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Campopiano/1SenatorBurkhartS.R.____

ABILL
Toprovideuptotwobillionsdollarsannuallytostatesthatagreetoimprovethenutritionalvalueinschoollunches.

BeitenactedbytheSenateandHouseofRepresentativesoftheUnitedStatesofAmericainCongressassembled,

SECTION1.SHORTTITLE

ThisactmaybecitedastheSchoolandHealthActof2015.

SECTION2.FINDINGS

Congressherebyfindsanddeclaresthat,
1)ObesityiswhentheBMIisatorabovethe95thpercentileforchildren/adultsofthesameweightandsex.
2)Obesitycanharmnearlyeverysysteminachildsbodyheartandlungs,musclesandbones,kidneysand
digestivetract,aswellasthehormonesthatcontrolbloodsugarandpubertyandcanalsotakeaheavysocialand
emotionaltoll.
3)Inapopulationbasedsampleoffivetoseventeenyearolds,70percentofobeseyouthhadatleastoneriskfactor
forcardiovasculardisease.
4)Processedfoodsthatarehighinfat,sugar,andsalthavebecomeamainstayoflunchesinschoolsacrossAmerica.
5)Overthepastthreedecades,childhoodobesityratesinAmericahavetripled,andtoday,nearlyoneinthree
childreninAmericaareoverweightorobese.
6)IntheUnitedStatesofAmerica,directcostsofobesityhavebeenestimatedtobearoundninepercentofthetotal
healthcarecosts.
7)ObesityincreasestheriskofdevelopingimpairmentssuchastypeIIdiabetesmellituseveninchildren
gallbladderdiseasehypertensionheartdiseaseperipheralvasculardiseasedyslipidemia(abnormallevelsoffatty
substancesintheblood)strokeosteoarthritisandsleepapnea.
8)Obesityisassociatedwithendometrial,breast,prostate,coloncancers,andotherphysicalimpairments.
8)Analysisoffooddietaryrecalldatasuggeststhatschoolluncheatersconsumemorecaloriesatlunchthanbrown
baggers,andasimulationoftherelationshipbetweenweightandcaloricintakeindicatesthatasfewas40additional
caloriesperdaycouldleadtoatwopercentagepointdifferenceinobesityratesamongchildren.
9)Healthconsciousschoolsthathaveremovedallsodamachinesleavingonlywater,milk,andfruitjuiceavailable,
revampedthecafeteriafeaturinghealthychoices,likewrapsandyogurt,andreplacedfryerswithstateoftheart
ovenshaveloweredtheirobesityratebytwopercentinasingleyear.
10)Adolescentfemalesdemonstratedsignificantlylowerlevelsofselfesteem,whichledtosadness,loneliness,and
highriskbehaviors,suchassmokingoralcoholconsumption.
11)Inadditiontopoorselfesteemanddepression,childhoodobesityisalsolinkedwitheatingdisordersespecially
withyounggirls.

SECTION3.STATUTORYLANGUAGE
A)TheSchoolandHealthActof2015shallprovideuptotwobilliondollarstothestatesthatagreetoimprovethe
nutritionalvalueinschoollunches.Improvingschoollunchesmayincludetheremovalofsodamachines,
replacementofchipswithnutritioussnacks,andothersimilarmethodssetforthbytheUnitedStatesDepartmentof
Agriculture.Eachstatethatqualifiesforfundingupto40milliondollarsdependingonthepopulationofthestate.
B)TheUSDAshalloverseetheactionsofthisbillastheenforcementagency.TheUSDAhasthepowertogrant
moneytostateswhichschoolsimprovetheirfoodstandards.Itshalldeterminetheamountofmoneyeachstateshall
receivewithrespecttopopulationsize.Stateswithgreaterpopulationshallbereceivegrantslargerthanthegrants
giventostatesoflowpopulation.ThisshallalsobedeterminedbytheUSDA.Thedepartmentofeducationofeach
statewillhandletheadministrationofthegrantandensurethepropermeasurearetakentoimprovenutritionalvalue
oflunches.Itisthedutyofthedepartmentofeducationofeachstatetoproperlydistributethegrant.Thetwobillion
dollarsshallcomefroma0.25percenttaxincreasetofundthebudgetfortheSchoolandHealthAct.
C)ThestateswillnotreceiveagrantiftheirmeasuresarenotapprovedbytheUSDA.Thisactshallbeenacted
January1,2016.

