With the increasing academic and extracurricular expectations placed on high-school students, we pack our schedules tightly with rigorous courses, extracurricular activities, and voluntary work. We believe that our future and success are dependent on the work we do as students, and we sacrifice our health towards that goal. Instead of feeding on the nutrition of healthy meals, we turn to fast-food that is convenient and with rising options minutes away from school. However, the rising rates of obesity in our youth urge active action to be taken to change this norm of our teens consuming fast-food. [As a fellow high-school student, I expose this problem and advocate to improve the eating habits of high-school students.] To fix this problem, we need to show our students that eating healthy can be just as convenient as eating fast-food. Additionally, students need to understand the serious consequences of fast-food on their health in the long run, which are the foundations to their future. As a fellow high-school student, I have a rich experience with its hustled lifestyle. We attend hours of classes every day, are involved in multiple extracurricular activities after-school, and return home late at night not to replenish, but instead to finish homework from half a dozen courses. Because of this packed schedule and the fatigue after a daily battle, instead of seeking healthy options during their break time, students usually grab some “chips and Coke” (Bittman, par 11), or tasty, inexpensive, and almost-instantaneous food. Although this does not apply to the entire high-school student population, it applies to a good majority. According to a study conducted by the United States Census Bureau in 2014, “nearly 6 out of 10 students participate in extracurricular activities,” and we expect this proportion to have risen because of the increasing selectivity of colleges and the rising competitiveness of our students. From this, we can infer that more than half of our students are busy with extracurricular activities and delay the time they return home where healthy food options are more likely to be found as compared to around school. Based on a survey conducted on 120 high-school students, we can see
Perhaps the biggest factor that causes students to gain weight is the adjustment from eating at home to eating at college. A student from Chicago State University wrote in the school paper that, “Students in their first year away from home are sometimes not experienced in choosing foods or balanced meals” (French). The free-for-all campus style eating allows for unlimited choices of food and no parents to tell students what they can or cannot eat. Dietitian Ann Litt is also quoted in a Washington Post article in stating that, “the all you can eat concept in most college food services is an invitation overeat” (Linder). College dining halls are set up like fast food restaurants, and some even contain a McDonalds or a Pizza Hut. Fast food style eating really has no nutritional value, other than lots of fat and calories. In an article which examined the ways which students eat nutritional professor Christina Economos stated that more than fifty percent of students are eating too much fat, and seventy to eighty percent are getting too much saturated fat. She states that lack of fruit and vegetable consumption and the eating of mostly processed food is the main cause of weight gain among students (Linder). When students enter the dining hall they need to remind themselves that eating healthy is important.
The stigma with college students and their eating habits is that most people eat a diet filled with ramen noodles, microwaveable dinners, and excessive amounts of coffee. Traditionally, the thought of college eating
“Studies have shown school organic gardens,salad bars and healthy lunches improve the health and academic performance of young people.”,stated cummins in his text. Andrew P p. Morris, in his article “ Bad-food taxes will clog our economic arteries beyond repair”, states that “ it is no ones business but yours what you eat.” There might be some truth to this but it is shocking on how many people overeat junk food. When advertisements promote healthy food like vegetables and fruits instead of greasy hamburgers and flimsy fries people want to eat healthy . We have let junk food brainwash youths and even adults into thinking that it's okay to eat outside of their home
Since 2009 Schools have been improving there healthy choices of food like fresh fruits and salad bars,but those foods take longer to eat (Hellmich). Turning school lunches into an actual sit down meal rather than a feeding frenzy is a good way of improving health (Parker-Pope). Students usually have less than 20 minutes to eat lunch which makes it less likely for them to choose the healthy choice (Elsevier). Kids often like to eat there favorite foods first,not giving them enough time to eat the healthy food (Hellmich). An increase in school lunches could encourage students to eat the healthier choice(5 Elsevier). School nutritionist suggest that students need to have atlas 20 minutes to eat (Hellmich). Research shows that when people consume meals faster they take in more calories because they get hungry sooner (Chen). The shorter lunch periods are starting to lead to more and more obese and overweight kids ( Hellmich). Doctors are saying there are more and more kids getting diabetes and other illnesses due to the lunches and something needs to be done about it
Childhood obesity is a rather new reality in the United States due to intake of sugary snacks and beverages, childhood obesity is the result of a sustained energy imbalance. Most youth never eat the required daily servings of fruits and vegetables; its noted only one in five eat the required servings (21%) (Moore, Wilke, & Desrochers, 2017). The availability of sugary snacks and beverages in schools are what one would call “junk food”. According to a study conducted by Ashlesha Datar and Nancy Nicosia (2012) students could purchase more than one single food and beverage items either
Obesity can often be the consequence of living in a household that instill unhealthy eating habits. Schools can be a positive influence on teens early in life so that obese teens can lead into their adult lives with healthier habits. With these healthier habits, they may likely have more energy to become positive influences in others lives to be healthy and be able to do more. If schools can make such an impact on students’ lives, they should try, even if they needed to sacrifice extra money or instructional time. In 2007, there was a study that only one fifth of high school students had eaten fruits and vegetables at least five times a day in a week (Wexler, 2010). While it is unreasonable to force someone to eat these foods, if they are regularly offered as part of school lunches, students may eat them if they have finished the rest of their lunch and are hungry. Schools should be encouraged to even add fruits and vegetables to vending machines for healthier options.
