...What is so important to change the breakfast and lunch school from what we have? It is important as parents are very concern about what their children have at school for breakfast and lunch. This topic is become sensitive and brought it up to majority by the First Lady, Michelle Obama at Parklawn Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia as she claimed that she was worried about the food at school as she tried to prepare healthy food for her children (Nixon, 2012.) Moreover changing the breakfast and lunch program can come from many reasons: economic, population, and benefits. In this economy hard time, parents who never have any problem about putting money in pocket might find themselves struggling with financial problem. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, unemployment has steadily risen and reaching 6.7% in November 2008 and also food and energy prices have increased dramatically throughout. As the bad economic continue the more unemployment will grow larger. Due to financial situation, parents are more apply for the breakfast and lunch program. As reported over the last five years the rates have increased annually by 2.5% to 4.1% (Siegel, 2010) and the higher the student participation rates, the higher the amounts of reimbursement the school receives. As shown in the following picture, there is an increase of free and reducing meals only paid meals are decreased. Saved by the Lunch Bell: As Economy Sinks, School Nutrition Program Participation Rises.,...
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...Nutrition and Health: The Recent Changes into the School Breakfast and Lunch Mercy Becky 11- 02-2013 Abstract The present and future wellbeing of children is affected by the type of food they eat. Since children get most of their calorie intake from school lunch and breakfast, schools contribute to their lifelong health and dietary patterns. Schools have to be models for healthy eating habits. Improving school meal program is very crucial in our children nutrition and health. Especially as childhood obesity is a big concern in our nation and it is a cause for many chronic illnesses like type 2 diabetes, blood pressure and high cholesterol. Different studies and researches have shown that school meals are risk factors for childhood obesity. In an effort to stop obesity and the associated health risks, the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama to change School Lunch Program (SLNP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). The Law requires USDA to establish science based nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools during the school day. With the law signed there are different issues that come with it including the economic situation, the health of the population being served and the process and benefits of the program. Nutrition and Health: The Recent Changes into the School Lunch and Breakfast One of the issues related with the recent change in school lunch and breakfast is the economic situation. The government increased...
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...Lunch school programs are trying to become healthier across our nation. This initiative is becoming more common at each school due to economic and student needs. In this paper, we will look at meeting the needs of the students with a planned process. There will be two charts to show progress of the effects the changes have done to the student’s food choices. These choices were derived from the guides given by the USDA (“National School Lunch Program”, 2013). Recent changes to the schools lunch and breakfast menus has helped in keeping students more healthy and driving school cost to more efficient levels (“National School Lunch Program”, 2013). Most schools give students choices to choose their lunch or breakfast choices. While this is a common practice in most schools, students do not always choose healthy meals. The goal is to give only healthy choices to students so that they may increase their nutrition level intake. The guidelines set forth by the USDA, on the student meal index, is what will be used to assess the changes in students nutrition levels (Kay & Condon, 2012 pg 9). The first major change that needs to be done is re-asses the snack machines in the schools. Each school more than likely has one or two snack machines that are accessed by the students. The contents of the snack machines need to be changed to more health conscious items. An example is replacing sodas, or high sugar drinks, with water and low sugar juices. Each school needs to replace candy...
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...2.1 Business 100 The School board changed the breakfast and lunch programs to help improve nutrition and health of our children. The changes so far seem to be for the best of all the children. There are four major issue dealing with the changes are, economic situations, Health of population being served, process, and the benefits of the program. One of the four major issues is economic situation. The federal government will add six more cents to each lunch to make it meet the new standards. New standards took effect in 2011 for schools breakfast and lunch programs. Also parents are in charge of what their children eat, but kids are in the care of the school a good portion of their life too. From my research on this program, children receive up to half there calories at school in form of school breakfast, lunches, and snacks.( Crawford, 2011) Also with the economic downturn we have been in advocates have proposed some changes, which makes more children eligible for free or assistants on meal prices. Meanwhile, meal providers are having issues with covering program costs. Improving the quality of meals for children is essential, but the hard part is getting the students on board with all the health good food and not all the greasy unhealthy foods. Second issue is the heath of the population being served. There are about 25 million kids that are obese and/or overweight. Obesity rates have skyrocketed by 300% over the last 30 years. (Crawford, 2011) An analysis in 2005 found...
