced to buy unhealthy alternatives. Necessary alternative include a change in individual behavior and increase in education for people to understand the benefits and risk of obesity and how they can change.