problems of our nation’s youth. School needs to realize that the decisions that they make can
Obesity has risen over the years. The United States now has one of the highest obesity rates. Bad eating habits are usually the cause of this pandemic. For the past few decades, college dorm foods have led to these habits. The more unhealthy food choices are, the harder it is for people to resist these foods. Colleges serve a variety of unhealthy food in their dining halls that contributes to students’ lower GPA. By eating healthier, students can maintain a healthy weight, focus better in school, and increase their school performance to a higher grade point average (GPA).
The organization of Debatewise stated that controlling the foods that students consume is important in combating obesity, as the dieting habits that most people form originate from when they were young. This is why it’s so crucial for schools to introduce healthier options in schools. If these unhealthy habits are developed, the students are “at higher risk for having other chronic health conditions and diseases that impact physical health..”, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These conditions can affect them emotionally and physically, including depression and obesity, which are important health issues both linked with the consumption of junk foods. The selling of junk food in schools is not a small problem either, as it concludes from a study by the Institute of Medicine in 2003 that elementary schools earn approximately $442 million annually from junk food sales. The importance of changing the school lunch programs to implement healthier options is high when there is so much money being spent by the students. Although obesity is a real problem due to the selling of junk food, it can lead to other problems that leading a healthier way of living could fix. For instance, the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension states junk foods, due to processing that removes vitamins, minerals, and fiber from the product, are empty calories that are ultimately worthless to the body. This alone contributes to unneeded weight gain and provides no additional sustenances that help the body grow. The Harvard Health Publications describes this to be a serious problem, and acknowledge not only this to be a complication, but mentions the unnecessarily high amounts of sodium levels in the foods, stating that “...the average
b. Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visits a fast food restaurant (Fast food facts).
First of all, students aren’t motivated to eat unhealthy, not-tasty food. If you observed students buying lunch in the cafeteria, you don’t often see them buying these kinds, but not limited to, foodstuffs: burritos (which are just beans wrapped in tortillas), “burgers” (meat slapped on two
The survey found that only 20% of students were meeting the daily requirement of four serves of vegetables while 39% were eating the recommended three daily serves of fruit. "Our survey found consumption of unhealthy/non-core foods was high, with 46% of students having fast food meals at least twice a week, 51% eating snack foods four or more times per week, and 44% having high-energy drinks four or more times per week," states Dr Victoria White, from the Centre of Behavioural Research in
What if you were forced to eat foods you don’t like to eat, because of its look or smell, but it is all you have. We will focus on what it takes to be a healthy in the eyes of the government, also what classifies as fatting/"bad for you" or in other words unhealthy. Why does the officials in our government put restrictions on school foods? Is it fair, what are they hoping to achieve by applying the restrictions on schools.
Junk food, junk food, junk food is around all corners of schools. Chocolate, cookies, soda, potato chips, and Sour Strings may sound delectable to some people, but are they nutritious? Some people wonder if there should be a change. Encouraging exceptional nutrition in schools is essential by reasons of students will consume foods that are better for them, schools will pay less for meals, and fewer students would go hungry.
The Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest translates well to the college world. While living on my own, many of my long-dormant, carnivorous instincts kicked in. A trip to the local superstore meant that my pantry was well stocked, but replenishing it was another matter. I soon found myself planted firmly in a regimen of boxed noodles, frozen pizza, and TV dinners. While not the healthiest of diets, they did allow me enough carbohydrates to make it through twelve hours of classes.