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...National School Nutrition Program Eboli Knight George McGeehan English Composition 115 May 21, 2015 To be healthy or to not be healthy is the question? Today kids are not always eating a healthy meal and to make up for the loss the national school lunch and school breakfast program was established. I do believe that this is a good idea to keep our kids from being obese and teaching them healthier eating options. The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs were established to align them with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Most schools are increasing the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat free and low fat fluid milk in school meals; reduce the levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals; and meet the nutrition needs of school children within their calorie requirements,” (Federal Register, 2012). Our kids will still be able to enjoy their breakfast and lunch, it’s just a little healthier than what it used to be. To improve lunches and breakfasts, schools are required to offer fruits and vegetables as two separate meal components. Fruit daily at breakfast and lunch, vegetable daily at lunch, including specific vegetable subgroups weekly. A daily meat/ meat alternate at breakfast, fluid milk that is fat free (unflavored and flavored) and low fat (unflavored only). Students are required to select a fruit or a vegetable as part of the reimbursable meal. “The National School Lunch Program supports student nutrition in...
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...The Breakfast and Lunch Programs Jennifer Harvey-Mitchell Professor Storms Eng. 115: English Strayer University November 15, 2012 Overview Congress passed the National School Lunch Act in 1946 to support commodity prices after World War II by reducing farm surpluses while providing food to school children. By 1970, the program was providing 22 million lunches on an average day, about a fifth of them subsidized. Since then, the subsidized number of children has increased while paid lunches have declined, but not since 1972 have so many additional children become eligible for free lunches as in fiscal year 2010, 1.3 million. Today it is a $10.8 billion program providing 32 million lunches, 21 million of which are free or at reduced price. The number of students receiving subsidized lunches rose to 21 million last school year from 18 million in 2006-7, a 17 percent increase, according to an analysis by The New York Times of data from the Department of Agriculture (Dillion, 2011). The Palm Beach County School District has altered its breakfast and lunch programs to improve nutrition and health for all students. The new Federal Nutrition Standards require schools to offer students more fruit, vegetables, and whole grains and to limit the sodium, calories, saturated and trans fat in school meals according to the School Nutrition Association (SNA 2012). Most notably, cafeterias are serving fruits and vegetable in a variety of ways to appeal to students diverse...
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...Improvements in School Nutrition David Johnson Strayer University ENG 115 November 7, 2012 Improvements in School Nutrition Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years and has become a major issue in our nation. The obesity dilemma affects boys and girls of all ages, races, and ethnicities in the United States. Recent changes to school breakfast and lunch programs have been implemented to improve overall health and nutritional value. These changes are designed to incorporate healthier eating habits, accommodate more participants in a more cost effective way, and provide easier accessibility to the program. Nutrition experts agree that if the nation wants to make progress on the obesity crisis among children, what they eat in school for breakfast and lunch has to be addressed. The percentage of obese children aged 6 to 11 years in the U.S. increased from 7 percent to 20 percent from 1980-2008. In 2011 that number increased to 33 percent. These facts indicate a strong need to make changes to the school lunch program. Studies show that more than half of the calories students eat in a day are consumed at school during breakfast and lunch periods. Affordability is just as important as nutritional value. When making changes to these programs, it is imperative that we take into consideration the number of students who receive free and reduced-price meals as well as students who do not. Children who receive free or reduced-price...
