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AmandaBurkhart
BenCampopiano
Government1
2November2015
ObesityandSchoolLunchesinAmerica
Inthelasttwentyyears,healthanddiethavebecomeagreaterconcernasmoreandmore
childrenstrugglewiththeeffectsofobesity.Obesity,nowrecognizedasaglobalepidemic,
occurswithinallagerangesandethnicbackgrounds,includingthechildrenofAmerica.Itnot
onlyaffectstheselfesteemandconfidenceofyoungchildren,butobesityalsofrequentlyleads
tomoreseriousdiseases.Furthermore,childobesitymostoftencontinuesintoadulthoodand
thereforeitisbesttotreatobesityearlyon.Schoollunchesshouldbehealthierbecausechildhood
obesitycausesgreaterphysicalandmentalconcerns,unhealthyschoollunchescontributeto
obesity,andthehealthiestschoolsinAmericaprovethatobesitycanbeloweredthrough
improvingschoolmeals.
Childobesitycausesvariousphysicalandmentalproblems.TheCentersforDisease
ControlandPrevention(CDC)defineschildobesityas,havingaBMIatorabovethe95th
percentile("DefiningChildhoodObesity").BMI,orbodymassindex,isacomparisonof
weighttoheightwithproportiontoanageandgenderscale.Followingthisscale,anychild
abovethe95thpercentileisconsideredobeseandisatriskforvariousillnesses.HarvardCollege
evenstressesthatobesityputsalmostallphysiologicalsystemsindanger,Obesitycanharm
nearlyeverysysteminachildsbodyheartandlungs,musclesandbones,kidneysand
digestivetract,aswellasthehormonesthatcontrolbloodsugarandpubertyandcanalsotake

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aheavysocialandemotionaltoll(Frenk).Havingalittleextrabodyweightmayseemharmless
atfirst,butonceitreachesthepointofobesityitbecomesasincerehealthconcern.TheCDC
states,Obeseyoutharemorelikelytohaveriskfactorsforcardiovasculardisease,suchashigh
cholesterolorhighbloodpressure.Inapopulationbasedsampleof5to17yearolds,70%of
obeseyouthhadatleastoneriskfactorforcardiovasculardisease(ChildObesityFacts).
However,thephysiologicalproblemsassociatedwithobesityarenottheonlyconcern.Children
withobesitymayalsobestrugglingwiththeirpsychologicalwellbeing.Itiswidelyknownthat
childrenoftenbullyoneanotheratyoungages,andoftenchildrensufferingobesitymaybe
targetvictims.Obesechildrenmostoftenexperiencelowselfesteem,bodydissatisfaction,and
inmoreseverecasesdepression.Ontopofthis,thesechildrenmayfeelalienatedfromtheir
peersorevendiscriminatedagainstsimplybytheirappearance.Thepsychologicaleffectsof
obesitycanbeextremelyharmfultosuchyoungchildrenastheNationalCenterfor
BiotechnologyInformation(NCBI)stateschildobesityisassociatedwith,poorerselfperceived
healthstatusandpotentialsocialisolation,negativeattitudetowardappearance,aggression,
depression,anxiety,attentiondeficit/hyperactivitydisorder,behavioralproblem,andbullying
(Seyedamini).Obesityisnotahealthconcerntotakelightly,asitleadstoandisassociatedwith
numerouspsychologicalandphysiologicaldiseases.Onewaytotreatchildhoodobesityin
Americaissimplythrougheducation.
Unhealthyschoollunchescontributetochildobesity.TheCDC,amedicalbased
organization,recognizesthatschoolsplayaparticularlycriticalrolebyestablishingasafeand
supportiveenvironmentwithpoliciesandpracticesthatsupporthealthybehaviors(Child
ObesityFacts).However,schoollunchesarestillfailingaschildobesityhastripledoverthe

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pastthirtyyears,leavingoneineverythreechildrensufferingfromthisdisease(LetsMove).
EricSchlosserwritesinhisbook,FastFoodNation,Asforthefoodnowservedatschool
cafeterias,itshouldbesafertoeatthanwhatissoldatfastfoodrestaurants,notlesssafe
(Schlosser).Consideringthepreviouslymentionedhealthissues,isitnotreasonabletorequest
schoollunchessaferthanfastfood?Aquickcheckofanyschoollunchmenuaroundthe
countryquicklyrevealsmealsthataren
texactlymostpeople
sdefinitionof
nutritionallybalanced.Staplesinmyhighschoolandcountlessothers,werechickennuggets,

hamburgers,andmac&cheese(Rourke).Multiplestudieshavebeendoneprovingacorrelation
betweenschoollunchandobesity.Thesestudiestooksocioeconomicandethnicbackgrounds
intoaccountinordertoisolateschoollunchesastheonlyeffectingvariable.InDianeWhitmore
Schanzenbachspaperonthecontributionofschoollunchestowardobesitysheoutlinesone
study,Analysisoffooddietaryrecalldatasuggeststhatschoolluncheatersconsumemore
caloriesatlunchthanbrownbaggers,andasimulationoftherelationshipbetweenweightand
caloricintakeindicatesthatasfewas40additionalcaloriesperdaycouldleadtoatwo
percentagepointdifferenceinobesityratesamongchildren(Schanzenbach).Thisstudyshows
thatschoolluncheshaveasignificantinfluenceonobesity.
Ontopofschoollunchesbeingasignificantcontributortoobesity,therearealsomany
caseswherehealthyschoolluncheshaveloweredtheobesityratesofsomeofthehealthiest
schoolsinAmerica.Infact,atWestBabylonianHighSchoolallsodamachineshavebeen
removed,sotheonlydrinksavailablearewater,milk,andfruitjuicetherevampedcafeteria
featuresamenuthatemphasizeshealthychoices,likewrapsandyogurt,andhasreplacedfryers
withstateoftheartovensandparticipantsinafterschoolactivitiesareencouragedtostayon

