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Drastic changes need to be done in order to end an epidemic
Everyone can recall the feeling of liberation during days of elementary school when the bell rang for lunch, the most celebrated part of the day among school children. Doors flung open as students ran to be the first in line for whatever heaping amount of food was to be served that day. Little did we know what nutritious value those meals held or, more importantly, how it would effect our bodies. According to First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign, Let’s Move, obesity rates have tripled in the past 30 years. Ultimately this statistic means that for the first time in our history, American children may face a shorter expected lifespan than their parents. That being said, it is obvious there needs to be drastic changes made in the way the children of America are eating, and it needs to be done fast. Should the government create more funding to go towards improving the quality of food and food service equipment in America’s public schools?
Nutritionist Carolyn Martin is a retired chef who worked in Eugene schools for almost fifteen years says, “I never saw any money from the government in my time working in schools in terms of new equipment. Of course, we tried to regulate balanced meals, but ultimately their meals were what we could afford.” What they could afford to buy in bulk was often very starchy and highly saturated in fat, resulting in poorly balanced meals for the children. “Everyday we made sure that there was a vegetable, carbohydrate, and protein for the meal options. Were they necessarily the healthiest of choices? No, but it was what we could afford with the amount of money we were allotted,” says Carolyn. Unfortunately, the lack of nutrition in the school meals is showing in America’s ever rising obesity rate.
Dr. Terry Huang, the Director of the new Obesity Research Strategic Core at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services states, “The World Health Organization estimates that, worldwide, 22 million of children under 5 years of age are overweight. Treatment for overweight children is difficult. Obesity in childhood often leads to obesity in adulthood, resulting in serious medical consequences, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, liver and kidney diseases, some forms of cancer, depression, and other debilitating conditions.” Childhood obesity or excess weight threatens the healthy future of one third of American children. As a country, we spend nearly $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, and that number is exponentially growing.
McKenzie Johnson, a student at the University of Oregon, was victim to the poor nourishment and lack of nutritional awareness her whole life. “I was never taught in elementary school what good eating habits were, so I thought that eating their meals and going to the vending machines throughout the day wasn’t a big deal,” says McKenzie, who has been taking nutrition and aerobic courses since starting college and is trying to re-train her mind into practicing quality eating habits. Unfortunately for McKenzie, her weight is still beyond what an average female’s should be, resulting in early onset diabetes due to obesity. Since she is at risk for heart attack and other health hazards, she and her family are considering gastric bypass surgery to change her life into a healthier one.
Recently, Secretary Vilsack announced that $25 million would be put towards new school food service equipment to help schools improve the quality of meals. The money will help schools operating a National School Lunch Program (NSLP) replace outdated equipment with new, energy efficient, appliances such as refrigerators, ovens, and other food service related equipment. Also, the USDA has joined the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR), a public-private research collaboration to accelerate progress on preventing and reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. Other programs making an effort to end childhood obesity include the National School Lunch Program, Healthy Schools Campaign and the Food Research and Action Center. Among those programs, vital statistical information and actions towards preventing obesity aid the government in determining how to stop this epidemic.
As for the Eugene 4J School District, food service manager and nutritionist, Dr. Nicole Zammit, has yet to see the benefits of this put into effect. “Between me and me director, we have not seen any money from the government for new equipment. I remember last year school districts were given the opportunity to apply for grants, but we were not approved,” says Dr. Zammit. When asked how important is it to the Eugene School District staff that the children are being served balanced, nutritious meals in the cafeteria, Dr. Zammit answered, “It is extremely important to all my staff members because most of them work the jobs they do because of their love for children.”
Fortunately, our government is starting to take notice of this epidemic, and putting an effort towards helping the younger generation become a healthier generation. If the right steps are taken, childhood obesity could be reversed and our children could one day teach us what healthy nutrition is.
