Help Kids Lose Weight: Ban Junk Food From Schools!
A study completed recently by 5 Philadelphia elementary schools that cut back on the amount of candy available in their vending machines found that their students were 50% less likely to gain unhealthy weight.
I think most of us would think this fact is pretty obvious, but then why aren't more schools and children centers doing more about it.
Well, for one, companies like PepsiCo have partnered with child care centers like the YMCA of the USA. So it would seem that YMCA and PepsiCo have a vested interest in promoting soft drinks and other sugary, unhealthy foods.
I think when we combine this type of low nutritional food selection with a lack of physical activity in most schools and child care centers we are really setting our nation's children up for a life-time of weight loss struggles…
Information from the National Action Against Obesity
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Posted by: 10.30.09 | Oct 31, 2009 1:17:35 AM
Okay, I am a high school student and I have the choice of eating healthy or not. It shouldn't be a privilage in schools. Students should be able to eat what they want, and not have to worry about parents tripping out. Yes, I do think we should have certain restrictions, but junk food shouldn't be banned. It's stupid. I understand that teachers and what not want us to eat healthy, but that doesn't mean they havfe the authority to try to force us to eat health foods at the school. If we don't watn healthy foods, then we don't want heatlthy foods, get over it. but i've already wasted enough time on the subject so i'm just going to stop. This is a waste of my time, and effort.
Posted by: asgilber | Oct 22, 2009 8:55:40 PM
This is interesting to me because when most Americans see problems in the US,what they are looking at are only the symptoms. Whats it the problem?: Obesity? Diet? Active Lifestyle? Most people are confused, and frankly I believe everyone's diet is different. I heard once a man lived a 100 years and he ate bacon and drank wine most of his life. If we keep banning what we think is the problem, the younger generation will accept the wrong message. If this continues to grow, junk food will become a forbidden fruit, and will gain more appeal to younger kids. It's like sticking your hand in the cookie jar!
Posted by: Cailyn | Oct 15, 2009 12:11:08 PM
I am in 8th grade and I am doing a debate paper on wether not junk food should be ban from schools or if they should stay. I think they should be ban from schools because most kids in America are obese and this is very dangerous. It can cause diseases, diabetes, and even strokes. If we take out the junk food and put in healthy food, kids wont have the choice to eat unhealthy and this can stop people from becoming overweight. This also could maybe influence kids to eat healthy at home and when they are older.
Posted by: Aaron | Oct 6, 2009 3:56:26 PM
Instead of urging the schools to ban junk food try talking to your kids about when to indulge themselves and when not to.And if the lunch lines are filled with unhealthy foods just bring your own lunch to school
Aaron, 8th grader
Posted by: diamond | Jun 1, 2009 10:17:48 AM
I think that we should eat unhealthy food and healthy and we should be in charge in what we eat they no they eat unhealthy food to but they worry about us so we cant eat it at school
Posted by: Stera | Apr 11, 2009 7:16:21 AM
This is one of the considerable issues that is faced by most of the teens these days. Schools should ban junk food from schools so that teens wont get unbalanced food at schools. Parents also should maintain good healthy diet which doesn't contain excessive fats. There are various weekly and monthly camps for teens and parents to participate and learn tips to reduce over weight.
http://www.troubledteensguide.com/
Posted by: Allie | Mar 2, 2009 5:58:49 PM
I'm a high schooler too i can make the choices to eat healthy at school even though there are unhealthy choices. You can t expect that in life you are just gonna be handed an apple. When you get to college and just life you wont jsut be given great food you will need to be able to choose your food
Posted by: marie joseph | Sep 13, 2008 9:59:26 AM
i and my dauther tries to lose weight every time and this year she is going to jr high where all of the drunk foods are may daughter is 12 and weight 170 pounds how can i help my dauther
Posted by: Lindel Creed | Aug 28, 2008 10:14:37 PM
I am sending you this as I have a concern as to why is my child’s education time being sold out for the vending machine?
In our school this year there has been put in place a 10 minute break time after lunch just so the kids can buy something out of the vending machine.