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campusforhealthysnacksandlightmealsinthecafeteria(Minkin).TracyMinkinrecognized
thisschoolasoneofthehealthiestinamericaastheyimplementedprogramstosupporthealthy
students.Theresultofthesechangeswereasuccessinasingleschoolyear,theobesityrate
droppedtwopercent(Minkin).AlthoughtheobesityrateatWestBabyloniancontinuetodecline,
theratesotherschoolsallaroundAmericaarecontinuingtorise.Thisschoolshowswhatwe
mayeventuallybeabletoaccomplishineveryschool,whichcanleadournationtoahealthier
reality.AnotherschoolsuccessstorywasthroughPlanetHealth,aprogramdesignedtoengage
studentsinahealthierlifestyle.Incomparisontoacontrolschool,whereobesityroseover2%
inthetwoyearperiod,obesitydecreasedatthePlanetHealthschoolbymorethan3%inthe
sametwoyearperiod(Naticchioni).MoreschoolsneedtoimplementprogramslikePlanet
HealthinorderfortheUnitedStatestodecreasechildobesity.Itisinourbestinterestasa
nation,astheeffectsofobesityarelimitingourchildandsuccessors.
Somepeoplearguethatobesityisnotreallythatseriousofanissue,howevertheydonot
understandthebigpictureandthewideandvariouseffectsofobesity.Obesityaffectsalmost
everypartofthelivesthepeopleofAmerica.Whetheritistheirphysical,mental,orsociallife.
Infact,inchildrenmanystudiesshowacorrelationbetweenweakereducationandobesity.
LetsMove,asiteoneducatingandhelpingbetterthehealthsofkidsstates,whileresearchis
stillbeingconducted,therehavebeensomestudiesshowingthatobesechildrenarenotlearning
aswellasthosewhoarenotobese.Further,physicalfitnesshasbeenshowntobeassociated
withhigherachievement(LetsMove).Ontopofacademicachievement,theNCIBdid
researchrelatingtoadulthoodachievementintheworkplaceandfound,therewasapositive
linearassociationbetweenemployees'bodymassindex(BMI)andthenumberofdays'work

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missedduetosicknessabsenceonbothcrosssectionalandprospectiveanalyses(P<0.001).
Obesitywasariskfactorforbothshortandlongtermsicknessabsence.Obeseindividuals
typicallytookanextrafourdayssickleaveeveryyear.Themajorityoftheincreasedriskfor
longtermsicknessabsenceappearedtobemediatedviacomorbidchronicmedicalconditions
(Harvey).Inshort,obesityinadulthoodisshowntoincreasesicknessabsenceanddecrease
productivity.Anotherargumentbesidestheobesitybeinglessimportantthanothernational
issues,isthecostofschoollunches.Althoughitistruethatraisingthequalityoflunches
requiresmoremoney,inthelongrunitwillsavethecountrybillionsofdollarsthatwespendon
medicalcareforweightrelatedmatters.Currently,intheUSA,directcostsofobesityhave
beenestimatedtobearound9%ofthetotalhealthcarecosts(OverweightandObesity).More
recently,obesityhasbeencomparedtobrandnamehealthdangerssuchassmoking,drinking,
andtobacco.Throughthisnewresearch,obesityrelatestomorechronicdiseasesthananyofthe
othersmeaningityieldsmorepotentialdangers.Thisrelatestothecostofobesityanddiseases
promptedbyobesitybecausethediseasesassociatedorinducedbyitpushobesityhigheronthe
costcharts.Obesityisahealthconcernthatiscostingthenationmorethanjustsufferingcitizens.
ACornellstudyonthemedicalcostsofobesityreports,thatanobesepersonincursmedical
coststhatare$2,741higher(in2005dollars)thaniftheywerenotobese.Nationwide,that
translatesinto$190.2billionperyear,or20.6percentofnationalhealthexpenditures(Kelley).
Thosewhomaycringeorrefuseeventhethoughtofpayinganothertwobilliondollarstoward
healthandeducationshouldconsiderthepotentialexpensewemaybesavingourcountry.
Ultimately,asobesityratesincreasesodoournationsmedicalbills.

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Childhoodobesitycausesgreaterphysiologicalandpsychologicaldisease,unhealthy
schoollunchescontributetoobesity,andthehealthiestschoolsinAmericaprovethatobesitycan
bedecreasedthroughhealthiermealplans,thereforethenutritionalvalueinschoollunchesmust
improvetolowerobesity.Theincreasingepidemicofobesitywillonlygetworseifgreater
effortstowarditsresolvearenotmade.ThechildrenofAmericasuffertheeffectsofobesity
everyday.Manyschoolluncheshavebeenproventhroughmultiplestudiestohaveanincreasing
effectonobesity.Schoolsthatimplementchangestotheirmealplanhavedecreasedobesity
morethanthreepercentinasingleyear.Obesitycannotbefixedovernight,howeverthatdoes
notmeanitisnotanimportantissue.Thinkingforwardforallposteritywemustworktohelp
betterthehealthofoursociety.Additionally,loweringobesitywillsaveournationbillionsof
dollarsinthelongrun.

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