Changing Times - Rise

in Childhood Obesity
Between the years 1970 to 2000, childhood
obesity has nearly tripled with 16% of these
children being part of a minority population.
The minority population referenced are
African American & Hispanic children. Many
of this population lives in a low income
bracket. A common side effect of obesity is
Type2 Diabetes and Hypertension which is a
large cost in health care. Lower income
families find it harder to maintain a healthy
lifestyle
http://www.ucsusa.org/food-agriculture/expandhealthy-food-access/lessons-lunchroomchildhood-obesity-school-lunch#.V5h4vZMrLR0

During the early years of the school lunch

program the idea was to provide children
from low income families at least one hot
meal a day. School were encouraged to
participate in the program by receiving
subsidies for every meal served.

In 1966, breakfast was added to the program

and in
1998
after
school
snacks
were
added.
1998
was the
height of
the latch key era, kids were involved in afterschool programs designed to provide
supervised activities for the kids while
parents were still at work.

The school lunch program was governed

under the Child Nutrition Act and meals must
meet federal nutrition standards set by
USDA. The original was based on processed
foods high in fat, sugar and sodium. This
was to make sure the one hot meal children
got lasted.

HAPPY 70th
BIRTHDAY

USDA School
Lunch Program

1946 President Harry Truman signed

into law the school lunch program to
be governed by the USDA. The idea of
the program was to provide a
nutritious hot meal for children in
poverty while helping local farmers
move product. The idea was help a
family, help a farm. The idea came into
play due to poor nutrition as a result
of World War II.

For or Against?
The SNA (School Nutrition Association)
which is a non-for-profit organization
which has in the past been for the
advancement of increased nutrition in
childrens school lunches has begun
lobbying Congress for the delay of
implementation of the Hunger Free Kids
Act of 2010 (HFKA). What should be
something to celebrate has turned into
something to question when money has
become more important than the health
and lives of our children. Companies
such as Coca Cola and Pizza Hut, along
with many others are upset about the
inevitable decrease in their profits upon
implementation of HFKA. Healthier, fresh
ingredients cost more and are therefore
aecting their bottom line.

Colorado advocate, chef Ann Cooper was

asked about her opinion of this change of
position by the SNA: I believe that it is our
inherent responsibility to assure that all kids
get healthy/delicious/nutritious food in
school. For me that means that we all must
work to support and enhance the USDAs
HHFKA. The SNAs decision to try and rollback the guidelines flies in the face of that
kind of support. As the voice of school
food service professionals all over the
country, their decision to reverse their
support of the HHFKA is nothing short of
deciding that money is more important than
the health of our children.
Message received, money is more
important
(http://blog.fooducate.com/2014/07/07/why-did-theschool-nutrition-association-betray-kids/)

Some schools have decided to opt out of the school lunch program. Many of these are schools
with a higher median income where free or reduced lunches are to a minimum and students in
high school have the option of leaving campus and going to a local fast food restaurant or
convenience store. These schools have not turned their back on serving a healthier fair though
and have even turned away vendors of high calorie snacks when the vendors found out about
their opt out. Quotes from some of the schools that have opted out, The guidelines are too
strict and the kids can leave," said Gina Sawma, the school district's food and nutrition director.
"If they aren't eating with us, they're leaving and eating junk.

In 2010 , The Healthy Hunger Free Kids

Act required USDA to update standards for
school lunches to align with the dietary
guidelines for americans - implementation
began 2012. However there are still high
sugar drinks and unhealthy snacks in
vending machines in middle and high
schools.
New program has helped with offering
more fruits and veggies increasing from
18.9 times per week to 22.2 times per
week.
http://www.ucsusa.org/food-agriculture/expandhealthy-food-access/lessons-lunchroom-childhoodobesity-school-lunch#.V5h4vZMrLR0

Works Cited
http://stateofobesity.org/policy/schools-andhealthy-weight/national-school-breakfast-andlunch-programs-and-related-school-nutritioninitiatives

http://www.ucsusa.org/food-agriculture/expandhealthy-food-access/lessons-lunchroomchildhood-obesity-school-lunch#.V5h4vZMrLR0
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/health/
research/08childhood.html?_r=0
http://blog.fooducate.com/2014/07/07/why-didthe-school-nutrition-association-betray-kids/
https://sites.google.com/a/cornell.edu/
childhood-obesity_bee/conclusion
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/19/health/nationalschool-lunch-program/