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...Promoting healthier eating habits in schools is a major issue across the United States. However, there have been major changes made to improve the nutrition and health of the students eating breakfast and lunch at school. Helping students develop healthier eating habits at school can be an important part of the struggle against childhood obesity and ultimately help improve the health of students in elementary, middle, and high school. A relationship between childhood obesity and school feeding programs has been prevalent when the availability of snack foods and beverages in schools began to increase (Grainger, Senauer, & Runge, 2007). Children may not realize all of the benefits they are receiving from eating a healthy lunch, but their bodies will certainly respond to the healthy food. These days, many schools are taking shortcuts and serving unhealthy foods to save time and money, which is at the expense of the children. Instead, we need to focus on these benefits of the effects on kids of eating healthy cafeteria lunches (Salisbury, C. G. 2004). The involvement that promotes healthy eating can work if the schools are willing to enforce healthy eating habits during breakfast and lunch. School food service directors often must focus on ease of preparation rather than healthy options because they lack both the skilled staff and facilities necessary to do more (Grainger, Senauer, & Runge, 2007). Since there are many schools that depend on major food service vendors to supply...
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...issues which didn’t happen in the past which is now having diabetes, overweight, and obesity. It has been said that all over world that school lunch program are serving this healthy meals but in my school its different. Today Corcoran High School has a lunch program that is serving this reused, processed, and unknown ingredients. For this reason, I would like to propose the lunch program that their food are having us be in danger of being obese and having diabetes. For that, I propose the school board that the following changes should be made if the school intends to have a healthier school system and less students with diabetes and obesity. In the “New York Times”, by Lucy Komisar, she stated that “school lunch programs are using their food for unhealthy choices.” My essay will argue why this approach is better than what is currently taking place on our campus because issues such as homemade food, stop serving fatting foods, and unknown ingredient , will not be solved by simply serving unhealthy meals which is increasing obesity....
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...The National School Lunch Program The most recent change to the National School Lunch program which went into effect July 1, 2012, the first change in over fifteen years, provides nutritious meals that contain one-third of the recommended dietary allowances. Tennessee’s school nutrition program is responsible for all the public schools in Tennessee, which are on the National School Lunch Program. With this change, it became required for schools to increase the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat free milk in school meals. It also includes reducing levels of sodium, saturated fat and trans fat in meals. On January 12, 2010 the U.S. Department of Agriculture published a purposed rule to update the nutrition standards for meals served in schools as part of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010. The main focal point of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 was to improve child nutrition. The child obesity rate and the children who live in poverty that were going hungry were the economic issues that surrounded the act. “During 2007–2008, 20% of U.S. children aged 6–11 years and 18% of persons aged 12–19 years were obese, percentages that have tripled since 1980. Engaging children and adolescents in healthy eating and regular physical activity can lower their risk for obesity and related chronic diseases” (5‐Year Technical Assistance and Guidance Plan for Local School Wellness Policies, 2011). The program authorizes funding and sets the...
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... School Lunch Programs With the new and improved “heathier” lunch menu most students and teachers would rather turn down this free meal, and head over to their next period class instead. Others see this change to be remarkable and a great way to help kids balance what they eat. Since this act passed in 2010 and was sponsored by first lady Michelle Obama the disputation of a healthier menu has been a nonstop argument between schools and the NCLP (National School Lunch Program). With nothing but good intentions involved most students would rather stick to their bad eating habits. Trading in those fried potato wedges for a whole wheat sub was not so easy for some, and the controversy of a healthy school menu aroused quickly. Kids and even staff seemed uneasy about the change and thought it was a bit drastic. With unhealthy lunch and snacking taking from kids, they look at lunch to be a disadvantage to get rejuvenated for next two to three classes. Most kids are no longer waiting for the bell to dismiss for lunch anymore because of the unappetizing school menu. With nothing but good intentions involved with changing the schools menu kids feel otherwise. National School Lunch Programs thought the idea of what you do should balance out with what you eat and that idea should apply to students as well. Knowing students have no in school activities that requires major movement like running, jumping, etc. Their school lunch now reflects that. Students look at lunch as their...