ObesityandSchoolLunches

Inthelasttwentyyears,healthanddiethavebecomeagreaterconcernasmoreandmorechildrenstrugglewiththe
effectsofobesity.Obesity,nowrecognizedasaglobalepidemic,occurswithinallagerangesandethnicbackgrounds,
includingthechildrenofAmerica.Itnotonlyaffectstheselfesteemandconfidenceofyoungchildren,butobesityalso
frequentlyleadstomoreseriousdiseases.Furthermore,childobesitymostoftencontinuesintoadulthoodandthereforeitis
besttotreatobesityearlyon.Schoollunchesshouldbehealthierbecausechildhoodobesitycausesgreaterphysicaland
mentalconcerns,unhealthyschoollunchescontributetoobesity,andthehealthiestschoolsinAmericaprovethatobesitycan
beloweredthroughimprovingschoolmeals.
Childobesitycausesvariousphysicalandmentalproblems.TheCentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC)
defineschildobesityas,havingaBMIatorabovethe95thpercentile("DefiningChildhoodObesity").BMI,orbodymass
index,isacomparisonofweighttoheightwithproportiontoanageandgenderscale.Followingthisscale,anychildabove
the95thpercentileisconsideredobeseandisatriskforvariousillnesses.HarvardCollegeevenstressesthatobesityputs
almostallphysiologicalsystemsindanger,Obesitycanharmnearlyeverysysteminachildsbodyheartandlungs,
musclesandbones,kidneysanddigestivetract,aswellasthehormonesthatcontrolbloodsugarandpubertyandcanalso
takeaheavysocialandemotionaltoll(Frenk).Havingalittleextrabodyweightmayseemharmlessatfirst,butonceit
reachesthepointofobesityitbecomesasincerehealthconcern.TheCDCstates,Obeseyoutharemorelikelytohaverisk
factorsforcardiovasculardisease,suchashighcholesterolorhighbloodpressure.Inapopulationbasedsampleof5to
17yearolds,70%ofobeseyouthhadatleastoneriskfactorforcardiovasculardisease(ChildObesityFacts).However,
thephysiologicalproblemsassociatedwithobesityarenottheonlyconcern.Childrenwithobesitymayalsobestruggling
withtheirpsychologicalwellbeing.Itiswidelyknownthatchildrenoftenbullyoneanotheratyoungages,andoften
childrensufferingobesitymaybetargetvictims.Obesechildrenmostoftenexperiencelowselfesteem,bodydissatisfaction,
andinmoreseverecasesdepression.Ontopofthis,thesechildrenmayfeelalienatedfromtheirpeersorevendiscriminated
againstsimplybytheirappearance.Thepsychologicaleffectsofobesitycanbeextremelyharmfultosuchyoungchildrenas
theNationalCenterforBiotechnologyInformation(NCBI)stateschildobesityisassociatedwith,poorerselfperceived
healthstatusandpotentialsocialisolation,negativeattitudetowardappearance,aggression,depression,anxiety,attention
deficit/hyperactivitydisorder,behavioralproblem,andbullying(Seyedamini).Obesityisnotahealthconcerntotake
lightly,asitleadstoandisassociatedwithnumerouspsychologicalandphysiologicaldiseases.Onewaytotreatchildhood
obesityinAmericaissimplythrougheducation.
Unhealthyschoollunchescontributetochildobesity.TheCDC,amedicalbasedorganization,recognizesthat
schoolsplayaparticularlycriticalrolebyestablishingasafeandsupportiveenvironmentwithpoliciesandpracticesthat
supporthealthybehaviors(ChildObesityFacts).However,schoollunchesarestillfailingaschildobesityhastripledover
thepastthirtyyears,leavingoneineverythreechildrensufferingfromthisdisease(LetsMove).EricSchlosserwritesin
hisbook,FastFoodNation,Asforthefoodnowservedatschoolcafeterias,itshouldbesafertoeatthanwhatissoldatfast
foodrestaurants,notlesssafe(Schlosser).Consideringthepreviouslymentionedhealthissues,isitnotreasonabletorequest
schoollunchessaferthanfastfood?Aquickcheckofanyschoollunchmenuaroundthecountryquicklyrevealsmealsthat
aren
texactlymostpeople
sdefinitionof
nutritionallybalanced.Staplesinmyhighschoolandcountlessothers,werechicken
nuggets,hamburgers,andmac&cheese(Rourke).Multiplestudieshavebeendoneprovingacorrelationbetweenschool
lunchandobesity.Thesestudiestooksocioeconomicandethnicbackgroundsintoaccountinordertoisolateschoollunches
astheonlyeffectingvariable.InDianeWhitmoreSchanzenbachspaperonthecontributionofschoollunchestowardobesity
sheoutlinesonestudy,Analysisoffooddietaryrecalldatasuggeststhatschoolluncheatersconsumemorecaloriesatlunch
thanbrownbaggers,andasimulationoftherelationshipbetweenweightandcaloricintakeindicatesthatasfewas40
additionalcaloriesperdaycouldleadtoatwopercentagepointdifferenceinobesityratesamongchildren(Schanzenbach).
Thisstudyshowsthatschoolluncheshaveasignificantinfluenceonobesity.
Ontopofschoollunchesbeingasignificantcontributortoobesity,therearealsomanycaseswherehealthyschool
luncheshaveloweredtheobesityratesofsomeofthehealthiestschoolsinAmerica.Infact,atWestBabylonianHighSchool
allsodamachineshavebeenremoved,sotheonlydrinksavailablearewater,milk,andfruitjuicetherevampedcafeteria
featuresamenuthatemphasizeshealthychoices,likewrapsandyogurt,andhasreplacedfryerswithstateoftheartovens
andparticipantsinafterschoolactivitiesareencouragedtostayoncampusforhealthysnacksandlightmealsinthe
cafeteria(Minkin).TracyMinkinrecognizedthisschoolasoneofthehealthiestinamericaastheyimplementedprogramsto
supporthealthystudents.Theresultofthesechangeswereasuccessinasingleschoolyear,theobesityratedroppedtwo
percent(Minkin).AlthoughtheobesityrateatWestBabyloniancontinuetodecline,theratesotherschoolsallaround
Americaarecontinuingtorise.Thisschoolshowswhatwemayeventuallybeabletoaccomplishineveryschool,whichcan
leadournationtoahealthierreality.AnotherschoolsuccessstorywasthroughPlanetHealth,aprogramdesignedtoengage
studentsinahealthierlifestyle.Incomparisontoacontrolschool,whereobesityroseover2%inthetwoyearperiod,
obesitydecreasedatthePlanetHealthschoolbymorethan3%inthesametwoyearperiod(Naticchioni).Moreschools
needtoimplementprogramslikePlanetHealthinorderfortheUnitedStatestodecreasechildobesity.Itisinourbest
interestasanation,astheeffectsofobesityarelimitingourchildandsuccessors.