This was done because no items can be purchased thru the vending machines in the school till after the last lunch is served.
So to get around this rule the Principal has created a 10 minute break after the last lunch period so kids will spend their money on his vending machines instead of the lunch rooms.
I have sent my Principal an e-mail as well as the board of education asking why or how does such a thing happen and have not received any response.
This 10 minute break is being done in a few schools in our county and came about after the vending company that owns the machines threatened to take them out if sales did not go up.
So my child, as well as others are being used to generate the money to keep the vending company happy at the expense of my tax payer dollars education time.
How is it that a public school is not governed by the school system to make sure such a thing does not happen?
The way the program works is the kids are offered a 10 min or less break to go to the vending machine to buy something to bring back to class.
So for the cost of $1.00 a day a child can go spend up to 10 min visiting with their friends in the hallways.
Not only does this take 10 minutes away from my child doing something more productive then buying a drink or snack out of a vending machine but it cost the school system more time and money as you have to monitor the kids as well as get them settled back down after this break to get back to work or to start work.
If a child does not intend to buy something they are not allowed to leave class like the other kids who do have money.
1st problem here is the less fortunate kids that do not have money see the rest of the kids enjoying drinks and snacks during class and they can not because their family can not afford such items.
2nd problem is the kids with money are being sold break time during school hours to use a machine to buy low nutritional items just to generate money for the school.
3rd problem is this time gives kids the time to get into trouble in the halls as the entire school goes on a 10 minute break and there are kids all over trying to use the few machines that are in the school.
What kids do you know that would not pay $1.00 to get extra time out of class?
This program is all wrong and I do not understand how it is even able to be done in our school.
I agree that the school nutrition department has muscled in on the school vending program but I do not believe this is the way to handle it.
I do not believe that our kids must be caught in the cross fire or competition between the school nutrition department and the school vending machines program.
This is no more then a way to compete for our kids money and ends up costing the family more because now the child is torn between spending the money at lunch time or saving it so they can get out of class and spend a little time in the hall ways.
No child should be used to support any such program at the cost of any part of the school day.
The kids could be using that 10 minutes to do homework or study or 100 other things rather then being marketed drinks and candy in exchange for dollars and time out of class.
Since when did I sign up to have my child be used for such support of private enterprise?
Please I would ask that someone look into this situation and make changes as to how our kid’s money is used at the school.
Thanks
Lindel Creed
Parent
Bessemer City High School
Bessemer City NC
Posted by: Lindel Creed | Aug 28, 2008 10:14:23 PM
I am sending you this as I have a concern as to why is my child’s education time being sold out for the vending machine?
In our school this year there has been put in place a 10 minute break time after lunch just so the kids can buy something out of the vending machine.
This was done because no items can be purchased thru the vending machines in the school till after the last lunch is served.
So to get around this rule the Principal has created a 10 minute break after the last lunch period so kids will spend their money on his vending machines instead of the lunch rooms.
I have sent my Principal an e-mail as well as the board of education asking why or how does such a thing happen and have not received any response.
This 10 minute break is being done in a few schools in our county and came about after the vending company that owns the machines threatened to take them out if sales did not go up.
So my child, as well as others are being used to generate the money to keep the vending company happy at the expense of my tax payer dollars education time.
How is it that a public school is not governed by the school system to make sure such a thing does not happen?
The way the program works is the kids are offered a 10 min or less break to go to the vending machine to buy something to bring back to class.
So for the cost of $1.00 a day a child can go spend up to 10 min visiting with their friends in the hallways.
Not only does this take 10 minutes away from my child doing something more productive then buying a drink or snack out of a vending machine but it cost the school system more time and money as you have to monitor the kids as well as get them settled back down after this break to get back to work or to start work.
If a child does not intend to buy something they are not allowed to leave class like the other kids who do have money.
1st problem here is the less fortunate kids that do not have money see the rest of the kids enjoying drinks and snacks during class and they can not because their family can not afford such items.
2nd problem is the kids with money are being sold break time during school hours to use a machine to buy low nutritional items just to generate money for the school.