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...Keeping the Kids Fed Children spend most of their day at school, and consume most of their daily calories at school. When sent to school, don’t we all want to know that our children are getting the most out of the food they are consuming? Of course we do! Well, with the help of our First Lady, and Programs like “Let’s Move,” and recent changes in breakfast and lunch programs, we may be finally getting somewhere. The recent changes in the breakfast and lunch programs to improve nutrition and health have had an economic impact on individuals, have served much of the population, and there are many benefits of the change. The recent changes in the breakfast and lunch programs to improve nutrition and health have had an economic impact on individuals. Economically, the United States has been through a recession, which has caused difficulties for a lot of families trying to keep up with life’s necessities, food being one of them. By making changes to the breakfast and lunch programs at schools, more children are afforded the opportunity of having meals at schools. This is an important aspect, considering children consume most of their daily calories at school. So, the changes to the menus have helped ensure that children are not only eating, but they are eating the right foods. Also, for some children, the meals they are given at school may be the only meals they have all day, so it is important to make sure that school meals are affordable for all families of every financial situation...
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...Assignment 2.2: The Public Needs to Know English 115 Professor Wylder The current status of school meals is that they are full of fat and do not contain enough nutritious value. There are changes that need to be made in order to preserve the health and wellbeing of the children in society. The changes to be made are in the school breakfast and lunch programs. In order to effectively change the program you have to understand the economic issues, the population that is being served and their needs, the process and the benefits of the program. One major economic issue is the rising ate of unemployment. This has forced society into a time filled with burden and stress. Unemployment forces struggling families to figure out how to feed their children with limited to no resources. This burden has caused a rise in the number of children participating in the breakfast and lunch program. The increase in participation has gone up by about 84% for free and reduced lunches alone. The participation is also rising because it is cheaper for a family to feed their child at school than it is to send their lunch (School Nutrition Association, 2008). The rising rate of participation shows that families are in dire need of assistance. The families are turning to the schools for assistance to ensure that their children have food to eat. Another economic issue that American families face today is being underemployed. Being underemployed is when you only a have part time job(s) or you take...
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...Participation in the National Lunch Program Informative Paper / Revision Juan Diego VII Becerra Strayer University ENG 115 Doctor Ronnie Davis November 16th, 2015 The National Breakfast and Lunch Program The National School Lunch Program, between many other food-for-school related Federal programs, have a direct reimbursement formula for the schools that participate in the exchange of these type of healthy meals. The more the schools do in providing better meals, the higher the reimbursement and award will be. The programs have actually improved drastically in the way it operates and how it has already demonstrated improvement into the children’s health. Child Obesity According to an American Medical Association research study in 2014 (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, Flegal), obesity has increased between 1999 and 2011 and but there has been no change between 2009 and 2011. In the US many policy changes have been made to reduce obesity since 2002 according to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDC) (Brener, O'Toole, Kann, Lowry, Wechsler, 2009). Additionally, childhood obesity is an issue worldwide. Back in 2006, a British author from Guardian News, John Carvel, mentioned that junk food and lack of exercise were part of the major reasons of the childhood obesity increase in the UK. Likewise, the US has similar issues. More than one in six children in the US is obese, an overall increase from the 1970’s. This epidemic has caused...
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...state what the regulations are for foods served in public schools. I intend to discuss from different viewpoints whether changes should be made to the regulations stated. I will discuss what changes would, or would not be needed, and benefits of making the changes. Changes In Food Regulation Today, there is much discussion over the school nutrition program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture introduced a new food pyramid in 2008. It is designed to educate Americans about healthier diets and lifestyles. Changes from the previous food pyramid include restructuring the recommended daily servings of some foods and providing more information about the individual food groups. While the old design featured blocks representing food groups, the new pyramid can feature six vertical multicolored stripes, with each of the six colors representing one food group; grains, vegetables, fruits, oils, milk and meat. Although the basic triangle shape is still in use, that's where the similarities end. One of the new features on the 2008 pyramid stresses the importance of physical fitness. The old pyramid did not mention exercise at all. The new pyramid recommends that adults should exercise at least thirty to ninety minutes every day to help with weight gain. And children should get sixty minutes of daily physical activity. Not everyone is happy about these healthy school-lunch makeovers. Many students and teachers are claiming that...
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