Amritpal Singh
Professor
Crystal Huddleston
English 1500
1 Novmber 2015
Why
Schools Should Take Responsibility of Prohibiting Obesity
Obesity is a menace
which is plaguing the American society and myriad of other societies across the
globe. The evil of obesity has already taken into grip not only the adults but
children too. In the United States, childhood obesity is now emerging as a severe
public health problem and the spread of this evil must be checked to ensure a
bright future for the American children who are going to be the backbone of the
country’s socio-economic and political growth in the future. Schools are social
institutions which help children in the process of socialization and as the
process of socialization entails food culture too, schools must avert from
implementing and supporting policies which instigate obesity.
The policies
implemented by the American Government in improving the education system of the
nation are infused with some errors. The National School Lunch Program is among
those governmental policies which have got some loopholes and schools should
take the responsibility to address the problems ingrained in such programs to
ensure that childhood obesity is kept at bay. The mission and objective of the
National School Lunch Program has always been a noble one – “to give every
child access to an inexpensively, healthy lunch” (Bornstein, 2010). This
program was also meant for prohibiting the serving of foods with “minimum
nutritional value” inside the school cafeteria at mealtimes (Bornstein, 2010).
But there are loopholes within this program which has turned the program into a
cause of child obesity. The policy has restricted such foods from being served
within the school but it has not said anything about the availability of such
foods outside the school premises. As a matter of fact, “foods of minimum
nutritional value, while not allowed for sale in the cafeteria, can be sold
anywhere else in the school – for instance, from a vending machine on the way
to the lunchroom” (Bornstein, 2010). So, schools have to address such problems
and they must take steps to resolve such issues. Schools must prohibit selling
of junk foods within a particular diameter surrounding the school and the
length must be extensive. If schools do not interfere in providing solution to
such problems then the menace of obesity cannot be checked along only with the
implementation of governmental policies.
It has been observed
that to keep a balance in the budgetary policies and to ensure the proper
implementation of the funds retrieved from the government, schools often spend
less in terms of providing balanced food to children. It is a fact that
schools, in order to minimize expenditure, are turning to offering “competitive
foods” and these include “foods of minimal nutrition – which can be sold in
vending machines, school stores, and snack bars – as well as foods that don’t
meet other USDA guidelines but that can be offered a la carte in the cafeteria”
(Bornstein, 2010). Schools must understand that they must invest in bettering
the future of children and foods that potentially affect their health also make
their future bleak. Hence, schools must spend more on the process of providing
healthy food to children and providing proper education to them rather than
saving the money for other purposes which are not so much essential.
Finally, schools must
come together to appeal to the governments to usher changes in the sphere of
school-related policies which affect the health of school-going children. If
schools keep their silence in such issues then governments at any level would
not be motivated to change the policies. Schools must join hands to appeal to
the respective government to put a ban on vending machines in elementary
schools or limit what can be sold (Bornstein, 2010). Only such collaborative
efforts can save children from getting exposed to junk foods which are
detrimental to the wellbeing of their health.
In conclusion, schools
are social institutions which help children in the process of socialization and
as the process of socialization entails food culture too, schools must avert
from implementing and supporting policies which instigate obesity.
Word Count : 685
Work Cited
Bornstein, Adam. “Schools Should Take
Responsibility for Obesity.”Obesity. Ed. Scott Barbour. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from “Why Are Schools
SellingJunk Food to Our Kids?” Men’s Health23 (Nov. 2008): 158.Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