3rd problem is this time gives kids the time to get into trouble in the halls as the entire school goes on a 10 minute break and there are kids all over trying to use the few machines that are in the school.
What kids do you know that would not pay $1.00 to get extra time out of class?
This program is all wrong and I do not understand how it is even able to be done in our school.
I agree that the school nutrition department has muscled in on the school vending program but I do not believe this is the way to handle it.
I do not believe that our kids must be caught in the cross fire or competition between the school nutrition department and the school vending machines program.
This is no more then a way to compete for our kids money and ends up costing the family more because now the child is torn between spending the money at lunch time or saving it so they can get out of class and spend a little time in the hall ways.
No child should be used to support any such program at the cost of any part of the school day.
The kids could be using that 10 minutes to do homework or study or 100 other things rather then being marketed drinks and candy in exchange for dollars and time out of class.
Since when did I sign up to have my child be used for such support of private enterprise?
Please I would ask that someone look into this situation and make changes as to how our kid’s money is used at the school.
Thanks
Lindel Creed
Parent
Bessemer City High School
Bessemer City NC
Posted by: Stephen Cabral | Jun 10, 2008 6:13:22 PM
Geoff,
I really appreciate you chiming in. It's great to hear your opinion and I'm even happier that you're taking the time to educate yourself in terms of nutrition and exercise.
I completely agree with you that limited options leave most students without the means to make healthy choices. As a former student with no means of paying for any "extras" I understand that you sometimes have to make the best choice you can given your situation.
My advice is to try to buy food at your local grocery store and then bring a lunch to school. You can buy a 24 pack of water for around $5 and you'll find plenty of healthy lunch option combinations for under $5 as well.
Posted by: Geoff S. | Jun 9, 2008 9:17:35 PM
I'm still 16 and in high school and it is kind of hard to make good choices to get things like subs you have to wait in a long line and so I usally get pizza but then getting water to drink cost more than a milk, it ridiculous.
I would like to have help get better food for me and my school, and i believe that some law should be passed to stop the schools from getting away with clogging our arteries with no other choices.
Posted by: Sam | Jun 5, 2008 11:27:23 AM
I found a great blog article about foods that can help you burn fat and build muscle. http://weightcontrolinfo.com/2008/06/03/the-3-most-uncommon-but-yet-powerful-foods-to-burn-fat-and-build-lean-muscle-fast/
Posted by: Stephen Cabral | Jun 2, 2008 2:00:24 PM
Hi MizFit and Michelle,
You both make excellent points. I believe most people are in either camp, but I'm wondering if we can find a middle ground?
Can't we eliminate the unhealthy food selection and teach children from a very young age why they should and shouldn't be eating certain foods?
It definitely starts in the home, but many parents are not fortunate enough to even know what foods they should eat... never mind trying to teach their children.
Thanks for your comments-
Posted by: Michelle | May 31, 2008 12:43:19 PM
I don't believe that children have the will power to overcome the desire to eat bad foods. Yes, there are some parents that instill good eating habits in there children, but most do not. If they don't think it is a big deal to eat cookies or a bag of cheese doodles, they will continue to eat those types of foods. Personally, I have read 20+ diet books and did a ton of internet research on dieting and I still would not be able to teach healthy dieting tips to anyone, no less children. So, taking these bad choices out of the schools will force children to eat the snacks that are available when they are hungry, like fruits and raw veggies. I wish they would have had ONLY those choices when I was in school. I was the one that got the 3-pack of cookies everyday........
Posted by: MizFit | May 31, 2008 6:32:44 AM
people in my local community often contact me to go to school board meetings with them to INSIST that junkfood is removed from schools.
they typically are NOT happy when I say no.
Im an advocate of teaching kids that, even WITH junk food around them, they can CHOOSE better foods and INDULGE in these sometimes foods occasionally.
even once a week IMO is fine if the students realize that it's a TREAT.
I know it's out of control (entirely) but dont think removal is the answer...perhaps less? but even then if we dont provide the lifeskills the students need to make better *choices* they will simply buy-out the LESS :)
MizFit
http://www.MizFitOnline.com
